In lackluster fashion, our Braves were taken down by the team that resembles the 2021 Braves who just so happens to be a division rival. Like the Braves of 2021, the Phillies started awfully, finishing May with a record of 21-29. Unlike the Braves, the Phillies had a strong June, going 19-8 and stayed above .500 from June 15th on. For the Braves of 2021, that date was much later, coming on August 8th.
The Braves of 2021 and the Phillies of 2022 have similar stories. Neither won a ton of games in the regular season. Neither were considered to be real postseason threats by the experts, but both teams picked up players that paid HUGE dividends in the regular and post-season.
- Noah Syndergaard threw 54.2 innings of 4.12 ERA ball, solidifying their back-end of the rotation and thus far has thrown 4 innings of 2.25 ERA ball in the post-season.
- Brandon Marsh carried a .773 OPS in regular season after being acquired by the Phillies and has been the anchor for a defense that has an oak tree playing regularly in left field. He’s also carrying a 1.092 OPS in the 2022 post-season.
- The Phillies have been known to have terrible bullpens and they worked hard to improve that area at the deadline, picking up closer David Robertson. In 22 regular season games, Robertson put up a 2.70 ERA and collected 6 saves. Thus far, Robertson has only pitched 1 inning in the post-season, but it was flawless.
- No one expected this trade to be such a banger, but acquiring Edmundo Sosa from the Cardinals paid HUGE dividends for the Phillies. In 59 PAs, Sosa’s slash-line was .315/.345/.593. Unlike the above 3, Sosa hasn’t made much of an impact in the postseason yet.
This feels weird to say, but since the Phillies took the team I root for to school in the NLCS and their season mirrors the 2021 Braves, they’re my choice to win the World Series. Over the years, I’ve come to actually enjoy Bryce Harper as a player and he’s always been a dude that does a lot for his community. I also can’t deny that making Mets fans more miserable by having 2 back-to-back World Series winners coming from the NL East and neither being them would be just peachy.
Who are you all pulling for to win it all? Let’s hear your choice and why in the comments.
If they can win tonight, Guardians. Low budget, should have won it all in 2016, it would be nice to see them get it.
If not, I just can’t root for the Phillies, Astros, or Yankees, so I guess I’d root for the Padres, with the added benefit of the misery imposed on the Dodgers and Tatis Jr.
My order:
Cleveland
San Diego
Philadelphia
Houston
NYY
2-3 could probably be switched, 4-5 could also probably be switched.
My order: I don’t care.
I’m not trying to be snarky. I’ve always lost most of my interest when the Braves are eliminated. I will watch the LCS occasionally, and then mostly follow the WS. But most years I don’t care who wins. I may develop a rooting interest as it goes forward, but even if I do I won’t care much.
I absolutely cannot pull for the Fillies. I don’t really care that much who wins it all now as long as it isn’t the Fillies or Yankees. My hope is for a Padres/Guardians World Series because the TV networks will hate it….the networks that insist on televising all games besides the Yankee and Dodger games during the day when working people can’t watch them.
Go Guardians!!
@4 I like Harper and JT but can’t pull for Philly, especially after the Hoskins reaction after hitting the homer off of Strider.
Guardians
Padres
Astros (childhood team)
Locusts
Phillies
Asteroid strike
Yankees
San Diego and Cleveland. Emotionally, I have a slight preference for the latter, since a good buddy of mine is a long-suffering Cleveland rooter and I don’t know any Friars fans. But given that they’ve never won before plus they’re the NL team, I think I’m honor bound to throw my allegiance to the Pods.
I would root for the grass in every stadium to be replaced with Astroturf before I root for the Yankees.
The Guardians. I like Tito. Francona, not the deceased Yugoslavian dictator.
Enough of this underdog nonsense. I will be rooting for the team with the better regular season W-L record in every series. Meritocracy, baby.
Padres, just because it would be hilarious for them to be better without Tatis then they were with him. I think that’s already the case, but a championship would seal that…plus the Padres have never won a World Series before.
As a rule, I cheer for the city that hasn’t ever won it, or hasn’t for a long time. So I believe that makes the Padres my top choice, followed by the Guardians. Philly would be third.
The Yankees, of course, are always last.
@10 I’m sure some Acuña haters use that same logic for us.
I’ll be rooting for the Padres / guardians, and only for the phillies if I’m forced to because the astros/Yankees make the World series.
i don’t have any issues Hoskins bat flip, I think it’s awesome when people celebrate doing something great. i don’t remember a lot of people here whining about Ronald’s various home run celebrations so it seems a bit sore loserish to complain about another team’s celebrations. makes baseball much more fun if you ask me.
A big difference, though: Acuña was out through no fault of his own. Tatis missed the entire season due to engaging in multiple negligent behaviors.
Cant stand the Phillies or Harper for that matter.
Cleveland, then San Diego.
