I was too young to remember Steve Carlton pitching. But in my lifetime outside of halladay, Zach Wheeler might be the best Phillies pitcher I’ve seen. Like if i was going top 5 of starting pitchers I’ve gotten to watch in a Phillies uniform basically 1991 onward it would be:

1. Halladay

2. wheeler 

3. cliff lee

4. Schilling  

5. Hamels 

Strahm is all over the place tonight. I’d probably pull him if another guy gets on 

13 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I was too young to remember Steve Carlton pitching. But in my lifetime outside of halladay, Zach Wheeler might be the best Phillies pitcher I’ve seen. Like if i was going top 5 of starting pitchers I’ve gotten to watch in a Phillies uniform basically 1991 onward it would be:

1. Halladay

2. wheeler 

3. cliff lee

4. Schilling  

5. Hamels 

I thought you were in your 60s

7 minutes ago, Joe Shades 73 said:

I thought you were in your 60s

No just an old soul that’s relatively young. Basically they haven’t killed me yet cause of my young heart. 

Magic number for the NL East 

 

That’s pretty good 

Bye Bye Braves!

 

3 minutes ago, mattwill said:

Bye Bye Braves!

 

Wouldn’t write them off yet. Dbacks and Mets schedule is harder. 
 

Braves: 2 at reds, 3 at marlins, 3 vs Mets and 3 vs KC

mets: 1 vs. Nats, 4 vs. philies, 3 at Braves, 3 at Milwaukee

dbacks: 1 at Rockies, 4 at Milwaukee, 3 vs. SF and 3 vs. Sd  

21 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Wouldn’t write them off yet. Dbacks and Mets schedule is harder. 
 

Braves: 2 at reds, 3 at marlins, 3 vs Mets and 3 vs KC

mets: 1 vs. Nats, 4 vs. philies, 3 at Braves, 3 at Milwaukee

dbacks: 1 at Rockies, 4 at Milwaukee, 3 vs. SF and 3 vs. Sd  

Here are the schedules side by side with 11 games to play.  Braves are 2 games back of both New York and Arizona, and 5 games back of San Diego.  If the Braves go 11-0 all San Diego has to do is go 6-5.  I like their chances, especially since the Braves will not go 11-0.  I like the Mets head-to-head with the Braves.  Given how hot Detroit has been of late, Kansas City may be fighting for their Playoffs lives in those last three games with the Braves.

I also think Milwaukee will be using the last three games to set up their roster and give some players a rest.  That may also be the case for the Padres. Those three games with the White Sox are a huge blessing.  They will play the Dodgers games very hard, but their chances of making up the 3 game lead that LA has over them are pretty slim given the easiness of the Dodgers schedule.

57 minutes ago, mattwill said:

Here are the schedules side by side with 11 games to play.  Braves are 2 games back of both New York and Arizona, and 5 games back of San Diego.  If the Braves go 11-0 all San Diego has to do is go 6-5.  I like their chances, especially since the Braves will not go 11-0.  I like the Mets head-to-head with the Braves.  Given how hot Detroit has been of late, Kansas City may be fighting for their Playoffs lives in those last three games with the Braves.

I also think Milwaukee will be using the last three games to set up their roster and give some players a rest.  That may also be the case for the Padres. Those three games with the White Sox are a huge blessing.  They will play the Dodgers games very hard, but their chances of making up the 3 game lead that LA has over them are pretty slim given the easiness of the Dodgers schedule.

2 of the 3 of Braves, Mets and dbacks are gonna make it. I think the padres are safe. They’d have to have a major collapse. The thing the padres are playing for is homefield in the WC round (although they have a chance if they sweep the dodgers to win that division). They get the white Sox after the Astros tomorrow. so that probably is the buffer they need for that. But then again they face the dodgers right after and dbacks. Still think they probably have that clinched just before that dbacks series or during it

i’d also point out the Padres are only four games back of the Dodgers with a three game series coming up. Imo padres have to beat the Astros tomorrow. If they do and it stays at 4 til Friday, the dodgers play the Rockies while the Padres play the White Sox. The Dodgers starting pitching is not good right now. It’s not inconceivable that the Dodgers win two of three and the Padres sweep an horrible white Sox team and wind up being only three games out when they go and play the Dodgers. Padres basically have to sweep to win the division. But man if they do the last series between dbacks and padres becomes massive 

