The Philadelphia Phillies dropped their opening game of a two-game series against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday. That made for four losses in their last five games, as the Phillies are starting to scuffle.
As of now, the Phillies are 83-68. That would be comfortable in the AL, but in the NL it’s a much tighter race.
The Phillies currently hold the second Wild Card slot. They have a 1.0-game lead over the San Diego Padres, who have the third Wild Card. Just 3.5 games behind the Phillies are the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are just outside the playoff picture. With just 11 games left, the Phillies can’t afford to keep struggling.
Philadelphia Phillies Star Kyle Schwarber Knows the Postseason Isn’t Guaranteed
If there is a bit of good news for the Philadelphia Phillies, it’s that they’ve been here before. This is a veteran team, led by stars like Kyle Schwarber, who expect to battle it out in the final weeks of the season.
“It’s going to be a grind,” Schwarber said. “There’s no doubt about it. It’s not like it’s guaranteed.”
With the Diamondbacks losing last night, the Phillies saw their magic number to make the postseason fall to eight games. At this point, that’s far from a promise of making it to the playoffs. Still, with every win and every Diamondbacks loss, they’ll keep getting closer.
“There are no ifs, ands or buts about it,” Schwarber said. “We have to go out and we have to win ballgames. And we’ve got the group to do it. We know we’re capable of being the team that can hold up a trophy at the end of the year. We know that, but we also have to go out there and we have to win games.”
The Phillies have one more game against the Nationals. After that, they’ll see the New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, and the Tampa Bay Rays. That’s six games against division leaders, making things even trickier.
The Phillies Lost Jesus Luzardo to Injury
Throughout the season, the Phillies have felt confident in their top three pitchers. That’s Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez, and Jesus Luzardo. Now, it looks like they’re going to be without Luzardo for some time.
The Phillies placed Luzardo on the 15-day IL after he was “not feeling well.” There is still hope he can return for the postseason. In the meantime, Kyle Schwarber emphasized that they’ll need to pick him up.
“Look at our starters and the way that they’ve been throwing the ball the whole year,” Schwarber said. “Obviously, it’s going to get harder, but I think we’re all going to need to step up on it. We need to pick everyone up, right? Like (Luzardo) picked us up for a long time.”
Behind Luzardo, the rotation has seen Andrew Painter rapidly improve since being called back up to the majors. Aaron Nola rounds out the usual rotation. After sending Luzardo to the IL, Phillies have recalled right-handed reliever Grant Holman.
Wheeler is expected to pitch on Wednesday for the Phillies. After that, it becomes a bit of a question for Philadelphia to navigate moving forward.
Phillies Star Kyle Schwarber Sends Out Warning Ahead of Postseason