PHILADELPHIA – The Phillies capped off a season to remember this Sunday with a 6-3 win against the Washington Nationals, finishing the season with a 95-67 record, the second-best in baseball this year and the highest team win total since their franchise-record 102 wins in 2011. They’ll enter the postseason as the #2 seed in the National League and will receive a first-round bye, as well as home-field advantage in the Division Series. Although many baseball fans are surprised at how this team ended up performing, those who have been following them for the last few years know this has been a long time coming.
Few teams in Major League Baseball had more to prove coming into this season than the Phillies. This was the squad that had taken baseball by storm in the 2022 postseason, marching their way to the World Series as a Wild Card team before valiantly losing to the Houston Astros. They followed up that legendary run with another strong playoff push in 2023, making it back to the National League Championship Series before being embarrassed on their home field in back-to-back potential clinching games by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Many fans and writers were doubtful of whether or not this Phillies team truly had what it takes to get over the hump and win a championship, citing the aging core of stars, unreliable pitching staff, and lack of substantial depth in the lineup. Looking back at the year it is safe to say that they shut every one of those doubters up. The lineup finally lived up to their full potential, led in part by the resurgences of Trea Turner and Nick Castellanos.
The pitching staff also exceeded expectations, highlighted by 5 All-Stars in Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez, Jeff Hoffman, and Matt Strahm. No matter what excuse opposing fans and media tried coming up with to downplay their success, the team continued to win ball games at an elite pace for the first few months of the season. They finished with a 62-34 mark at the All-Star break, which put them on pace for a franchise-record 105 wins. The team cooled off significantly following the Midsummer Classic though, finishing an even 33-33 to close out the year. The offensive consistency displayed throughout the first half of the season was hindered, as bats seemed to go cold at inconvenient times. The solid pitching also took a hit, partly due to key injuries to early-season standout Spencer Turnbull and rising ace Ranger Suarez, as well as a decline in performance from the bullpen. Injuries also hounded the starting lineup, as Bryce Harper missed a couple weeks with a hamstring injury and J.T. Realmuto missed over a month recovering from knee surgery. However, this team has proven that they have the tools to win in the postseason. They are 25-20 against this year’s National League playoff teams, including an eye-opening 5-1 against the top-seeded Los Angeles Dodgers. There’s high confidence that they’ll be able to put it all together this October and finally hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy.
Team Awards
MVP: Kyle Schwarber
I decided I had to make the team MVP award for position players only, or else Zack Wheeler would’ve ran away with it and then some. That’s not to take away from the impact Kyle Schwarber made on the team this year, though. Schwarber continued to excel at his “unorthodox lead-off man” role, hitting to the tune of a .248/.366/.485 slash line. His .248 batting average was the third highest of his career, and was an astonishing 51 points higher than his .197 number last year. His .366 on-base percentage was also the fourth highest of all leadoff hitters with at least 100 games batting leadoff. He led the National League in walks with 106, and he became the first player since at least 1901 with 100+ walks, 100+runs scored, and 100+RBI’s from the leadoff spot. His importance extended beyond the score sheet as well. Schwarber was one of the most consistent batters throughout the year on a team that was very streaky at times, especially late in the season. His first and second half splits are nearly identical, hitting 19 homers in both halves, and he even had a higher OPS the second half of the year. His crowning moment of the season was his monster game on August 7th against the Dodgers, when he went 4 for 4 with 3 homers, a double, and a walk to cap off a 9-4 dusting of Los Angeles.