I think the issue for the dbacks is Milwaukee is still in the race when they are going to face the brewers. dbacks haven’t been playing well. Just lost 2 in Colorado. They also have had some issues with SF this year. They are 6-4.  When dbacks are in Milwaukee the Braves get the marlins. I think that’s where they can make up ground. Currently the royals are up 3 games on the tigers with sf and nationals after the last meeting with the tigers tomorrow. If the royals beat the tigers tomorrow they go up 4 can potentially clinch prior to the that Braves series. So like the padres and brewers, the royals might  be setting up their rotation 

add on the Braves and Mets own the tiebreaker over the dbacks. So the dbacks have to win it outright otherwise they are out. To me the dbacks cannot go 0-5 or 1-4 over the next 5 games. If they do, the Braves schedule allows for them to gain some significant ground prior to the Mets series. If I’m the dbacks cheering for the Phillies vs. the Mets and then hoping either Mets or Braves sweep that series between the two. Dbacks really have to beat the Rockies tomorrow and split with the brewers. That likely ensures their playoff berth.

that said we should be cheering for the dbacks to miss the playoffs. That’s the most dangerous team in the WC cause their offense is the best in baseball and they have the experience of winning in Philly and starting pitching.

 

3 hours ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I was too young to remember Steve Carlton pitching. But in my lifetime outside of halladay, Zach Wheeler might be the best Phillies pitcher I’ve seen. Like if i was going top 5 of starting pitchers I’ve gotten to watch in a Phillies uniform basically 1991 onward it would be:

1. Halladay

2. wheeler 

3. cliff lee

4. Schilling  

5. Hamels 

Yep. Put Lefty on top of that list and you have my version. 

2 hours ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

2 of the 3 of Braves, Mets and Dbacks are gonna make it. I think the Padres are safe. They’d have to have a major collapse. The thing the Padres are playing for is homefield in the WC round (although they have a chance if they sweep the Dodgers to win that division). They get the White Sox after the Astros tomorrow. so that probably is the buffer they need for that. But then again they face the Dodgers right after and Dbacks. Still think they probably have that clinched just before that Dbacks series or during it

i’d also point out the Padres are only four games back of the Dodgers with a three game series coming up. Imo padres have to beat the Astros tomorrow. If they do and it stays at 4 til Friday, the dodgers play the Rockies while the Padres play the White Sox. The Dodgers starting pitching is not good right now. It’s not inconceivable that the Dodgers win two of three and the Padres sweep an horrible White Sox team and wind up being only three games out when they go and play the Dodgers. Padres basically have to sweep to win the division. But man if they do the last series between Dbacks and Padres becomes massive 

I think the issue for the Dbacks is Milwaukee is still in the race when they are going to face the Brewers. Dbacks haven’t been playing well. Just lost 2 in Colorado. They also have had some issues with SF this year. They are 6-4.  When Dbacks are in Milwaukee the Braves get the marlins. I think that’s where they can make up ground. Currently the Royals are up 3 games on the Tigers with SFand Nationals after the last meeting with the Tigers tomorrow. If the Royals beat the Tigers tomorrow they go up 4 can potentially clinch prior to the that Braves series. So like the Padres and Brewers, the Royals might  be setting up their rotation 

Add on the Braves and Mets own the tiebreaker over the Dbacks. So the Dbacks have to win it outright otherwise they are out. To me the Dbacks cannot go 0-5 or 1-4 over the next 5 games. If they do, the Braves schedule allows for them to gain some significant ground prior to the Mets series. If I’m the Dbacks cheering for the Phillies vs. the Mets and then hoping either Mets or Braves sweep that series between the two. Dbacks really have to beat the Rockies tomorrow and split with the Brewers. That likely ensures their playoff berth.

that said we should be cheering for the Dbacks to miss the playoffs. That’s the most dangerous team in the WC cause their offense is the best in baseball and they have the experience of winning in Philly and starting pitching.

There is a bit of agree to disagree in your comments above.  I don't see how the Diamondbacks (with a pitching staff that ranks 27th) can be more dangerous than say Houston, whose offense is ranked 3rd and pitching is ranked 5th.  Baseball isn't just about hitting.

Given the way the Tigers have been playing, and the strength of their pitching, your statement If the Royals beat the Tigers tomorrow they go up 4 can potentially clinch prior to the that Braves series is true but especially since Skubal is the Tigers starter tomorrow, is much less likely to be true than false.  A Tigers win puts them at 73 losses and the Royals at 71 losses ... and Detroit ends the season with 3 home games against the Rays and 3 home games against the White Sox.  It is highly likely that every Royals game from here out will be a "must win."  The Twins also end the season with six home games.  The AL is very likely to be a wild ride to the finish.

