As the Philadelphia Phillies get set to embark on the final week of the regular season schedule, they are looking to accomplish a couple of things. They’ve had the National League East locked up for a week now, but there’s still more to play for.
First, they want to lock down a top-two seed in the National League playoff picture. Then, if they can, it would be great to overtake the Milwaukee Brewers, who they trail by three games, for the No. 1 seed. It's a long shot, but you never know.
The Phillies currently own the No. 2 seed. As the NL West leaders, the Los Angeles Dodgers are the closest competition for that spot but trail the Phillies by four games. In fact, the Phillies hold the tiebreaker over Los Angeles, so it’s really a five-game lead.
Phillies' magic number down to two, can clinch first-round bye on Tuesday
Entering play on Tuesday, the Phillies’ magic number to clinch a first-round bye is down to two. That means that any combination of Phillies wins and Dodgers losses will result in the Phillies clinching a bye past the first round Wild Card Series.
In that case, their first playoff action would come when the National League Division Series gets underway at Citizens Bank Park on Oct. 4.
The MLB schedule makers certainly gave the Phillies a soft landing spot for their final homestand of the year. The 76-80 Miami Marlins are in town for three games beginning Tuesday, followed by the 67-89 Minnesota Twins on the weekend.
Clinching a bye seems inevitable at this point and could happen as early as Tuesday night. The Dodgers’ schedule isn’t quite as easy as the Phillies'. They’re on the road facing the pesky Arizona Diamondbacks who are fighting for a playoff spot and are a tough out right now, as we all learned this past weekend. Seeing a Phillies win and a Dodgers loss tonight is a very real possibility.
Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper is a fan of the first-round bye, according to MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, despite it not working out for his team last year. If you recall (how could you forget?), the Phillies had the bye and then flopped in the NLDS against the New York Mets.
“I want to clinch the bye, for sure,” Harper said this past weekend, per Zolecki. “That’s the biggest thing for all of us. It’s worked for some teams, obviously, and there’s other teams that have complained about it, but I don’t think we’re going to be one of those teams. We weren’t last year. I’m looking forward to having it. I would love a couple days off, obviously.”
Once the Phillies clinch the first-round bye we may see them ease off the gas pedal a little. They will set their sights ahead as they prepare for the postseason and try to keep everyone healthy entering October. But that doesn't mean they won't forget about chasing the Brewers for the top seed, so fans might have one more race in the standings to look forward to this week.