Thanks to their mostly poor play since the All-Star break, the Phillies currently find themselves out of a playoff spot. While there’s still plenty of baseball left to be played, it certainly isn’t early anymore.
The last two opponents they’ve faced have been mediocre, but that didn’t stop the Phillies from dropping both series. They’ll move on to play another mediocrity in the Twins, who may be without their best offensive player in Byron Buxton (currently on the IL, but he is close to a return)
and best pitcher in Joe Ryan. Then again, mediocrity would be a step up from what we’ve seen from the Phillies in recent weeks.
The series will be a bit wacky with Thursday night’s opener being the Field of Dreams game (hope you have Netflix), and we’ll have yet another Friday night without a game. Then again, this entire season has been a little wacky for the Phils, so they should be used to it.
Opposition research: Kody Clemens
I understand why the Phillies sold Kody Clemens to the Twins in early 2025. They had a glut of lefthanded hitting outfielders, and while he had been a nice enough bench piece, you never really got a “they have to give this guy a chance to play every day” vibe from him.
He put together a solid season for the Twins in 2025, serving as a utility player who mostly played against righthanded pitching. He wasn’t spectacular, but he was better than Max Kepler who the Phillies handed the left field job to last year.
This season, he’s been an everyday player, and while his on-base percentage is unideal (.280) he’s got a solid .747 OPS with 20 home runs. He also hit an “ultimate grand slam” this year. (Matt Strahm has had a tough time of it this season.)
He’d still be an awkward fit in the Phillies’ outfield alongside fellow lefties Brandon Marsh and Justin Crawford, but it’s frustrating to see a player they basically gave away succeeding elsewhere.
Hating on the Twins
After winning World Series titles in 1987 and 1991, it has been a rough few decades for the Twins. Since 1991, they’ve won a total of two playoff series and haven’t gotten past the ALCS. For a while there, they couldn’t even win a single playoff game, dropping 18 in a row.
The Twins rarely sign big free agents, and one of their most notable signings was Carlos Correa, who only chose them because he failed a physical with two other teams. Their current franchise player is Byron Buxton who has been really adamant about staying with the Twins, perhaps because anyone trading for him would likely become enraged when he takes his annual trip to the Injured List.
Trivia
Last week’s answer: Roberto Alomar tied Paul Molitor’s 12 hits in the 1993 World Series. MG77 was correct.
This week’s question: The Phillies defeated the Twins in the 2025 regular series finale by a 2-1 score in ten innings. Who drove in the winning run via a sacrifice fly?
Additional thought about the series
John Stolnis went into more detail about Thursday’s Field of Dreams game, but I’m just hoping the Phillies can play non- embarrassing baseball in this showcase. Maybe they can avoid any horrid fielding mistakes, and Aaron Nola can somehow limit his home runs allowed to one or fewer.
The Twins have Josh Bell on their roster, and we think of him as a Phillie-killer, but they’ve actually kept him in check in recent seasons. Over the past two seasons, he’s batting just .190 with two home runs against them in 23 games. He did take Nola deep once last season, but these days, only hitting one home run off of Nola is probably below average.
