The Phillies could have easily been swept by the Washington Nationals. They generally played poorly for most of the four-game series, but thanks to some late-inning magic against a garbage fire bullpen, they ended up winning the series.
Speaking of garbage fires, there’s the New York Mets. Since defeating the Phillies last Thursday, they’ve lost six games in a row, some of them in embarrassing fashion. But hey, at least some people in the stadium managed to enjoy themselves.
However, if there’s one thing the Mets have been able to count on in recent years, it’s beating the Phillies at Citi Field. The Phillies have lost ten straight games at the stadium including two games in the 2024 NLDS. With the Mets in freefall, if the Phillies can’t find a way to win a game this weekend, it seems possible that they might never win there again.
…..And as I was writing this, it was announced that the Mets have fired manager Carlos Mendoza.
This is not a positive development for the Phillies, as the Mets may likely experience a “new manager bounce” this weekend. On the other hand, it gives me a reason to use this clip:
Opposition research: Mark Vientos
In 2024, the Mets thought they had a young star on their hands. In his first full season, Mark Vientos put up an OPS of .837 with 27 home runs. And he went on to destroy the Phillies in the NLDS, going 9-16 with two home runs.
He’s continued to perform well against the Phillies. Last year, he batted .313 with two home runs against them, and in the series last week, he was 2-5 with a homer. However, he hasn’t hit all that well against anybody else in that time, and combined with horrendous defense, he’s been one of the least valuable players in the league.
Things aren’t trending in Vientos’ direction either. He’s batting just .179 in June and went 1-10 in the series against the Cubs.
Defensively, the Mets accepted that he couldn’t hack it at third base so they moved him to first this season. However, he’s proven to be equally bad there, committing a league high six errors. Mets fans are now openly pining for Pete Alonso.
Does any of this mean that he won’t have a few big hits against the Phillies this weekend? Of course not!
Hating on the Mets
There’s not that much I can write about the Mets that their own fans haven’t already said.
Let’s see what Mets fan Jerry Seinfeld has to say about that.
Trivia
Last week’s answer: The three relievers to earn wins in the Phillies’ sweep of the Mets in September 2007 were Tom Gordon, Antonio Alfonseca, and Geoff Geary. MG77 and Morris Buttermaker each named one of them.
This week’s question: The Phillies last win at Citi Field was a 12-2 romp on September 20, 2024. Which Phillie had four hits and four RBIs in that game?
Vote for the Phillies! Just not necessarily the ones you expected
It’s kind of hilarious that Brandon Marsh, Alec Bohm, and Bryson Stott have all reached the second round of All-Star voting while Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber did not. While Marsh clearly deserves inclusion on the team, it wasn’t that long ago that fans wanted both Bohm and Stott traded away for anything they could get. (Can you imagine the reaction at the end of April if someone told you that Alec Bohm might be an All-Star?)
Harper and Schwarber both have a good chance to be named to the team as reserves, although they could always get excluded due to the “every team gets a guy” role and whether or not Dave Roberts feels he has to choose a rookie with six starts under his belt.
Additional thought about the series
Late inning comebacks are really fun, and the Mets also do not have a great bullpen. (Sure, it’s better than the Nationals’ relief group, but I don’t think it’s possible to be worse.) That said, it wouldn’t be a bad thing for the Phillies to simply get out to an early lead and sustain it for the entire game.
They should have an opportunity to score early runs. The Mets are calling up rookie Zach Thornton to start one game, and it seems likely either Kodai Senga or Christian Scott will get the ball at some point. Either way, the Phillies won’t be facing a top-notch array of pitchers this weekend.
I am slightly worried that the Mets can’t possibly continue to play as poorly as they have been, and they might be somewhat motivated by getting their manager fired. On the other hand, the Phillies can’t keep losing every game at Citi Field, right? In the end, while I’d love to see the Phillies extend the Mets’ misery, I think I’d be happy if they can come away with one win this weekend. That’s not too much to ask for, right?
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