Rhys Hoskins reunion? Mets rivalry intensified? The Phillies’ NLDS opponent should be entertaining
A Phillies-Mets matchup in the divisional round would take the rivalry to new levels. Hoskins and the Brewers' biggest strengths are their speed, defense, and bullpen.
A Rhys reunion? Or meeting the Mets like never before?
Either way, no matter what happens in Milwaukee over these next two or three days, the Phillies’ first matchup of this wide-open National League postseason will feature a compelling backdrop and storylines galore.
The Mets clinched a wild card in epic fashion Monday. In the opener of a makeup doubleheader in Atlanta, they traded late-inning blows with the Braves like weary prizefighters before star shortstop Francisco Lindor landed the haymaker: a two-run homer in the ninth inning for an 8-7 win in an instant classic.
» READ MORE: The Phillies got the playoff bye they wanted. Here’s how they’ll try to stay ready during a five-day layoff.
But because the Braves pulled out the finale, 3-0, they won the No. 5 seed and eliminated the defending NL champion Diamondbacks, who watched from Arizona after dropping five of their last seven games.
So the Braves will visit the No. 4 Padres in the postseason tournament, which begins Tuesday. The Mets are the No. 6 seed and will visit the third-seeded Brewers in the best-of-three wild-card round.
It’s the latter matchup that will interest the Phillies. They will await the winner Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.
Other than rooting for the Brewers and Mets to go the distance — since the expansion of the wild-card round to a best-of-three miniseries in 2022, seven of the eight series have been sweeps — the Phillies might as well flip a coin.
The Brewers went 93-69 and won the NL Central in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. The Mets started 24-35, then went 65-38, the best record in baseball since June 3. Need further evidence that each team will pose a considerable challenge? Look no further than the Phillies’ 2-5 trip to Milwaukee and New York two weeks ago.
A look at how the Phillies stack up with them in a five-game series:
Brewers
Rhys Hoskins got multiple standing ovations and a PhanaVision tribute in an emotional three-game return to Citizens Bank Park in June.
It’s fair to assume the welcome won’t be as warm in October.
Although the longtime Phillies first baseman and master of the Bat Spike returned after losing last season to knee surgery, he still wasn’t all the way back. In his first year with the Brewers, he hit 26 homers but batted .214 with a .722 OPS, both career lows.
But Hoskins helped set a winning tone for a young Milwaukee roster right from opening day, when he set off a benches-clearing brawl with a hard slide into Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil.
» READ MORE: How Kyle Schwarber went from failed leadoff experiment to a unique, record-setting No. 1 hitter
The Brewers scored the fourth-highest total of runs in the NL despite losing star left fielder Christian Yelich in July to back surgery. Most of their power comes from the right side (William Contreras, Willy Adames, Hoskins, and rookie phenom Jackson Chourio), but Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola still held them to only two runs in 14 innings two weeks ago. Sal Frelick, one of their top left-handed hitters, is dealing with a bruised left hip.
Freddy Peralta will start Game 1 of the wild-card round, which would line him up for Game 2 of the division series Sunday. Otherwise, manager Pat Murphy told reporters Monday that he hasn’t committed to any other starters.
The Brewers’ rotation is entirely right-handed, with Tobias Myers, Frankie Montas, Aaron Civale, and Colin Rea, which suggests Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott will be in the Phillies’ lineup. But Murphy used lefty Jared Koenig in the first inning to open consecutive games in June against Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. It’s a strategy he could deploy again.
But the Brewers’ biggest strengths are their speed, defense, and bullpen.
They stole 217 bases, second in the NL and second-best in club history. Brice Turang, who swiped 50 bags, is a Gold Glove candidate at second base, while center fielder Blake Perkins, third baseman Joey Ortiz, and Contreras behind the plate are strong defenders.
And if the Brewers are leading in the middle innings, they can shorten a game with Trevor Megill, Koenig, Joel Payamps, Bryan Hudson, Aaron Ashby, and closer Devin Williams. Koenig and Hudson are the top lefties.
“The great thing for us is we didn’t have anybody underachieve,” Murphy told reporters Monday. “We had players who might have, numbers-wise, played below league average. Or we might’ve had guys off the bench that didn’t get the opportunity. But we didn’t have one player underachieve. So that’s who we have in that room. We have guys who feel great about who they are as major leaguers.”
Mets
It has been mentioned before in this space, but it’s worth repeating: In the 62 years that they have coexisted as major league franchises, the Phillies and Mets have had mutual winning seasons only 10 times.
Tough way to sustain a rivalry, isn’t it?
The height of the Phillies-Mets grudge match came from 2006 to 2008, when they finished first and second in the NL East three years in a row. It’s never been better than in 2007, when the surging Phillies ran down the swooning Mets in the final three weeks of the season.
» READ MORE: Bryce Harper knows the Phillies’ time is now. But he also believes their window isn’t close to shutting.
Imagine, though, if those teams had met in the playoffs. A Phillies-Mets matchup now in the divisional round would take the rivalry to new levels, like the Phillies-Braves showdowns in the last two postseasons.
The Mets have to get there first, though.
Lindor, the NL MVP in a non-Shohei Ohtani world, delivered likely the biggest regular-season hit in Mets history with his homer Monday. He has been playing through a sore back, which caused him to miss all but nine innings in seven games against the Phillies down the stretch.
Offensively, the Mets’ four-month surge has been powered by Lindor, veteran infielder Jose Iglesias, and third baseman Mark Vientos. Neither Pete Alonso nor Brandon Nimmo has reached his typical level of production, although lefty-swinging Nimmo took Wheeler and Nola deep last month.
The Mets lack an honest-to-goodness No. 1 starter and tied for 12th in the majors with a 3.91 starters’ ERA. But they could provide matchup problems for the Phillies with three lefty starters. Sean Manaea has a 3.05 ERA since the middle of June, and, while the Phillies likely wouldn’t see him until later in the series, Jose Quintana or David Peterson could be lined up for Game 1.
If there’s a glaring weakness, it’s the bullpen. There’s only one lefty (Danny Young), and the bridge to closer Edwin Díaz is rickety. The Phillies rallied from a 4-0 deficit on Sept. 14, then walked the Mets off the next day. Manager Carlos Mendoza used Díaz to get 10 outs in back-to-back games against the Phillies on Sept. 21-22 in New York.
» READ MORE: Phillies prepare for third straight postseason run: ‘This is the standard’ for this team now
But the Mets overcame their bullpen follies and their wretched start and everything else and partied on the field Monday in Atlanta. And after 62 years of a rivalry that’s fueled by little more than convenient geography, it might be time for the Phillies and Mets to finally ratchet things up.