The Phillies have 25 games left. Most are against lousy teams. The Phillies have shown recently they can beat good teams! So what does it all mean? I have no idea.
The Phillies next 13 games are against losing teams:
- Three games at home against the Colorado Rockies
- Three games at home against the Miami Marlins
- Four games in Houston against the Astros
- Three games at the New York Mets
What is a realistic expectation for the Phillies in this stretch? The Phillies currently sit at 66-71. If somehow the Phillies could go through this stretch at 10-3, they would be 76-74. 9-4 would make them a .500 team at 75-75. But can the Phillies do this?
The Houston Astros are baseball's worst team at an astonishing 42-95. They could easily be 100-game losers by the time the Phillies face them on Thursday, September 13. The honor of the third-worst team goes to the Colorado Rockies at 56-80. The Phillies are 4-2 against Colorado so far this season and 2-0 against the Astros. Of course, the Phillies are 5-10 against the Mets, who place lower than them in the N.L. East.
We've seen these Phillies in recent time take two of three from the Altanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, and the Washington Nationals, the teams with the best three records in the National League. But yet, they could easily lose two of three to the New York Mets as they have recently. Who knows who will show up.
If the Phillies did pull off a 10-3 stretch, what are the odds of a playoff birth? Well, still not good. Considering that it may take 88 wins to make the playoffs, the Phillies would have to win 12 games beyond such a remarkable stretch. And just how many games would they have left to win those 12 games?
12.
The Phillies close with four series that will be more difficult than the aformentioned stretch. They end the season with:
- Three games against the Atlanta Braves
- Three games against the Washington Nationals
- Three games at the Miami Marlins
- Three games at the Washington Nationals
22-3 to close the season? Nah, that will not happen. But, it would be really neat for the Phillies to take advantage of their lesser opponents to put together a dominant stretch that at least gets the team to .500. An 84-78 season after all they have been through would not look so bad. That would be my goal going forward.
