As they did in 2018, the Phillies got off to a hot start in 2019, inhabited first place for much of the early part of the year, then struggled to hang on to contention as the season reached late August.
This is where we find them as the Cubs meet them in a three-game series. For more on the Phillies, here’s Justin Klugh, who runs our SB Nation Phillies site The Good Phight.
The Phillies have not played a lot of games this year as the team they were supposed to be.