2 hours ago, mattwill said:

There is a bit of agree to disagree in your comments above.  I don't see how the Diamondbacks (with a pitching staff that ranks 27th) can be more dangerous than say Houston, whose offense is ranked 3rd and pitching is ranked 5th.  Baseball isn't just about hitting.

Given the way the Tigers have been playing, and the strength of their pitching, your statement If the Royals beat the Tigers tomorrow they go up 4 can potentially clinch prior to the that Braves series is true but especially since Skubal is the Tigers starter tomorrow, is much less likely to be true than false.  A Tigers win puts them at 73 losses and the Royals at 71 losses ... and Detroit ends the season with 3 home games against the Rays and 3 home games against the White Sox.  It is highly likely that every Royals game from here out will be a "must win."  The Twins also end the season with six home games.  The AL is very likely to be a wild ride to the finish.

Dbacks starting pitching was without Merrill Kelly and Rodriguez until close to 2nd week of August. Their pitching numbers aren’t indicative of what they actually have cause Kelly and Rodriguez missed significant amount of this year. Kelly is just starting to get back into form. Rodriguez hasn’t not been good but they are also trying to work his shoulder back into shape similar to Ranger Suarez with his issues. Even gallen has missed time for the dbacks. With gallen and Kelly they have a legit 1-2 and they both have proven they can win in the postseason. You better be able to hit in the postseason, ask the Phillies why they lost games 3,6 and 7 in the nlcs last year. I’d point out the dbacks pitching numbers weren’t spectacular last year entering the postseason particularly their bullpen. 

First the Astros aren’t a WC team. they are a division winner. They’ll play in the WC round but they aren’t in the WC race. Why i said the most dangerous team in the WC (wild card). Which I meant in the wild card race and really meant specifically for the Phillies in the NL. Imo think the Astros are likely the most dangerous threat to the Yankees in the AL side.

Second i should’ve also put in the NL WC. The WC in the AL doesn’t effect who the Phillies have to play to get to the WS. . I was strictly talking about NL with the Phillies in that comment. Can make a great argument for the padres being that but the padres have really struggled vs. the Phillies. The Phillies play well against the padres in Sd and in Philly. the dbacks have had guys in and out of the lineup for much of the year  (Marte, Walker, Moreno, Carroll was dealing with a shoulder problem most of the first half of the season) yet still best in baseball and their rotation had a bunch of injuries (was a disaster in April, May and July due to injuries). They currently are 5-5 vs padres and 4-3 vs. the Phillies. I’d add dbacks were tied for the best record in baseball since June 1 before last night. have the best record since July 1st. I think they are more dangerous to the Phillies as they know how to win in Philadelphia as they did it game 6 and 7 last year. The Phillies don’t play well in AZ. The dbacks don’t fear going into CBP

Skubal is awesome. the royals even if they lose have SF and nationals after this series. They avoid snell in that SF series. The tigers go to Baltimore after this series before facing the rays and white Sox. twins are in the last WC spot. They are not playing well right now. 5-9 in their last 14. (Royals haven’t been great either but they are 7-5 in their last 12). Twins have to face Cleveland 2 more times then go to Boston and finish with the orioles (who are likely needing to win to secure the homefield advantage in the WC especially if they run into a hot tigers team). Sandwiched in between is the marlins.  I think the twins could wind up being the team that misses out. Royals if they manage to find a way to win today really boosts their playoff odds considering their next 6 games and they’d have a 4 game lead over the tigers. I’d bet on the tigers with skubal. but then again i also thought Phillies throwing nola vs. Quintana would be a win for us and a loss for us with allard/walker pitching for the Phillies vs. severino who’s been one of the better starters on the Mets over the last month (6 starts his era is 2.35). Add on the marlins just beat the dodgers scoring 11 runs, Braves blew a 5-1 lead to the reds and the dbacks just lost 2 in a row to the Rockies. Weird stuff tends to happen in September that you usually don’t think will happen. 

Out of all the Philadelphia "Superstars" ....Embid, Hurts, even Harper, Nola, etc....Wheeler is the ONLY consistent player out of all of them.

17 minutes ago, NYEagle said:

Out of all the Philadelphia "Superstars" ....Embid, Hurts, even Harper, Nola, etc....Wheeler is the ONLY consistent player out of all of them.

Nola Superstar?

25 minutes ago, Joe Shades 73 said:

Nola Superstar?

48 minutes ago, Joe Shades 73 said:

Nola Superstar?

You understand my point.....Superstar/Big contract player......the only and I say ONLY player worth that contract, worth the Superstar billing is Wheeler.  

