Don’t Forget Why the Philadelphia Phillies Are Buried in the NL East

When the Philadelphia Phillies embarked on a 17-day challenge of 17 critical games, they were on the outside looking in to the National League Wild Card picture. Today, they have accomplished at least one goal, and that is playing with the lead. The NL East race is a different story.

With 43 games left in the regular season, the Phillies have the ability to secure the top spot and home-field advantage in the best-of-three Wild Card series that begins on Tuesday, October 3rd. Last year was an amazing journey. Having the first three possible games at home would kick off the energy of Red October.

We can celebrate that small bit of control of their playoff lives. However, it’s hard not to reflect on the fact that once again, the Phillies find themselves 11 games out in the NL East race. It's another summer when they were never in the hunt. Before you tell me that “the Braves are loaded,” we all understand that.

While the Phillies starting pitching has been healthy, the Braves staff hasn't been at full strength. They've lost 3/5 of their starting rotation to the IL this season. We are spinning excuses if we just brush off not being competitive.

Here are a few reasons that we once again don’t have a pennant race to concern ourselves with:

The Phillies never seem to be able to handle the Marlins, but at least they aren’t trailing the season series. The Marlins' young pitching is impressive, but not every team struggles against them. The Braves have played the Marlins 10 times also, but they are 9-1 against them.

That’s 4 games you gave up in the NL East standings!

The Phillies once again find a way to struggle vs the Mets. It’s inconceivable. They are one of the worst teams in the NL yet the losses pile up. While the Phillies are 2-4 vs the Mets, the Braves are 8-2.

That’s currently 4 games you gave up in your own division. 

The Braves are 4-2 against the Nationals, and the Phillies are currently 6-4 in the season series. Another mediocre showing in the division against a Quad-A Nationals squad. Losing that home series to the Nats heading into the MLB All-Star Break adds to your plight.

Trips to San Francisco have been historically an issue for the Phillies. A listless three-game sweep by the Giants makes their upcoming series at Citizens Bank Park more critical. The Wild Card series can’t involve another trip West.

If you played as well as the Braves against just the Mets and Marlins, you would wake up this morning just three games out of first place. Even a little worse showing could have you five games out.

The Phillies and the Braves meet seven more times this season, and the Phillies could have made those games meaningful. We all know that none of that matters come October as the Phillies proved last season, but a pennant race is something a payroll and star-studded lineup like this should be able to deliver.

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