Philadelphia Phillies Schedule Gets a Lot Harder From Here
By John Town
The Phillies picked up their second sweep in a row over the Marlins, but their schedule gets a lot tougher moving forward from here.
Just like 2016, the Phillies are off to another hot start this season. With 20 games under their belt so far, they have an 11-9 record, good for second place in the National League East. They are one game ahead of the Marlins but four games behind the Nationals.
Maintaining a record above .500 will be tough for the team moving forward considering their upcoming schedule. They start off with a three-game series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers, who are playing better than their 11-12 record indicates. Considering their advanced metrics, Baseball Prospectus says the Dodgers should lead the NL West with a 13-9 record (not considering Thursday’s game).
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Moving into May, the Phils head to Chicago to face the reigning World Series champion Cubs. The Cubs lead the NL Central with a 12-9 record and look poised for another playoff run.
It doesn’t get much easier from there as the Nationals come to Philadelphia for a weekend series. They are running away with the NL East with a four-game lead over the Phils as mentioned earlier.
Future Phillie Bryce Harper looks like his normal phenomenal self with a 1.373 OPS to start the season.
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The Phils get a bit of a break with a two-game set against the Mariners sandwiched between two off days. Seattle is 10-13 so far this year and just lost Felix Hernandez to injury. However, they have another set with the Nationals, this time on the road in Washington.
The Rangers are currently fourth in the AL West with a 10-12 record, but they did win the division pennant last year and they could very well find their stride once again. Plus it would add to the Cole Hamels reunion narrative.
Even though the Pirates are 9-12 and last in the NL Central, the Phils always seem to struggle when they go to PNC Park.
After their three-game series, they have to face the red-hot Colorado Rockies for four games.
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Thankfully, this stretch of tough series ends May 26 when the Reds come to Philadelphia. Even then, that’s almost a month of tough teams Philadelphia has to face. After this stretch, we can better gauge how they stack up versus the rest of the league.