The Philadelphia Phillies are headed to the postseason for the third consecutive season. It marks their best stretch since the storied 2007-2011 Phillies teams. After clinching the NL East on Monday night in front of a frenzied Citizen's Bank Park crowd, the club set its sights on something that the franchise has never done before.
On Wednesday night, the Phillies defeated the Chicago Cubs 9-6. While most of Philadelphia was scoreboard watching, the Milwaukee Brewers lost in Pittsburgh, allowing the Phillies to clinch a first-round bye in the postseason. This sets the club up with some time off before the National League Division Series begins on Oct. 5.
This marks the first time since the introduction of the third Wild Card team that the Phillies have won their division and claimed a bye in the first round.
Phillies clinch first-round bye for 2024 MLB playoffs
Heading into the 2024 regular season, the Phillies were not even the favorites to win their division. The entire National League East has been living in the shadow of the Atlanta Braves for the better part of the last decade (in the regular season anyway).
However, given the slew of injuries and under-performing players on the Braves roster, the Phillies have had a firm grasp on the top spot in the division for most of the season and solidified that by clinching the division earlier this week against the Chicago Cubs.
While winning their first division title since 2011 is nice, clinching a bye in the first round of the postseason was the goal. Even though some teams have complained about the extra time off, the Phillies find it beneficial. In reality it is.
The club will have a chance to reset its pitching staff and give some of their everyday players some time to rest. Bryce Harper spoke about the benefits of having some time to get healthy during the downtime of a bye, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
“I think the bye is going to help a lot of our team. I mean, I think a lot of guys are kind of grinding through a lot of stuff, so kind of getting that reset and kind of hitting the pause for a minute," Harper said, per Zolecki. "Obviously, we’ve still got to stay in shape and do the things we can do. Kind of take a page out of Houston’s book. They've done it the last couple years, so they've been able to do it. So, we’ll see what happens different.”
As far as pitching goes, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola are expected to pitch this weekend in Washington. They will get their work in so that they do not have an overly extended layoff heading into the NLDS.
It is important, however, that the Phillies come off of the downtime with momentum. It should not be difficult to find some given the fact that Citizen's Bank Park will be rocking come first pitch of the NLDS, regardless of the opponent.