Jayson Stark Is Not Taking the Phillies to Win the NL East
With everything going on with the Eagles, it is easy to forget that the Phillies season is just over the horizon. Pitchers and catchers report shortly after the Super Bowl, and not long after that Spring training will begin. And to review the Phillies’ busy off-season, and preview the upcoming season, Jayson Stark joined The Best Show Ever. Here is what Jayson had to say.
On why he is not taking the Phillies to win the NL East
“I feel like they have had a really good off-season. But I would not pick them to win the division. The division is going to be awesome. the Phillies could win it. They could still win the World Series. But if I think it through, the Braves are younger for sure. Deeper probably, and still on the rise. The Mets are loaded. The owner has a gazillion dollars. Their pitching staff if everyone is healthy could be terrifying.
Here is where I stand on he Phillies. I think are certainly better than last year. Deeper than last year. Better and deeper than they have been since 2011. But here is my resignation. If you think about how they got to that World Series, some things in life are just hard to replicate. The magic act would be hard to replicate. No Bryce Harper for 70-80 games. Are they going to win 60% of their game without him again? It feels like that is a lot to as.
They had to push their best pitchers all the way to November 5th. That takes a toll. Nola and Wheeler were gassed by the end. You give them 1 less month to recover and crank it back up. I don’t know. There are a lot of tales of World Series teams that have shown us that the hangover is real. It is just something to watch carefully.
But on paper, best team here in a long time. One of the best in the sport.”
And you can listen to the full conversation with Jayson Stark below…
