Bye Anxiety

 

I so badly want to be excited for another Red October. I really do. This is a great team with a satisfying offensive attack, a pitching staff that has stepped up in Wheeler's absence, and a palpable drive. You get the sense that the Phillies truly feel that they're not done yet, and are doing everything in their power to prolong the dynasty and get that last check marked. The worry going into this year was that it would be the team's last chance before the core got too old, and while I'm not completely going that far, with Schwarber potentially becoming a free agent after the season and with Wheeler and Harper potentially leaving their primes soon, this could be the last sure chance to win with this regime. 

So much is good about this team...and yet we have a first round bye this year. And that worries me.

Those first two playoff seasons we came into the schematic as a wild card team and worked out way up, getting to an NLCS by staying hot and sparking fire like no one else. Last year, the bye cooled us down, and by the time the very-hot Mets showed up, they had the momentum and we were no match. I am very worried that this will happen again. It might even be the Mets again at this rate, despite how reluctant they seem to be to get back there. The way the new playoff system works, the smaller, feistier teams with no time to look back at the ones that get the furthest, and the ones that do outlast the bye are monoliths like the Astros or Dodgers or Yankees. The Phillies have not proven they can do this yet. Because we only have a small sample size to go off, 2011 and 2024, I'm not filled with too much confidence.

It happens so often, the teams that truly deserve a World Series spot don't get there because they have to pass so many rungs to prove it. The 2001 Mariners were not a World Series team. The 2011 Phillies were ousted by a lucky Cardinals team [which made 2022 all the more sweet]. The Dodgers and Braves teams that won came in the stead of so many more that were just better. Back in the day, you didn't need to do as much to prove your worth. Granted, there were less teams, but you didn't have a team barely over .500 sneaking in and making a World Series out of pure spite as much back then. Now the Astros can just win the right games and make a World Series without doing the 'hard work' in a sense.

Which brings me to the Phillies, who have done the hard work, and have reinvented themselves after nearly falling apart in June. Now with Harrison Bader in center field they feel so much better. Bader truly was the perfect pickup, being a defensive upgrade as well as a great power hitter, hitting .340 with 5 homers and 16 RBIs [plus a .926 OPS] in 42 games in Philly. He's already a fan favorite, already beloved, and already the heroic figure behind one of the darkest moments of the season [Karen in Miami]. He's also lifted up a lot of lower-lineup Phils like Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh and Otto Kemp as they've gone on. Meanwhile, Cristopher Sanchez is perfectly suitable for the ace moments of this year, as he's 13-5 with 198 Ks and a 2.66 ERA, plus a wild 7.2 WAR. In addition to subbing in for Zack Wheeler as the ace, he'll also be subbing in for Zack Wheeler in his 2nd place spot in the Cy Young voting. Hopefully he won't make a habit of it. 

This team has worked so hard to not completely fall apart, and it would have been very easy to. They're without Trea Turner right now and they're still outhitting people. Kyle Schwarber's chasing Ryan Howard, and it's exciting as hell. I really want this all to lead to something, and I guess we won't know until we see how their NLDS matchup goes. Hopefully they can sustain the momentum this time. If not, we may be hearing about it for the next decade. 

Coming Tomorrow- I never thought this guy would be the answer to catching in Detroit.