Philadelphia Phillies: Breaking down Wild-card foes in NL Central

While the Phillies eye the competition for a wild-card berth, their focus is still on the NL East because they are three games out with 32 to play despite being 7-12 since Aug. 6 in Phoenix.

Rivals aplenty:           

The Philadelphia Phillies have many ways to make the playoffs even if they don’t capture the divisional pennant. On the other hand, some fans believe 2018 is over. But they will have enough time to revisit those sentiments before season’s end after being atop the division again.

"IN OTHER WORDS:         “Things happen in baseball, even if, in theory, it’s something you don’t do. Stats are a tool, but it doesn’t mean that’s how a game is being played at that moment. There’s more than one way to win a game, or have a winning team.” – Jon Miller"

Basically, if you want to know a franchise’s weaknesses, notice their trading-deadline acquisitions. For instance, general manager Matt Klentak added two lefty specialists, a shortstop, a left-side bench bat and a catcher. Two regulars!

The offense was lacking at short and right field, while the defense was problematic behind the plate. However, Nick Williams seized the outfield opportunity, Asdrubal Cabrera became the new shortstop, and Wilson Ramos is also hitting 300 with power. They joined this no-quit group.

As for the competition, the Chicago Cubs have rotation issues: an oft-injured new ace, a control-problem free agent and other struggling hurlers. Ergo, the Cole Hamels deal. But after they had scored only one run each in five straight contests from Aug. 16 to Aug. 21, they picked up Daniel Murphy..

While the St. Louis Cardinals are battling for the division crown, they acquired Matt Adams for his left-handed, bench bat. Additionally, they now have Tyson Ross, whose rebound campaign hit a snag: 1-3 with an 8.87 July ERA. That stated, St. Louis has suffered injuries to their starting staff.

Despite rotation shortcomings, the Milwaukee Brewers made no changes, and now their bullpen is having back-end difficulty. But they’ve patched their infield weaknesses by adding second baseman Jonathan Schoop and third sacker Mike Moustakas.

For postseason hopefuls, two stretches provide a glimpse into their viability for serious October baseball: the most difficult part of their schedule against other contenders after mid-May and the second half. Therefore, this article compares the three NL Central teams to the Phils.