The Philadelphia Phillies have had a strong 2024 MLB campaign to date. Sitting atop the entire league at 90-59, as well as holding an 9.0-game lead in the NL East, they are poised to make the playoffs for the third consecutive season. As such, the Phillies are set to complete some unfinished business from the last two postseason in which they fell just short of the World Series title.
So what are the Phillies' chances this year to achieve the feat?
A panel of MLB execs, along with some scouts and players came together to vote on the MLB playoff favorites for this postseason, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN. With the two best records in the league, they believe that between the Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers, the Phillies have the upper hand as they received nine votes as opposed to four for the Dodgers.
The main reasons the Phillies are favored is the fact that injuries have rattled the Dodgers’ rotation, along with the strength of the Phillies' rotation.
MLB execs pick Phillies as 2024 MLB playoff favorite but with a catch
One panelist believed the way the Phillies have their roster set up is complete and has fewer weaknesses than in the past.
"Even though there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the playoffs these days, I feel like the Phillies are going to break through," one American League panelist said, per Rogers. "Their starting pitchers have thrown the third-most innings in baseball, and their relievers have the second-best strikeout percentage in MLB. Power plus a bullpen that misses bats, that doesn't have to get into games until the sixth inning at the earliest, is a good formula."
But that doesn’t mean the Dodgers would be easy pushovers by any means. With their big three of Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, never count them out as one Dodgers supporter insisted.
"I just can't wrap my head around getting those three out enough in a series to beat them," an AL scout said. "In a game? Sure. But a best-of-five or better, I still like Los Angeles -- as long as they can find someone to pitch."
However, as much as the Phillies look to roll in the playoffs, the panel predicted there could be one major obstacle that could prove to be a roadblock in their quest for the championship title. That would be the pesky San Diego Padres, as they were voted to be the biggest threat that nobody would want to face in this year’s postseason.
The panelists believe that the Padres’ key deadline additions of bullpen arms Jason Adam and Tanner Scott have elevated them to elite status. Since the trade deadline, the Padres’ bullpen has ranked first in strikeout rate and fourth in walk rate. Also, they predicted that having a strong bullpen could be a winning formula in the playoffs. On top of that, by getting superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. back in their lineup, they can now match up with any opposing team’s offensive lineup.
"I don't know that I'd like to play the Padres in a postseason series, particularly if Tatis is fully healthy by then. That's a dangerous team that can score runs and has a solid rotation, but more importantly can shorten games and can get a bunch of strikeouts in late innings -- which is huge come postseason," one National League executive said.
In any event, no matter who the Phillies end up playing, they will certainly be up to the challenge. They have already met extreme adversity and they somehow survived all season with injuries to their key players. So no doubt they will be ready for any opponent that comes their way as they prepare to run the gauntlet all the way to the World Series.