Regular Season Recap
The Phillies wrapped up their season on Tuesday, finishing 36-20 with a +46 run differential. Their record was tied for 7th in the 45 team league, and they won the East division by 2 games over the NYY Yankees and Tigers 2, both of whom also advanced to the postseason.
They were 4th in the league in runs scored with 428 and hit .288/.403/.426 as a team. They were 13th in home runs with 32 and 35th in stolen bases with 107. The pitching was much less good in aggregate, with a 6.63 ERA, which was 31st in the league. They were 4th in strikeouts, and 6th in K/9, but were 26th in BB/9.
Much like the teams stats, the offense outpaced on the individual side. OF Francisco Renteria was 1st in the league in OPS (1.152), 3rd in AVG (.379), 1st in SLG (.682), was tied for 2nd in HRs (11), and tied for 37th in SBs (24). Some late slumps brought some overall numbers down, and injuries and rest kept players off of qualifying leaderboards, but Edwin Ramies (.415/.486/.545), Nelson Prieto (.303/.388/.559), and Juan Parra (.300/.457/.444) all played big roles.
On the pitching side, inconsistency was a problem, but LHP Samuel Ortiz (37 IP 2.68 ERA) was the best at suppressing runs, but RHP Yilmar Samudio (32 IP 4.22 ERA) had the highest upside with a mid 90s fastball, and RHP Cristian Rego (29.2 IP 5.76 ERA) struggled in a few late starts but was their most well rounded starter. The team lose RHP Albertt Medina (19.1 IP 1.40 ERA) to injury which will put some hurt on middle relief, but still has closer RHP Jorge Mitre (17 IP 3.18 ERA 6 SV) for late game.
Playoff Format
This year the eight division winners and eight wild cards were divided up into 4 groups. Each team will play the other 3 teams in their group once and then the best record in each group will move on to the semi-finals. The semi-finals and finals will both be best of three series. The Phillies group includes:
- DSL Padres Gold (40-16)
- DSL Phillies (36-20)
- DSL Astros Orange (33-20)
- DSL Angels (33-22)
The Padres have been one of the best teams in the league and feature a significantly older pitching staff and a good offense with some older hitters in it as well.
Playoff Schedule
The games start today, Thursday, and the Phillies will host their first two games before going on the road for their third game. The Phillies home games should be streamed, but it does not look like the Padres have an official stream.
- Thursday 8/20 11am ET: Astros Orange @ Phillies
- Friday 8/21 11am ET: Angels @ Phillies
- Saturday 8/22 10am ET: Phillies @ Padres Gold
- Monday 8/24 – Wednesday 8/26 – Semifinals (Best of 3)
- Friday 8/28 – Sunday 8/30 – Finals (Best of 3)