The Phillies spent September flirting with disaster, but the door to a October run is still cracked open.
Philadelphia was supposed to be safely locked into the postseason, yet a rough stretch against the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays pushed the club to the edge of elimination in Game 162. They survived, and now the road only gets tougher with the Atlanta Braves waiting. That matchup alone has plenty of people around the game expecting the Phillies to come up short.
But ESPN’s Jeff Passan pointed to a path forward, and it starts with the kind of top-end talent that can carry a team through October.
"Why they can win the World Series: They've got the frontline talent to do it," Passan writes. "Perhaps only the Dodgers can match Philadelphia's quintet of Cristopher Sanchez, Zack Wheeler, Jesus Luzardo, Kyler Schwarber and Bryce Harper."
That group gives Philadelphia a real backbone, and if those stars hit their level, the Phillies can absolutely make noise. The problem is that October rarely gets decided by the headline names alone. Luzardo’s injury, Wheeler’s likely absence from Games 1 and 2 of the NL Wild Card round, and the uneven play from Sanchez, Schwarber, and Harper lately all make this a tougher sell than it looked a few weeks ago.
That’s part of why Passan also singled out Alec Bohm’s "second half surge" as a key reason this team can still make a run. If Bohm keeps producing, he could become one of the swing pieces in the Phillies’ October story.
The rest of the lineup has to hold up its end too. Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh, J.T. Realmuto, Trea Turner, Edmundo Sosa, Derek Hill, Justin Crawford and Bryan De La Cruz don’t need to turn into superstars, but they can’t disappear either if this offense is going to look championship-caliber.
Philadelphia showed some of that promise in August, when the lineup worked deeper counts, drew more walks and kept traffic on the bases. That patience created more chances to score. Lately, though, the offense has not been close to that level.
The bullpen may end up being the biggest obstacle of all. Jhaon Duran gives the Phillies a reliever they can trust, and Alex McFarlane has also been a solid option.
Beyond those two, there’s plenty of concern. Jonathan Bowlan, Chase Shugart, Brooks Raley, Jose Alvarado and others have to put their struggles behind them if this team is going to survive the pressure of October.
The good news for Philadelphia is that it doesn’t need every piece to click. It needs enough of the right pieces to click.
If two more relievers can join Duran and McFarlane in the trusted group, that would go a long way. If the rotation can regularly work into the sixth or seventh inning, that would help even more.
And if the offense can get back to its more patient approach, the Phillies would at least give themselves a real chance.
The path is difficult, starting with Atlanta, and the odds are not especially friendly. But Passan’s point is clear: it is not over. With the stars at the top, a few role players stepping up, and the bullpen finding some stability, the Phillies that nearly collapsed could still turn into a team nobody wants to face in October.
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Holmes slider has given Atlanta a legitimate weapon, but there is still some concern about how often opponents are making hard contact against him. Even so, the Braves may not have many better options if they want to keep the staff afloat heading into October. How well Holmes holds up could end up shaping more than just his own role, because Atlantas postseason hopes now have a lot riding on whether that risk pays off. [Read more 🡒]