The Philadelphia Phillies Have Masterfully Managed To Take Any Shred Of Pressure And Expectation Off Of Themselves Heading Into The Postseason
Emilee Chinn. Getty Images.The Phillies finally eked their way into the postseason yesterday after losing 4 out of their last 5 games. In those 4 losses, they scored a combined 3 runs. Not great! There's just nothing about this Phillies team that makes you feel confident in their ability to magically turn it on for the postseason.
Which could actually be exactly what this team needs right now.
Just think about what this team has done over the last few years. That run in 2022 came out of nowhere. It was so magical because nobody expected it. Everybody was just happy to have October baseball back in Philly, that a run to the World Series was more than we could ever imagine. But that set the standard. And even though 2023 was another solid run, the expectations for this team to get back to the World Series clearly caused them to tighten up in that NLCS. The pressure was on, and they cracked. Then comes 2024 and 2025. They finally win the NL East again after more than a decade. They get to skip the wild card and head straight to the NLDS. Both years end after just 4 postseason games.
They've been trending the wrong way ever since 2022, but maybe this is what they needed to rebound back up.
Nobody believes in this team. Nobody expects a single goddamn thing out of them besides getting obliterated by Atlanta in a couple of days. Don't believe me? Check the replies on that tweet. And honestly, nobody should believe in this team. But the last two times they had to play in the wild card, they at least made it to the NLCS. And the last time they had to start the postseason on the road, they were playing for a World Series. This team might be playing like dog shit right now, but maybe they are just better when all of the pressure is off. Maybe they play their best ball when they don't have an ounce of expectation on them. And if that's the case, they could be the most dangerous team heading into the playoffs.
You could absolutely argue that it does matter how you get in if you play 2 weeks of horrific baseball to close out the regular season. But baseball is weird. You can get scorching hot at any moment just as quickly as you can go ice cold. All you have to do is just win 2 games to give yourself an opportunity to go win 3 games. Simple stuff, really.