Phillies All-Star shortstop send clear message about team future

The Phillies will go into the postseason in a funk.
The Philadelphia Phillies defeated 6-3 to the Washington Nationals on Saturday. With the loss, the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the National League’s top spot and baseball’s best record. The Dodgers will have home field advantage for the playoffs.

With one game remaining in the regular season, the Phillies have the MLB’s second-best record with 94-67. However, the team appeared to be out of rhythm in the last stretch. With Saturday’s 71-90 loss to the Nationals, Philadelphia is 4-8 in its previous 12 games.

“We haven’t played particularly well in the last week or so, but once the postseason begins, all of that goes away and it’s about competing in that moment, and I believe we’re prepared,” Phillies All-Star shortstop Trea Turner said, according to ESPN’s game recap.

Turner helped kept Philadelphia in the game Saturday. He launched a two-run home ball in the eighth inning against Nationals reliever Jose Ferrer to tie the game at two. Turner hit his 21st home run of the season, and his two RBIs on the day brought his total to 62.

Trea Turner knows the Phillies aren’t playing their best baseball

Unfortunately, the Phillies’ bullpen failed to preserve veteran ace Zack Wheeler’s great start, which lasted 6.1 innings and allowed only two runs on three hits while striking out 11 and walking two batters. Reliever Jeff Hoffman, who had generally been outstanding in 2024, allowed four runs on four hits in one inning. The Phillies added another run in the ninth when Nick Castellanos tripled and was driven in by Alec Bohm on a groundout, but that was as close as they got, losing 6-3.

Philadelphia won the NL East on Monday, its first division title since 2011. The Phillies had intended to have home field advantage throughout the playoffs as the top seed in the NL. The Phillies received a first-round bye despite not defeating the Dodgers. Perhaps the break will allow the team to refocus and resume its winning ways. Philadelphia will make the playoffs for the third straight season. They won the National League pennant in 2022, but lost the World Series to the Houston Astros.

The Dodgers will make the postseason for the 12th consecutive season. They’ve made three World Series appearances and won one championship, which came during the Covid-shortened 2020 season.

Los Angeles has been blazing hot in the second part of the season. The squad is 40-23 since returning from the All-Star break, the second-best record in baseball during that time. The Phillies, on the other hand, have gone 32-33 since the Midsummer Classic, ranking 17th in MLB over that time.