The Philadelphia Phillies may be playing out the string of a transition season, but don’t expect this division rival to lie down for us to waltz into the playoffs. There’s a long history of Phillies players, announcers, and fans wanting to stick it to the blue and orange. This is a bad team for sure, but also a young team with nothing to lose and plenty to prove.
Of note, this will almost certainly be the last time we’ll see Ryan Howard in a Phillies uniform. The team is certainly not going to pick up the fading slugger’s $23 million option for 2017. Some AL team will scoop him up to DH and live to regret it. Howard is the last holdover from the Phillies teams that made life hell for us six to eight years ago. Who knows if Howard’s swan song will offer his team any additional motivation, but for us, it will be nice to say good-bye to a long time nemesis.
The pitching match-ups for the three-game set at Citizens Bank Park are far from set in stone. For the Mets, it largely will be determined by the standings and outcomes in St. Louis and San Francisco. If, through Mets wins and Cardinals and Giants losses, we can clinch the top wild card spot by Saturday, then heck, we could throw the bullpen batting practice pitcher out on the hill come Sunday.
The opening game will feature righty Robert Gsellman (3-2, 2.56 ERA) against rookie right hander Alec Asher (2-0, 1.66 ERA), who beat the Mets last week. Now with our lefty power hitters all seemingly getting on track, we should be able to put up some runs against Asher, especially with so much on the line. In game two, on Saturday afternoon, we’ll likely see Bartolo Colon (14-8, 3.42 ERA) in a bid to get his 15th win at age 43. The Phillies have not yet announced their starter, but suffice it to say it won’t be prime Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee. Given days off and the wild card games, the NLDS isn’t scheduled to start until next Friday, so Colon would have enough rest to be our game one starter, should when we get there.
If the wild card spot is still undecided come Sunday, then it will be Noah Syndergaard (14-9, 2.60 ERA) taking the mound with the season on the line against Jared Eickhoff (11-14, 3.72 ERA). If anyone is prepared for the big moment, it’s Syndergaard. Hopefully, we won’t need him and will have him ready to go with extra rest for the NL wild card game on Wednesday. If that’s the case, look for a silly end of regular season game featuring all the pitchers and players with little chance of making the post season roster. Think Matt Reynolds leading off and Kevin Plawecki or Eric Campbell batting cleanup.
Knowing this crowd, most of you reading this will tune in to watch just the same. Let’s go Mets!
Stick to the formula and win the series, two out of three, and home field advantage is secured.
It has always been in the Mets control since mid August. They had to win two of three vs the sub .500 teams and split vs the good teams. It is still in the Mets control, they have been taking care of business and they will continue to do so this weekend.
Let’s Go Mets !
While Cincinnati was about nine hours away from New York, Philadelphia is only about 1 1/2. So, with the Phillies way out of it, there should be a majority of Mets fans. That will be real cool with the players.
Ryan Howard turns 37 in November and according to Baseball-Reference, he’s made over $155 million in his career. And that doesn’t include endorsements. I know he did Subway in a national campaign – figure he did local stuff, too.
Given all that, and the condition of his knees/lower body, he really ought to retire and not show up next year on the Twins or something. His legacy should be as a lifetime Phillie.
Brian – I guess it depends how much he really loves baseball. Some guys play professional baseball just because they’re good at it and make a lot of money. Some guys really love the game. I would be one of those guys that would keep playing as long as I could make a team, even at the league minimum. Heck, I might continue after that in Mexico.
This just in. Phil Klein will start for the Phillies on Saturday. No, I never heard of him until just now either. He’s 27 with minimal MLB experience. He came up in the Rangers organization. He’s a big, hard-throwing right hander who strikes people out, however, while dominant at times in the minors, it hasn’t seemed to translate in the show where he’s been both wild and hittable. In sporadic MLB duty over the past three seasons he sports a 5.75 ERA.
I can’t say that I buy into the idea of these two teams having any kind of rivalry. It’s ancient history. Alive to the fans, but not the players. Who are these Phillies, anyway?
Off-Topic, from today’s Post:
>> Valentine is amazed at the manner in which the Mets have reached this point, rebounding from one injury after another.
“This team has been really fun to watch,” he said. “You can’t even really call it a team: It has been like five or six different teams. I’ve never seen so many different things happen during a season that have happened with this team, so getting to the postseason would be a real feather in their cap.”
Valentine cited manager Terry Collins’ leadership as a key factor.
“You don’t get to the playoffs twice with different casts without doing some managing,” Valentine said. “I think it’s a shame how the manager’s position gets so discredited.
“When you’re getting there every year and you have the best team in the league and all you have to do is just stay healthy and keep winning, that is one thing. But the way [Collins] is getting there this year is totally different than last year.” <<
Yesterday or two days ago there was a nice, thoughtful piece over at Metsmerized giving Collins credit for the way he handled a very challenging situation in Miami. It was first-class all the way, and the team never lost sight of the prize.
OTOH, the Reds can't even get it together to ask for a review on a game-ending play. How monumentally stupid is that? They said they couldn't hear the phone ring in the dugout. The game was over! Ask for the review. And also, if one umpire had a doubt, they should have requested an umpire's review.
One more Off-Topic (sorry, Matt):
But the Mets just sent a signal that I feared, not starting Colon on short rest, an idea which made sense for a variety of reasons.
I am worried about that foot injury. No one is writing about it, or talking about it, which means absolutely nothing to me.
In Miami, the foot was heavily wrapped. Darling pointed out immediately that Colon had nothing, and wasn’t pushing off; he described it as a “lazy leg,” as I recall.
Now we know that it’s a tendon issue — but no worries!
I’m worried.