The Philadelphia Phillies checked off another box with a clinch of a first-round bye in the MLB playoffs — a feat the team hadn't yet reached despite playing October baseball in two straight seasons. A few things had to happen to fall into place. Luckily, the Phillies clinched at home before their regular season series finale in Washington.
The first-round bye is given to the top two teams in each league and gives a free pass into, and home-field advantage in, the Division Series. The Phillies secured the No. 2 seed but fell short of the No. 1 seed to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The bye will be unfamiliar territory for the Phillies as the two previous postseason visits were kicked off with a three-game Wild Card Series.
Phillies' first-round bye in MLB playoffs is important despite Braves' crybaby act
Much has been discussed about the bye, with additional scrutiny coming from the Atlanta Braves. Ken Rosenthal, on the Phillies-Mets broadcast on Sept. 19, spoke about what Braves manager Brian Snitker said about his team losing after the bye in two straight years — to the Phillies.
Back during spring training, Snitker said that he didn't like the playoff system, which didn't impress Phillies players.
"It's hard to hit velocity when you haven't seen anything in five days," Snitker said. Rosenthal would go on to mention that a number of Phillies took offense and that Snitker was making excuses.
"A number of Phillies took offense. They believe Snitker was making excuses and demeaning their back-to-back triumphs as a Wild Card over the Braves in the DS."@Ken_Rosenthal talks about how the Phillies felt about the comments made in the spring by the Braves manager pic.twitter.com/F8DbUmap2s
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) September 20, 2024
Snitker's comments certainly made waves around baseball, but the excuse doesn't hold water. How can anyone feel bad for a team like the Braves that took the second and first seeds those years just to fall in the NLDS? The team that also won the World Series in 2021.
The Braves came up short not once, but twice in the same fashion with Atlanta holding home-field advantage in each of those rounds.
Phillies general manager Sam Fuld discussed his view on the bye and what the time off will mean to the club.
"You get an opportunity to jump right into the Division Series," Sam Fuld said in a recent appearance on Phillies on Deck. "It's not the route we've taken the last couple years. And obviously there's a lot of narrative out there, and rightfully so, about the challenges that exist in having a little bit of a layoff. But if you asked all 30 clubs in the league, they would say that they'd rather have that bye than play that Wild Card Series. So, it would give us a chance to rest our guys and obviously, it is difficult."
First baseman Bryce Harper also chimed in on how important the rest will be, per MLB.com Todd Zolecki.
“I mean, everybody goes through bumps and bruises throughout the season,” Harper said, per Zolecki. “I feel like it’s getting better. I feel like my swings are OK. But obviously, these next couple days, going into Sunday, we’ll see what the lineups look like. Obviously, you want to get the best record in baseball, so we do have the bye. But we'll see what happens.
“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. 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.”
The Phillies have the chance to change the narrative of that time off. With a well-rested lineup and starting staff, who's to say that's something opponents want to face in Red October?