Looking Ahead

So there are eight games left in the season and the Phillies find themselves just 1.5 games out of first place. I don't want to look back at the 34 blown saves so far this year–but if I were to do that, I'd think of where the Phils would be if they had been able to convert just 10 of those.

Anyway, let's look ahead to the playoffs. Yes, playoffs. The Phils would face Milwaukee in the first round and my rotation order looks like this–Zach Wheeler, Ranger Suarez, Aaron Nola, and Kyle Gibson. Even before yesterday's gem, Suarez has moved ahead of Nola on my depth chart. He's been absolutely spectacular since moving to the rotation. Let's compare Suarez and Nola in their last 11 starts:

Suarez - 58.2 IP, 46 H, 18 BB, 56K, 1.69 ERA, .548 OPS against and an insane WAR of 5.4

Nola - 59 IP,  47 H, 13 BB, 79K, 5.16 ERA, .624 OPS against and a 2.6 WAR

It's actually a lot closer than I thought it would be, except for the ERA. But the eye test gives Suarez the No. 2 spot. Nola has struggled, especially with two strikes on hitters and being unable to put them away. 

No matter what happens, let's take a moment and savor the fact that the New York Mets, the consensus preseason favorites to win the division, were eliminated from playoff contention yesterday. And there was much rejoicing. Yay.