Who would have thought the Phillies would have come this far? For years the Phillies have fallen behind missing multiple World Seri
es and barley considered as top in their division. 2018 has proven to be the year they might make it further than any other since their 2008 season. They were just second in their Eastern division falling 4 losses behind the Atlanta Braves who have 61 losses. Though this is heartbreaking for Philadelphia baseball fans, hope is not over! The Phillies still have a chance to grab a wild card spot. According to ESPN’s August 27th Baseball tonight episode with John Farrell , the Phillies aren’t even top five. ESPN.com has them ranked at number 13 overall for the week.
Social media has been booming with updates for the Phillies squad with reporters such as Todd Zolecki keeping everyone up to date. He last tweeted at 11:01 pm Sept. 4th that the Phillies are back to three games behind with 24 hours to play and followers responding that they are “Keeping Hope”. Twitter is an excellent place for keeping up with live updates because reporters are going as far as tweeting plays as they are happening. Plus interacting with experts is a lot easier on the site.
I was able to do a quick interview with a phillies fan @crail_brian on the app asking him why he felt the Phillies still had a shot in the eastern division and he said, “I think the Phillies have a shot at first in the NL east because the team they’re chasing (Atlanta) has a very tough schedule down the stretch, and the Phillies have a light one. The Phillies and Braves play each other seven more times and I can see the Phillies winning a few.” So clearly there is still hope! Some people like Kirsten Searcy, a sophomore of the Cabrini women’s basketball team feels as though the Phillies suck and they won’t be able to make it further in the season which I’m sure there are others who feel like her as she is from Maryland and says she doesn’t watch too much baseball, but she does like the Orioles.
A consistent issue that many people have been saying is that the Phillies do not have a great offense therefore, Yes they are having a decent season, but it’s mainly because they have been able to hold teams. You know the saying “Defense wins games.” this is true and all, but you also need to score which the Phillies have been struggling to do. I asked a 56 year old Bangor,Pa native and past life long baseball player David Hower if he thought the Phillies still had an opportunity to get the top slot in the eastern conference even though they are now three losses behind with the Braves losing to the Red Sox. He responded, “Oh. Ok. They are having a good year but I don’t think they are strong enough to get the top spot in the east. I think they will have to settle for a wild card. I don’t think they will go very far on the playoffs. “ I then proceeded to ask him if he thought they were in need of big hitters. He responded, “I think they need more hitting and better pitching. They have those two weak areas that will hold them back.” His response goes hand and hand with what reporters on nbssprots.com are saying. Corey Seidman a twitter user wh is big on baseball stated, “The Phillies scored a grand total of four runs in the three games against the Cubs. They were outscored 15-2 Saturday and Sunday.Their only run Sunday came with two outs in the ninth, a Jorge Alfaro RBI double.” This alone plays in with the fact that the Phillies have got to get their men back to home plate.
With a few games left in the regular season and their competition’s schedule the Phillies may still be able to gain a wild card and make it to the playoffs. How far they will go in the playoffs, nobody knows, but hopefully Philly can bring it home!
