PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Almost three weeks ago when the putrid Chicago Cubs swept the Phillies at Wrigley Field, if you said the Phils would make the National League Championship Series, most people would respond with some variation of ‘You’re nuts!’
However, the 2022 Phillies are finally playing to their potential and have gotten hot at just the right time.
Thus, late Saturday afternoon, in the plastic-draped home clubhouse of Citizens Bank Park, manager Rob Thomson asked catcher J.T. Realmuto what has evidently become a traditional question for this ballclub:
“How many more wins, J.T.?”
“We got eight more, Topper!”
Tuesday night, over 2,500 miles away from Philadelphia, the Phillies and San Diego Padres will play in the NLCS.
Here are six things to know about this most improbable series.
1. Neither team was "supposed" to be here.
The 87-win Phillies upset the St. Louis Cardinals on the road to advance to the National League Division Series. They then dethroned the defending World Series champion, the 101-win Braves, in dominating fashion.
The Padres, winner of 89 games in the 2022 regular season, went to Queens and flushed the 101-win Mets at Citi Field in the Wild Card Series, then took down division foe 111-win Dodgers in four games.
The last two seeds in a new six-team playoff format are facing off for a trip to the World Series. It shows that anything can happen in postseason baseball.
It may also lead some fans to question whether this format is fair for the best teams during the regular season, like the Braves and Dodgers, who got a week off and didn’t have to compete in the Wild Card Series because of their high standing. This, however, is moot at this point. The Phils and Padres took care of business. Those other teams didn’t.
Game 1 is scheduled for Tuesday at 8:03 p.m. in San Diego; Game 2, Wednesday at 4:35 p.m.; Game 3, Friday in South Philadelphia at 7:37 p.m.; and Game 4, Saturday at 7:45 p.m.
If Game 5 is necessary in this best-of-seven series, it is set for Sunday at 2:37 p.m. (The Eagles are on their bye week). Games 6 and 7, if necessary, would shift back to San Diego next week Monday and Tuesday.
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2. It’s been a while since the Phillies faced San Diego.
The Phils won the regular season series 4-3 over the Padres, but both series — one in Philadelphia, and the other in San Diego — were before the All-Star break. In fact, during the first series at Citizens Bank Park, Joe Girardi was still managing the Phils in what ended up being one of his final series before the front office fired him.
In the meantime, while Thomson managed only the second series — San Diego was without current slugger Juan Soto for both of them. He was a Washington National at the time. The Padres picked up Soto at the trade deadline. While the Phils are familiar with Soto from his days in D.C., they’ve never faced him as a Padre before.
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3. Bryce Harper returns to the scene of his broken thumb.
Phillies star Bryce Harper missed two months of the regular season because of a fracture in his thumb, which makes their trip to the postseason that much more impressive. He sustained the injury in San Diego, when Padres left-handed pitcher Blake Snell accidently hit Harper with a fastball.
This is a chance for Harper to get revenge on the Padres — though, in June, he publicly expressed no ill-will towards Snell.
4. Bryce vs. Manny
Before Harper signed with the Phillies ahead of the 2019 season, he and Padres third baseman Manny Machado were the prized free agents of that offseason. The Phillies were interested in both, with Machado even paying a visit to South Philadelphia.
Throughout that timeframe, fans and media debated which of the two would be a better fit for the Phillies — and whether the club would even be able to land one of them.
Machado went first, to the Padres. And, after some skepticism about the likelihood of it happening, Harper chose Philadelphia. It’s been a beautiful match and one that can be even sweeter with a trip to the Fall Classic — not to mention knocking out Machado’s Padres.
Nola vs. Nola
What must Aaron and Austin Nola’s parents be feeling? Joy? Pride? Angst? All of the above?
Phillies co-ace Aaron Nola will get to face his older brother — Padres catcher Austin Nola — in a postseason series. How cool is that?
Past matchups in the regular season have become storylines, but now they get to have a postseason showdown. Expect to see the Nola family sporting a mixture of Phillies and Padres gear. They can’t lose. One of their kids will advance to the World Series.
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Phillies-Padres History
Neither organization has an illustrious postseason history. The Phillies have been around for a century-and-a-half, winning two World Series — and only in the past 42 years. The Padres have never won the World Series. In fact, they’ve only been to two. Their last trip was in 1998 when they lost to the powerhouse Yankees. That season was the last time they were in the league championship series. This will be the first postseason meeting between the clubs.
You could argue the greatest moment for the Phillies in the history of these two teams came in 1993 at Veterans Stadium. The Phils and Padres were playing a twi-night doubleheader in South Philadelphia in early July, and the weather was not cooperating. The Phils lost the first game. The second one, which didn’t start until after 1 a.m., ended close to 5 a.m., in extra innings, with closer Mitch “The Wild Thing” Williams knocking in the game-winning hit, resulting in late legendary Phillies announcer Harry Kalas making one of his most memorable calls.
Maybe “Mitchy-Poo” should throw out one of the ceremonial first pitches for either Game 3 or 4 in Philadelphia.