That Balls Outta Here
FanSided

Phillies: Five Yankees they’ll hate facing if the divisions merge

By David Esser

Aroldis Chapman New York Yankees (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Aroldis Chapman New York Yankees (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 5
Next
TAMPA, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 24: in the inning during the spring training game against the at Steinbrenner Field on February 24, 2020 in Tampa, Florida. Phillies (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 24: in the inning during the spring training game against the at Steinbrenner Field on February 24, 2020 in Tampa, Florida. Phillies (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

If the Phillies get a new schedule they’ll have to face these dangerous Yankees stars

It’s unclear whether we’ll see Phillies baseball played this summer or not. Despite things initially appearing to be heading in the right direction, Max Scherzer’s recent comments have left fans feeling far more pessimistic as of late.

However, if baseball is in fact played in 2020, one of the rumored changes that would occur would be that of teams exclusively playing opponents within their division as well as opponents in the corresponding interleague division. For example, the Phillies would only play teams in the NL East and the AL East.

A change like this completely shakes up the entire league, and provides the Phillies with an entire new set of opponents to worry about. Obviously, the juggernaut that is the New York Yankees sits at the top of that list of teams to draw the Phillies’ concern. With that in mind, here are 5 Yankees that are worth feeling uneasy about matching up against in 2020.

*Note: The Yankees have a lot of really good players, and it was impossible to include all of them in this list. Guys who were left out will be covered at a later date.*

Gerrit Cole

Let’s get the obvious one out of the way first: Gerrit Cole is without question the best pitcher in baseball currently.

Cole had an absolutely absurd year in 2019, playing a major role in the Houston Astros’ success*. Across 33 starts, Cole went 20-5 with an AL-leading 2.50 ERA. He also led the entire MLB in both strikeouts and ERA+. He quite controversially placed second in the American League Cy Young voting, while also being named to his third All-Star Game.

All of Cole’s greatness in 2019 earned him the largest pitching contract in league history, signing a deal worth $324 million over nine years.

While the Phillies have their own ace in Aaron Nola to match up against Cole on any given day, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to say the Phils really don’t have much of a fighting chance when it comes to taking down Cole.

Home/Phillies News