PHILADELPHIA – While everyone was working, the Phillies were playing.
With a bye in the first round of the Major League Baseball post-season, the Philadelphia Phillies needed to find a way to stay loose between games. With their first matchup set for Saturday, October 5th, the club awaits their opponent.
They will face the winner of the Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets series in the Wild Card Round. At the time of this article, the Mets lead the series 1-0.
Time will tell how the first-round bye works out for the Phillies but their approach was the right one. While the bye hasn’t worked out for a lot of teams under the expanded playoff, the Phillies can do their part in changing the odds.
Play Ball!
On Wednesday, the Phils decided to take a backyard baseball approach. They picked teams and played an 8-inning ballgame amongst themselves. It was Team Harper vs Team Schwarber, with Bryce rocking the Powder Blue Jerseys and Kyle selecting the Red Pinstripes. Schwarber was the away team and Harper was the home club. Dusty Wathan managed Bryce’s squad and Paco Figueroa took the mantle for Kyle’s team.
In an effort to make the game as real as possible, they pulled out all the stops. Players had their normal walk-up music play when stepping to the plate. They were introduced over the PA system and even had their displays on the jumbotron. The standard four umpires were also used for the game to keep the consistency.
Ranger Suarez started on the mound for the Phils. Rob Thomson perched himself in the stands behind home plate to watch his veteran left-hander in what could be considered a playoff audition. Suarez has struggled since returning from the Injured List and has lost the confidence of many fans. He has not lost the trust of his manager, however.
It took Ranger just 21 pitches to complete two innings of work. It was all that Thomson needed to see before moving on to the bullpen. When asked his thoughts on Ranger’s performance and its implications on the post-season, Topper said it “eased his mind.” His command was where it needed to be this afternoon.
Spencer Turnbull also took the mound in Wednesday’s scrimmage. Turnbull has missed a significant amount of the season due to injury but has returned just in time for the playoffs. His performance however was not stellar and Rob Thomson described it as “erratic.” I would consider Spencer to be a longshot to make the NLDS roster but he does have a chance to make the NLCS roster if the team advances.
Phillies Go Deep
A couple of Phillies had standout performances during the squad’s matchup.
Thomson described that in the bottom of the last inning, Team Schwarber led 5-3. Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos would go deep, hitting home runs to tie the game at 5-5. This would result in the ball game ending with the completion of the 8th. Tanner Banks was on the receiving end of both.
Weston Wilson also homered in the game, hitting his long ball off of Kolby Allard. It was not specified which team he was on.
Bryson Stott went 0/4 according to Rob Thomson but had two balls that he “hit on the screws.” That has been a theme for Stott, who has earned better contact in recent weeks. If Bryson can keep at it, those hard-hit balls should turn into base hits when the Phillies need them the most.
Austin Hays participated in the game and Rob Thomson said that Hays looked great. He was running the best he had in weeks. Rob also mentioned how he considered Hays to be an everyday player in the post-season. That could be a hint as to his plans with Marsh and Rojas during the playoffs.
The Phillies will host the first two games of the NLDS at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday and Sunday. Both games are scheduled for 4:08 pm starts and will be on FOX.
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
