What does this team have left in the tank?

Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels
Looking back at the years gone by like so many summer fields
In sixty-five I was seventeen and running up one-on-one
I don't know where I'm running now, I'm just running on

re: Heyman on Maddon from the previous thread, it sounded like Heyman was completely speculating

took the phils just 5 games to turn my 88 win scenario into an 86 win scenario. at this point i'm just hoping they manage to get to 82 or 83 wins, thus finishing a lot less depressingly than last year.

phorever wrote:took the phils just 5 games to turn my 88 win scenario into an 86 win scenario. at this point i'm just hoping they manage to get to 82 or 83 wins, thus finishing a lot less depressingly than last year.

Brutal stretch coming up with 23 of their next 27 after tonight are vs teams above .500, and then the final 3 vs Miami to end the regular season

Ace Rothstein wrote:

phorever wrote:took the phils just 5 games to turn my 88 win scenario into an 86 win scenario. at this point i'm just hoping they manage to get to 82 or 83 wins, thus finishing a lot less depressingly than last year.

Brutal stretch coming up with 23 of their next 27 after tonight are vs teams above .500, and then the final 3 vs Miami to end the regular season

No, let's play the good teams, that's what we're good at

Absolutely certain we are going to finish in a tie for the second wild card and inexplicably embarrass the other team on the road. It came to me kind of funny. Like in a dream.

1 wrote:Absolutely certain we are going to finish in a tie for the second wild card and inexplicably embarrass the other team on the road. It came to me kind of funny. Like in a dream.

Do they still do coin flips to decide who is the home team in case of a tie? Or is it best record head to head?

how detailed do you think he dreams?!?!?!?!?!

1 wrote:Absolutely certain we are going to finish in a tie for the second wild card and inexplicably embarrass the other team on the road. It came to me kind of funny. Like in a dream.

I know this feeling, I had it once. I was at a game against the Pirates in 1998 that the Phillies were losing 7-1 in the seventh and headed into a rain delay. My buddy and I were chatting on our way up to the 700 level to sit under the roof top coverage to wait it out, he usually the optimist, and me the pessimist, but this night was different. Something told me they were going to win. And by “something” I mean something I had never felt before, and have never felt again; like something outside of myself whispered it directly into my brain, implanting certain knowledge of future events. I remember I started laughing. Something genuinely came over me.

They won the game in the bottom of the ninth by scoring 7 runs capped by a Lieberthal HR.

I hope yours comes true too; it’s a helluva thing and feeling. I count that night as one of my top 5 to this day.

Ace Rothstein wrote:

1 wrote:Absolutely certain we are going to finish in a tie for the second wild card and inexplicably embarrass the other team on the road. It came to me kind of funny. Like in a dream.

Do they still do coin flips to decide who is the home team in case of a tie? Or is it best record head to head?

Head to head, then divisional record, so either way, we'd be on the road

Wolfgang622 wrote:

1 wrote:Absolutely certain we are going to finish in a tie for the second wild card and inexplicably embarrass the other team on the road. It came to me kind of funny. Like in a dream.

I know this feeling, I had it once. I was at a game against the Pirates in 1998 that the Phillies were losing 7-1 in the seventh and headed into a rain delay. My buddy and I were chatting on our way up to the 700 level to sit under the roof top coverage to wait it out, he usually the optimist, and me the pessimist, but this night was different. Something told me they were going to win. And by “something” I mean something I had never felt before, and have never felt again; like something outside of myself whispered it directly into my brain, implanting certain knowledge of future events. I remember I started laughing. Something genuinely came over me.

They won the game in the bottom of the ninth by scoring 7 runs capped by a Lieberthal HR.

I hope yours comes true too; it’s a helluva thing and feeling. I count that night as one of my top 5 to this day.

and i thought the highlight of that ninth inning was going to be mark lewis extending his hitting streak.

BigEd76 wrote:

Ace Rothstein wrote:

1 wrote:Absolutely certain we are going to finish in a tie for the second wild card and inexplicably embarrass the other team on the road. It came to me kind of funny. Like in a dream.

Do they still do coin flips to decide who is the home team in case of a tie? Or is it best record head to head?

Head to head, then divisional record, so either way, we'd be on the road

Wouldn’t they have the tie breaker on Cubs

Ace Rothstein wrote:

phorever wrote:took the phils just 5 games to turn my 88 win scenario into an 86 win scenario. at this point i'm just hoping they manage to get to 82 or 83 wins, thus finishing a lot less depressingly than last year.

Brutal stretch coming up with 23 of their next 27 after tonight are vs teams above .500, and then the final 3 vs Miami to end the regular season

that's one of the main reasons finishing even a little above .500 would be a lot less depressing than the end of last season, despite the high expectations this spring. the other big reasons are losing cutch and the entire friggin' bullpen to injury. some minor (in two ways) reasons are the rebound by bohm and the more than complete post-injury rebound from howard, which is better news at the top of the team prospect list than bohm's disappointing 2018 combined with sixto being on the dl well into last fall.

for getting ripped pretty frequently by a lot, klentak's acquisitions in the pen and to fill in have kinda kept us alive re: Dickerson morin etc

get well soon jay bruce!

One of the TV people said Bruce is supposed to be back as a pinch hitting only on 9/1.

mtcal wrote:for getting ripped pretty frequently by a lot, klentak's acquisitions in the pen and to fill in have kinda kept us alive re: Dickerson morin etc

get well soon jay bruce!

to me, what klentak did wrong is pretty much limited to going with the combo of talented but high-risk starters backed by a deep and proven but expensive pen instead of going with the alternative fewer expensive vets in the pen and using the money for corbin and/or keuchel. that was a gamble that could have paid off, but instead he got pretty much the worse case scenario out of it: all risky starters regressed, all expensive old relievers ... and most of the young ones... got hurt. and yes, i am probably overly forgiving of this because i convinced myself it was the right gamble.

what klentak did right in the offseason was acquire bryce, cutch, jtr, and sequra. all have contributed vastly more than the guys they replaced, and cutch may well have been right up there with jtr in the top ten of fwar if he hadn't gotten hurt.

what klentak did right during the season is pick up enough talent to keep them in the playoff hunt despite the injuries, and spend next to nothing doing it so that they can go all-in on the likes of cole and cole this coming offseason.

Ace Rothstein wrote:

BigEd76 wrote:

Ace Rothstein wrote:

1 wrote:Absolutely certain we are going to finish in a tie for the second wild card and inexplicably embarrass the other team on the road. It came to me kind of funny. Like in a dream.

Do they still do coin flips to decide who is the home team in case of a tie? Or is it best record head to head?

Head to head, then divisional record, so either way, we'd be on the road

Wouldn’t they have the tie breaker on Cubs

Yes, sorry, I was thinking of the Nats, who we probably won't catch. If we end up tied with the Cubs for the 2nd wild card, there would be a tiebreaker game here, yes.

Agree with phorever on Klentak, and I doubt most fans recognize it. The pitching strategy wasn't reckless or stupid, it's just that unfortunately EVERY guy on the fence fell the wrong way with injury/inexperience. Smyly and Vargas might be patching holes with chewing gum, but they've helped keep us in it for weeks at no cost.

The lineup additions were great from the start and will probably keep paying dividends in 2020 at least. But enough guys have underperformed where Klentak needed to plug holes there too, and at least Bruce and Dickerson have provided some value at no cost.

I can't speak to the drafts or farm system, but imo Klentak has done a really good job with the MLB roster.

Mets and Phillies tie for the second wild card. Madness ensues.