PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies push for a first-round bye in the MLB Playoffs has meant a week of debating the relative value of said bye … and, maybe not much else.
Strategically, securing the No. 2 seed to head directly into the National League Division Series means an extra week for the Phillies to set up their rotation and rest and recovery for, say, Trea Turner in his return from a hamstring strain.
Any other benefits or detriments are purely what they make of them.
“It’s just an excuse, one way or the other,” Turner said after Sunday’s season finale against the Twins. “You’ve got to show up, and you’ve got to win. I think Houston has had a bye for however many years, and they moved on to the CS for however many years. So you’ve got to win or you don’t.”
“I can’t speak for the group,” outfielder Nick Castellanos said. “I think I’m just going hash on what I said last year, which was, I think just really take pride in your work and don’t do it lackadaisically. Five days or six days without a game, it’s a long time. So whatever each of us have to do, just have the mindset of doing it as best you can.”
The Phillies didn’t get the bye in 2022 and went to the World Series, via a road Wild Card series in St. Louis. They didn’t get the bye in 2023 and made the NLCS after dispatching the Marlins at home in the Wild Card. They got the bye last year, then came out flat and got blasted in four games by the Mets in the NLDS.
That’s a lot of noise and little signal.
So the team is tweaking a few things here and there this week: more of the high velocity pitching machine, the same intrasquad scrimmage Wednesday night, this time with fans. But the responsibility players take to be ready to go from the first pitch on Saturday against either the Dodgers or Reds remains the same.
“I felt pretty good going into the series last year,” manager Rob Thomson said. “But it’s just a matter of how you play.”
That’s all it comes down to this week, and all it’s come down to all year. Much as the Phillies’ 96-win campaign and second straight NL East title was a gratifying continuation of success, the measuring stick is October. The team has backslid a round each of the last two years from the 2022 pennant.
A world title is the standard. It won’t be won or lost in an optional Thursday workout.
“You have to play well at the right time,” President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski said Tuesday. “You have to be in a position where you don’t want it to be three and done. It can happen to anybody, really. Even worse, when you play in a three-game series. You have to play well at the right time, but I think we’re more equipped.”
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Dombrowski said that despite top prospect Andrew Painter not making it to the major leagues in 2025, he’s pleased with the right-handed pitcher’s progress after Tommy John surgery in 2023.
“I think Andrew had a solid year,” Dombrowski said. “He went out there every five days, basically all year long. He pitched over 100 innings. He felt good at the end of the year. His stuff was still good. His command wasn’t quite as good, so we thought it was a very solid season for him, and we’ll be in a position where we think he’ll come to camp next year and be in position where he can compete for a spot.”
Painter went 5-8 with a 5.26 ERA in 118 innings over 26 starts, the last 22 at Lehigh Valley, where he had a 5.40 ERA. He struck out 111 batters in 106.2 innings in Triple A, well down from the explosive 155 punchouts in 103.2 innings pre-surgery in 2022, and Triple-A batters hit .281 off him.
Dombrowski didn’t walk back the “July-ish” timeline the club had placed on Painter, saying that they wanted him to be ready to make the jump to the bigs by then. He was physically ready, but not performing well enough then or afterward, with limited opportunities in the rotation.
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As for the other top Phillies prospect not part of this October run, Dombrowski said that as early as June, he “would’ve felt very comfortable” calling up Justin Crawford.
The acquisition of a right-handed bat in Harrison Bader at the deadline, though, closed the path to the regular playing time the team wanted Crawford to get. Dombrowski characterized the deadline as a time when, “we’re not coming out of here without a right-hand hitting outfielder. We’re going to get somebody, because we need to get that help for us in the postseason.”
Crawford, the Phillies’ first-round pick in 2022, hit .334 with seven homers, 47 RBIs, 88 runs scored and 46 stolen bases for Lehigh Valley. He slashed .334/.411/.452, despite a drastically downward swing.
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NOTES >> Dombrowski said, “Everything went well. Every went very efficient,” in Zack Wheeler’s thoracic decompression surgery on Sept. 23. The team expects him in town this week to be with his teammates. He has a check-up with doctors in St. Louis in a month. He faces a rehab of six to eight months, by early estimates. … Six members of the stay-hot camp will join the Phillies for Wednesday’s scrimmage: Pitchers Seth Johnson, Nolan Hoffman and Alan Rangel; catcher Caleb Ricketts; and infielders Rafael Lantigua and Donovan Walton. Among that group but unable to play is Johan Rojas, who is rehabbing a quad issue. He won’t be in contention for the NLDS roster. … Dombrowski announced that Matt Strahm, who hit a vesting option threshold for his contract for 2026, passed a physical required as part of that option. His 2026 contract is guaranteed. … The Phillies have sold 29,500 tickets for Wednesday’s “On-Deck” Game at $10 a pop, benefitting Phillies Charities.
Source: Berkshire mont
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