Series Preview: Postseason or Bust! Phillies Open the 2022 Season Against Oakland

By Michael Lipinski, Sports Talk Philly Editor

John Middleton pushed all of his chips into the middle of the blackjack table during his offseason spending spree. The Phillies exceeded the luxury tax for the first time ever inking Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos in an attempt to break the Phillies 11-year postseason drought. Anything other than a postseason berth will be seen as an abject failure. 

The Fightin’s will have an opportunity to get out to a quick start against an Oakland Athletics squad that is a borderline  big league club. The A’s have a payroll in the $33 million range, the same as when they had the highest payroll in baseball. That was 1991…

On to the particulars! 

Date: Friday, April 8 – Sunday, April 10

Where: Citizens Bank Park, South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

When: Friday: 3:05 PM | Saturday: 4:05 PM | Sunday: 1:05 PM

TV: Friday: NBC 10 | Saturday: NBCSP+ | Sunday: NBCSP

Radio: 94.1 WIP and the Phillies Radio Network

Probable Pitching Matchups

Friday: F. Montas vs. A. Nola | Saturday: TBD vs. K. Gibson | TBD vs. Z. Eflin

Series History 

The Athletics and Phillies have a long shared baseball history in the city of Philadelphia. Led by the great Connie Mack, the Athletics were one of the American League’s dominate franchises for most of the first half of the 20th century. The “Mackmen” won nine AL Pennants and five World Series titles before leaving Philadelphia after the 1954 season.

_{1911 Philadelphia Athletics Photo: Public Domain}

The National League Phillies, well, they weren’t as good but  didn’t stop the two teams in engaging in a “City Series.” The exhibition games ran from 1883 until the Athletics moved to Kansas City. The games were a source of civic pride amongst the two fan bases. 

Surprisingly, the Athletics and Phillies have only met 18-times since the beginning of interleague play in 1997, 

The Athletics lead the all-time series 10-8 winning four series to the Phillies two. 

Last Meeting 

The Athletics made the trip to Philadelphia in September 2017 taking two-of-three games from the Phillies. 

Series at a Glance

The Phillies will roll out staring pitchers Aaron Nola, Kyle Gibson, and Zach Eflin to start the season. Nola will once again get the nod to open the season for the Phillies. The righty is coming off an up-and-down 2021 where he went 9-9 with a 4.63 ERA. Statistically, Gibson was the best of the trio going 10-9 with a 3.71 ERA in 2021.

While all three of the Phils “top” starters have shown flashes over the years, it’ll be the Phillies bats that have the spotlight in 2022. The offense will have an opportunity to continue their Murders Row-like spring against Oakland.

The Athletics have only announced one pitcher for the series, Frankie Montas who will start on Friday. The 29-year old was 13-9 with a 3.37 ERA in 2021. He’s the type of pitcher that traditionally gives the Phillies fits but this new look lineup doesn’t have many holes. 

Bryce Harper, fresh off winning the NL MVP award, will look to continue his hot spring. Harper slashed .400/.432/1.143 with eight homers and 14 RBI’s in Grapefruit League play.

Like Harper, rookie Bryson Stott has an opportunity to continue his impressive spring. The 24-year old led the Phillies in batting average and on-base percentage, and was in the top three in OPS and top four in slugging.  The 14th pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, has quickly risen up the Phillies system and looks to be a major contributor to the 2022 squad. Stott is a career .298 hitter with 22 homers and 76 RBI’s in two minor league seasons.