The Phillies’ Wild Card Series roster says a lot about how this season was built - and how little changed once the calendar turned to summer.
Philadelphia is bringing the same general group into October that it had on Opening Day, with only one player on the 26-man roster, outfielder Derek Hill, arriving during the season. The biggest roster note had already been made public: Jesús Luzardo will start Game 1.
There are a few small things to debate, including the decision to carry three catchers even though none of them has hit especially well this year. But in a best-of-three series, that kind of depth makes sense.
The bigger story is the lack of turnover. The Phillies did not add much help, and the roster that will face the Braves looks awfully familiar.
That continuity can be read two ways. On one hand, it shows the strength of the core that kept Philadelphia in the mix and got it back to the postseason despite limited help from outside. On the other, it points straight at Dave Dombrowski’s front office, which again failed to surround its stars with the kind of role players a contender usually needs.
The trade deadline is where that problem really shows up. Philadelphia went after modest upgrades instead of making a bigger swing, and none of the three most important additions from that period - Luis Arraez, Caleb Kilian, and Brooks Raley - made the Wild Card roster.
Arraez and Kilian can at least point to injuries. Raley’s case is harsher: he struggled so much after coming over from the Mets that he is not even part of one of the league’s least-effective bullpens.
Hill, meanwhile, wasn’t even a deadline addition. The Phillies got the 2014 first-round pick in early June after Adolis Garcia suffered a season-ending injury. That deal came after a pick originally made by the Tigers while Dombrowski was running the show in Detroit.
The front office also took hits from last offseason’s free-agent class. Both Garcia and Brad Keller are off the playoff roster because of injury. No executive can forecast every health setback, but the Phillies had time to adjust and did not.
So Philadelphia heads to Atlanta with a roster that feels very recognizable - maybe too recognizable. That may be comforting in one sense, but it is not exactly ideal when the Braves took the season series 9-4.
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Andrew Painter Just Changed The Phillies Biggest Playoff Fear
When the Phillies needed a steady arm in the biggest pressure spot of their Wild Card Series, Don Mattingly turned to rookie Andrew Painter in relief during extra innings of Game 2 against the Braves. Painter responded with three scoreless innings, and the Phillies rode that effort to a 4-3 win that sent them on to the next round, a result that did more than just keep their October alive.
Painters outing also offered something Philadelphia has been searching for this postseason: a little more confidence in the back end of games. Along the way, several key pitch calls went his way after challenges were overturned, adding to the sense that the night kept bending toward the Phillies, even before the final out was recorded. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Have One Power Threat To Watch In Winner Take All Game
The Phillies and Braves are headed into a winner-take-all Game 3 in the wild card round, and the home run swings that have already shaped the series are part of the backdrop. Both lineups have shown they can change the game in a hurry, and with a trip to the NLDS on the line, any mistake in the strike zone could carry a lot more weight than usual.
For Philadelphia, Kyle Schwarber remains the obvious middle-of-the-order threat to watch, while Atlantas Drake Baldwin has also emerged as a name to keep on the radar based on recent power production. The pitching matchup has not been announced yet, which only adds to the uncertainty, but it also means the kind of one-swing impact both clubs have already shown is still very much in play. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Fans Have One Big Reason To Watch Phillies In Game 3
The Phillies have turned this series into exactly the sort of October test they wanted after winning their final regular-season game just to get here. Alec Bohm and Bryce Harper have already supplied important power and timely production, and Philadelphia has found enough offense to keep pace with Atlanta as the NL Wild Card Series has tightened into a bullpen-heavy chess match.
Game 3 now shifts the spotlight to Aaron Nola, with the Phillies leaning on him to stabilize the night while the relief corps waits behind him, including Alex McFarlane and Jhoan Duran. Atlanta is expected to go with an opener and then piece together the rest with relievers who have already been used in the series, which leaves this one feeling like the kind of matchup where every inning can change the tenor of the whole night. [Read more 🡒]