It may be time to accept that the NL East division title is likely out of the picture for the Phillies. There are still over 100 games left to play in the regular season, but the Phillies’ early swoon and the Braves’ hot start has likely given Atlanta a big enough lead that it’s become unlikely for them to be caught unless something major changes.
But hope for the postseason is not lost, as the Phillies are right in the thick of the wild card race. Again, there’s still a lot of games to be played,
but as we begin to enter the summer, it’s time to at least keep one eye on the standings.
At the start of play yesterday, the Phillies were one game out of a wild card spot. They have successfully gotten themselves firmly back into the picture after their horrific start. That’s the good news. The bad news is that they are one of eight teams currently separated by three games in the standings. The others outside of the Phillies are the Padres, Pirates, Diamondbacks, Cardinals, Cubs, Reds, and Nationals.
Not all of those teams will stay this close in the race. Washington has been a surprise thanks to a very good offense, but they seem a good bet to come back to earth at some point due to their poor pitching. The Cardinals and Pirates are other teams playing well above expectations at the moment. The Cubs have been in freefall lately while the Padres have held the top spot despite having pitiful offensive numbers, especially with runners in scoring position.
The Phillies have already secured a tiebreaker with the Padres thanks to their win Tuesday night. They are in position for one over the Pirates thanks to their sweep in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago. On the other hand, the Phillies have lost the tiebreaker badly to the Cubs as they played Chicago in the midst of their poor April and are 1-6 against the Cubs. As for the rest, it could go either way as the Phillies still have at least one more series to play and are either 2-1 or 1-2.
So, who do you think will be the Phillies biggest competition for a wild card spot?
