Phils' final playoff tune-up full of intrigue
Todd Zolecki
@ToddZoleckiThis story was excerpted from Todd Zolecki’s Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
WASHINGTON -- The Phillies clinched the NL East on Monday. They clinched a first-round bye in the postseason on Wednesday.
It left them without much to play for this weekend in Washington, D.C., except …
1. No. 1 seed in the NL
The Phillies would like to have home-field advantage through the NLCS and World Series, but following Friday night’s 9-1 loss to the Nationals and the Dodgers’ 11-4 victory over the Rockies, Los Angeles (96-64) has a two-game lead over Philadelphia (94-66) with two games to play. The only chance for the Phillies is if they win their final two games in Washington and the Dodgers lose their final two games in Colorado. The Phillies own the season tiebreaker over the Dodgers, so if they finish tied, they would get home-field advantage.
If the Phillies advance to the World Series, they currently would have home-field advantage over every AL team, although the Yankees (93-67) are only one game behind them.
2. Ranger’s tune-up
The Phillies hoped Ranger Suárez would show positive signs in his final start of the regular season on Friday. Instead, he left everybody wondering which version of Suárez they will get in the postseason. The first-half version who looked like a NL Cy Young Award candidate? Or the second-half version who looked like somebody’s No. 5?
Suárez allowed six runs on seven hits and two walks in two innings in Friday night’s loss to the Nats. He grinded through a 42-pitch first inning against a team that had scored a combined four runs in its previous four games, and had scored one or zero runs in seven of its previous 10. Suárez is just 2-3 with a 5.74 ERA (20 earned runs in 31 1/3 innings) in seven starts since he rejoined the rotation on Aug. 24 following a month-long stint on the injured list because of a bad back.
“Obviously, I wanted to have at least a decent start before the playoffs,” Suárez said through the team’s interpreter. “It didn’t happen. Let’s turn the page and just have a strong mind going into the playoffs now.”
Suárez’s next start could be Game 4 of the National League Division Series on Oct. 9.
“Well, I always have confidence in him because I think he’s very poised, that slow heartbeat comes into play,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “I hope and I think that the adrenaline of the playoffs will pick it up. … He’s going to be the fourth starter, that’s for sure. But I always have confidence in him. I really do.”
3. Wheeler’s final Cy Young push
Atlanta’s Chris Sale remains the favorite to win the NL Cy Young Award, but Zack Wheeler can make voters think harder about his candidacy with a strong performance on Saturday evening against the Nationals.
Wheeler is 16-7 with a 2.56 ERA in 31 starts. He has thrown 193 2/3 innings.
You can bet Wheeler would like to reach 200 innings. Of course, the top priority is keeping everybody healthy and effective for the postseason. So if he is at 70 pitches through six innings, there’s a 100 percent chance he will start the seventh.
If he’s at 100 pitches through six?
“I’ll be itchy, breaking out in a rash,” Thomson said.
4. Other milestones
Aaron Nola pitches Sunday. He needs only 5 2/3 innings to reach 200 innings. Trea Turner needs one stolen base for 20, which would give him the fourth 20-20 season of his career. He is batting .294. He would need have a big weekend to finish at .300. (A 6-for-8 finish would get him to .300, for example.) Alec Bohm needs five RBIs for 100. Brandon Marsh needs two stolen bases for 20.
Kyle Schwarber enters Saturday batting .249. Nick Castellanos is batting .254. Finishing .250 or better would carry significance to either player. Schwarber batted .197 last season, and he made a point this year to put the ball in play more. Castellanos was batting .194 on May 18, until he turned around his season.