12 hours ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

 

Totally forgot he was even on the team while he’s been gone.  Dude has made zero impact since he’s been here  

21 minutes ago, mikemack8 said:

Totally forgot he was even on the team while he’s been gone.  Dude has made zero impact since he’s been here  

Think he had one game or two where he was a big reason they won but otherwise, yeah, very little.

10 hours ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Dbacks starting pitching was without Merrill Kelly and Rodriguez until close to 2nd week of August. Their pitching numbers aren’t indicative of what they actually have cause Kelly and Rodriguez missed significant amount of this year. Kelly is just starting to get back into form. Rodriguez hasn’t not been good but they are also trying to work his shoulder back into shape similar to Ranger Suarez with his issues. Even gallen has missed time for the dbacks. With gallen and Kelly they have a legit 1-2 and they both have proven they can win in the postseason. You better be able to hit in the postseason, ask the Phillies why they lost games 3,6 and 7 in the nlcs last year. I’d point out the dbacks pitching numbers weren’t spectacular last year entering the postseason particularly their bullpen. 

First the Astros aren’t a WC team. they are a division winner. They’ll play in the WC round but they aren’t in the WC race. Why i said the most dangerous team in the WC (wild card). Which I meant in the wild card race and really meant specifically for the Phillies in the NL. Imo think the Astros are likely the most dangerous threat to the Yankees in the AL side.

Second i should’ve also put in the NL WC. The WC in the AL doesn’t effect who the Phillies have to play to get to the WS. . I was strictly talking about NL with the Phillies in that comment. Can make a great argument for the padres being that but the padres have really struggled vs. the Phillies. The Phillies play well against the padres in Sd and in Philly. the dbacks have had guys in and out of the lineup for much of the year  (Marte, Walker, Moreno, Carroll was dealing with a shoulder problem most of the first half of the season) yet still best in baseball and their rotation had a bunch of injuries (was a disaster in April, May and July due to injuries). They currently are 5-5 vs padres and 4-3 vs. the Phillies. I’d add dbacks were tied for the best record in baseball since June 1 before last night. have the best record since July 1st. I think they are more dangerous to the Phillies as they know how to win in Philadelphia as they did it game 6 and 7 last year. The Phillies don’t play well in AZ. The dbacks don’t fear going into CBP

Skubal is awesome. the royals even if they lose have SF and nationals after this series. They avoid snell in that SF series. The tigers go to Baltimore after this series before facing the rays and white Sox. twins are in the last WC spot. They are not playing well right now. 5-9 in their last 14. (Royals haven’t been great either but they are 7-5 in their last 12). Twins have to face Cleveland 2 more times then go to Boston and finish with the orioles (who are likely needing to win to secure the homefield advantage in the WC especially if they run into a hot tigers team). Sandwiched in between is the marlins.  I think the twins could wind up being the team that misses out. Royals if they manage to find a way to win today really boosts their playoff odds considering their next 6 games and they’d have a 4 game lead over the tigers. I’d bet on the tigers with skubal. but then again i also thought Phillies throwing nola vs. Quintana would be a win for us and a loss for us with allard/walker pitching for the Phillies vs. severino who’s been one of the better starters on the Mets over the last month (6 starts his era is 2.35). Add on the marlins just beat the dodgers scoring 11 runs, Braves blew a 5-1 lead to the reds and the dbacks just lost 2 in a row to the Rockies. Weird stuff tends to happen in September that you usually don’t think will happen. 

The reality is that we are all speculating ... gazing into the future through a crystal ball.

The one new reality is that the Diamondbacks lead the Rockies by 6-0 after one inning.

14 minutes ago, mattwill said:

The reality is that we are all speculating ... gazing into the future through a crystal ball.

The one new reality is that the Diamondbacks lead the Rockies by 6-0 after one inning.

Yeah had had trouble seeing the dbacks losing all three in that series. 

Interesting nugget from jayson Stark during his interview on the radio. He said he thinks the Phillies are leaning to Christopher Sanchez pitching game two at home in the playoffs. And Aaron Nola being their number three starter. Which I think they should do because Christopher Sanchez’s splits home and away are drastic. He is a phenomenal at home. On the road, you might get that phenomenal or might get a bad outing.

 

1 hour ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Interesting nugget from jayson Stark during his interview on the radio. He said he thinks the Phillies are leaning to Christopher Sanchez pitching game two at home in the playoffs. And Aaron Nola being their number three starter. Which I think they should do because Christopher Sanchez’s splits home and away are drastic. He is a phenomenal at home. On the road, you might get that phenomenal or might get a bad outing.

 

I have no faith in almost "Superstar" Nola either way

Great start nola!