The Phillies have a solid lead in the NL East.
With just 19 games left, they are ahead by seven games over both the Mets and Braves. Their magic number to clinch the division is 13. Despite losing two games to the Marlins recently, Bryce Harper remains cautious and focused.
“This division ain’t close to being done,” Harper said (via NBC Sports Philadelphia). “Obviously, there’s two great teams behind us and we’re gonna play the Mets, obviously, a couple times, and we gotta keep rolling.”
Harper’s mindset is crucial for team morale. The players need to stay motivated and not assume victory until it’s certain. But realistically, it would take an unprecedented collapse for them not to win.
Upcoming Games:
Harper mentioned playing the Mets “a couple” times; in reality, there are seven games left against them. If the Mets were to sweep these games, it could tie up the division. This scenario alone should keep the Phillies on their toes until they officially secure their spot.
Fans might think this keeps things exciting!
Also worth noting is that if such an unlikely event happened, it would bring the Braves back into contention as well. The final week of the season sees the Mets visiting Atlanta for three games, which could make things wild.
However improbable this may be, it’s more likely that we’ll see a battle between Braves and Mets for wild-card spots rather than any major shake-up at the top of NL East standings.
To sum up: while keeping an eye on these final weeks is important due to potential wild-card shifts, expect Phillies to clinch their first division title since 2011 soon enough.
What do you think? Can they hold on?