Of the remaining clubs, the Guardians are the very last team I expect to win the WS, but they’ve waited long enough.
San Diego? I like the town & their ballpark & have been to several games there. The fans, however, always struck me as kinda drunk on Perrier… just disengaged from the game… attending another great-weather social event. Guess it took the Dodgers to wake ’em up. SD has never had a title in any sport & the Padres are the only show in town anymore. If they win it all, fine.
I have Yankees tickets throughout the playoffs & I’m going tonight (weather willing). I’m fine with them winning, just not their last game.
Until their technological shenanigans, I always kinda rooted for the Astros because I grew up in their Double-A town (Columbus, Ga.). Six consecutive ALCS appearances is pretty impressive & they probably should get more credit for what they’re doing, but… those guys made their bed. Hard to root for them now. Villainy is their legacy.
Philly? Sorry. Right now, I just want to watch them swallow a mouthful of misery, wherever it comes from.
Prediction: Houston beats Philly in the WS. Rhys Hoskins swats, kicks, then headbutts a routine grounder into the Crawford Boxes, providing the Astros with their series-clinching run. A stunned Dusty Baker finally gets his title.
@14 oh, I ain’t suggesting they’re right. But it seems like there’s a pocket of RAJ haters out there who probably love that the Braves won without him, but not with him.
And their teams will be at home watching the Braves in the playoffs for the next several years. Yeah, I’m waving at you, Miami.
Padres. Gotta root for a team with ownership that actually tries (not you, Cleveland). Yankees and Astros are known cheaters. The majority of my family lives in Philly, so I need the Phillies to lose so that I can troll them.
A Whale’s Vagina
Cleveland
Yankees
Houston
Phillies
Cleveland over San Diego. Cleveland because I like them (when they’re not playing the Braves), and their manager (and Tito Puente, @8). Francona’s book is a good read. San Diego because they went all-in this year and I’d like to see that rewarded.
I will actively root against (and curse) the other three teams still in it.
(Holds nose) Philly
On a related note, how do y’all feel about that first round bye now? I know sample size makes this year’s results useless, but do you think the extra time off affected the Braves (and Dodgers, too)?
Pretty similar to everyone else, but the Phillies, Yankees and Astros can all go pound sand. Sad as it would be for your social calendar, ububba, I trust the Yankees will reimburse you for games that don’t happen (or at least roll that money over into next year’s tickets). The other two teams would be fine. I guess slight preference for the Guardians, since they have the longest current streak without a title. The Padres have never won it, but the Guardians haven’t won it since well before the Padres existed.
@23 I like your point about the Guardians time span, but I’ll counter with some Cavalier NBA titles. San Diego’s got nuttin’
Phluc the Fillies
Guardians, because a former team in the same city lost to the Braves in 1995
Padres, because fans need to understand that Franchise Players are overrated to team success: we won without Acuna, the Nats won without Harper, Padres can win without Tatis. I hate all the PR hype: all the next-generation, let-the-kids-play crap. I love the players, mind you, but there’s only so much even a great player can do for you.
@8, just to be clear, I’d root for the deceased Yugoslav dictator over the Yankees.
My thoughts on the Yankees have evolved over the years. Whether the Yankees win or the Yankees lose, it’s still going to be 3 generations before anyone passes them for the most World Series titles. So, why pull for another fanbase to have something to lord it over us with for the next 12 months?
Notwithstanding:
San Diego
Cleveland
Dusty Baker
Philadelphia
New York
I’d take the Yankees over the Red Sox though. Baby steps.
Has New York turned into the dystopian Los Angeles featured in Blade Runner, ububba? Sure seems to be raining a lot there.
The Braves are out. No interest in whatever happens in MLB. I’ve moved onto the Vols and Falcons.
#29
Luckily, I never left for the ballpark tonight, just never believed that they’d actually get the game in… probably was a buncha fun at the Yankee Tavern tonight, but I can do that tomorrow, if nec.
A 4:07 start in crisp, dry, fall weather sounds a helluva lot better to me anyway.
Padres
Guardians
One
Big
Pile
Of
Crap
Astros / Yankees / Phillies
Every in-laws of mine is a Phillies fan. That’s a mother in law, father in law, four brothers in law, four sisters in law. And 12 nieces and nephews. Not to mention countless idiots at church and work. The idea of getting knocked out by the Phillies and then watching then win the whole thing just sickens me.
All I kept thinking this weekend as I sat and watched in misery was how classless a fan base they are. How embarrassing to lose to a team that wouldn’t have even been in it had Manfred not expanded the playoffs. But more than that. How classless a fan base I know them to be. And how jealous of the Braves organization they continue to be.
So I can’t root for the Phillies. Never have, never will.
Rusty with a memoir of Bruce Sutter! New thread.
https://bravesjournal.mystagingwebsite.com/2022/10/18/bruce-sutter/