For the third consecutive year, the Phillies are back in the playoffs. This marks the 17th time in their 140-year history that the team has made the playoffs. As you can certainly tell, these things don’t come often. 

The Phillies were able to clinch the playoffs this year with a dominant win over the Mets. Then following the Mets series, the Fightins were able to win their division with a 6-2 win against the Cubs, along with a series win as well. 

For the first time since 2011, the Phillies won the NL East. And not just that, they got the bye week too. That means the team is going to have to face either the Milwaukee Brewers or the New York Mets. But which one of the two would be best to face the Phillies?

Milwaukee’s 90-win season was shocking to many, considering the team doesn’t have a true ace, as they dealt Corbin Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles in the off-season. 

But the Brewers offense has been solid, as with fantastic seasons from William Contreras and Willy Adames, as well as rookie left fielder Jackson Chourio. Christian Yelich was having a phenomenal season until he got injured back in July, which sets him back to return for next season. 

As for the Mets, they’ve put together a very solid run in the past few months to get into the postseason. Francisco Lindor put on an impressive, MVP-caliber run, and overall, their offense was balanced with pretty solid pitching. 

In terms of records, the Phillies went 4-2 against the Brewers and had a 7-6 record against the Mets. Although, almost everyone knows that these regular season records practically never translate into the postseason (just look at the Phillies and Braves from the last two years). 

For the Phillies, the lineup will most definitely stay around the same as it has been most of the year. As for the pitching rotation, it’ll also mostly stay the same. However, putting Sanchez up to the No. 3 spot in the rotation might be the move, as Ranger hasn’t been the sharpest. In his last eleven starts, Suarez has posted a 6.54 ERA and has a 2-6 record. 

The thing is that Ranger usually has a rough end to the season, but a 6.54 ERA tailing all the way back to June 26 certainly isn’t the best. 

However, there is some good news. In the past two postseasons, Ranger has been able to turn it around, collecting 32 strikeouts along with a 3-1 record and 1.62 ERA all in 9 appearances, as well as the iconic save that Ranger got to send the Phillies to the World Series. 

With this bye week, the Phillies’ entry into the playoffs will look pretty different. With this week off, hopefully, the Phillies will look like previous teams who had the bye week and won the World Series. 

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