Cy Young: Zack Wheeler
If the BBWAA writers stopped slobbering on Shohei Ohtani and actually paid attention to Zack Wheeler’s numbers from this season, the Cy Young award race would be firmly in his favor. Unfortunately for Zack, Braves pitcher Chris Sale just posted the first Triple Crown season by a pitcher in the National League since 2011 as part of one of the craziest career resurgences I’ve ever seen. Despite the fact he probably won’t win the actual award, Zack claims the team Cy Young by about the largest margin you can imagine. He posted a dominant 2.57 ERA over 200 innings with 224 strikeouts. He led the National League in numerous categories such as WHIP, opponent’s batting average, on-base percentage and OPS, and wOBA. His 26 quality starts led all of MLB and was 6 more than the next NL pitcher, who happened to be his teammate Aaron Nola. He ended the season with 11 consecutive games in which he pitched 6+ innings and gave up 2 ER or fewer; the last pitcher to do that? Jake Arrieta in 2015, the same year he won the Cy Young award with the Cubs. The only flaw in Wheeler’s game that will prevent him from claiming the ever-elusive silverware is that he’s mastered a part of pitching that simply isn’t valued as much in today’s game: longevity. The league and voters alike place more emphasis on flashy face-value stats like wins and strikeouts rather than factors that contribute more to the success of a team like innings pitched and FIP. Although he may never end up winning a Cy Young, I’m sure the Phillies are perfectly fine with the fact that Wheeler’s only flaw is being too good.
Biggest Surprise: Cristopher Sánchez
Cristopher Sánchez being arguably this team’s second best pitcher for the majority of the year was definitely not on my bingo card at the start of the season. However, Sánchez has been a more than pleasant surprise for the Phillies, posting a very respectable 11-9 record with an impressive 3.32 ERA in 2024. Initially thrown in the back end of the rotation as an inning eater to take pressure off stars Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola, Sánchez exceeded all expectations, shaking off a rocky April before going a perfect 5-0 in May and June with a 1.83 ERA over 64 innings pitched. He struggled to begin the second half of the season, losing 3 straight decisions to start July and raising his ERA by nearly 40 points. However, he also twirled two complete games during that span, one of which being a shutout, which tied him for the league lead in both feats. It’ll be exciting to see how he follows up his performances next year and beyond, as he is under team control until 2029 on a considerably cheap deal, only being owed $22.5 million over 4 years.
Biggest Disappointment: Do I even have to say?
Even the most casual Phillies fan could probably tell you who the worst and most hated player has been over the course of this season. Over the course of just 2 seasons, Taijuan Walker is approaching Chip Kelly levels of infamy in the city of Philadelphia. He was such a detriment to the team this year that the month and a half he was sidelined with an injury was arguably the most he contributed to winning over the course of the entire season. He finished 2024 with a 3-7 record and an abysmal 7.10 ERA over 83.2 innings pitched. He never pitched more than 6 and 1/3 innings in a game the whole season, and only started one game where he gave up less than 3 runs. He actually started the season 3-0; his second and third starts were quite good, giving up 3 and 1 earned runs respectively across 6+ innings in each.
The next four months after that, though, was some of the saddest and most infuriating pitching I’ve ever watched. The Phillies went 1-11 across the rest of his 12 starts, including 10 straight to end the season. His ERA ballooned from an already concerning 4.82 to 6.50 by the time he was relegated to the bullpen. His last start of the season was his worst, coming on September 19th in an important divisional game against the surging Mets. Needing to get a win to maintain their grip on the NL East, Walker proceeded to give up 8 runs over 3 and 1/3 innings, including 4 home runs. Even a late-game rally by the offense couldn’t make up for the damage Walker inflicted, as the team lost 10-6. The real nail in the Taijuan Walker-shaped coffin is that he’s signed through 2026 and is owed $18 million in each of the next two seasons, so unless the front office is willing to eat a considerable amount of money to get rid of him, this team is stuck with a lame excuse for a pitcher for the foreseeable future.
Postseason Preview
The Braves and Mets split their chaotic doubleheader Monday, and so the National League Wild Card matchups are finally set. The 3rd seeded Brewers will face the 6th seeded Mets in a 3 game series at American Family Field, with the winner facing the Phillies in the Division Series. The Phillies saw moderate success in the regular season against both teams, going 4-2 against the Brewers and 7-6 against the Mets. There’s hope that Spencer Turnbull, who has been rehabbing from a lat strain since late June, will be healthy enough to pitch out of the bullpen by the start of the series. Outfielder Austin Hays is also a question mark, as his recent back problems have limited him to 11 at-bats in the past month, but depending on which pitching staff the team faces he may be optioned into a platoon role with fellow outfielder Brandon Marsh. The first game of the Divison Series is on Saturday, October 5th at Citizens Bank Park, with Zack Wheeler taking the mound in front of what is sure to be one of the rowdiest and fired up crowds the stadium has ever seen.