Rumor has it these Phillies are better. Not “division champion” better, but a potentially finer product than the 66-win model we saw last year. It’s a good time to be better in the NL East, because so many other teams are getting worse—and the one that isn’t may be down to its last pitiful chance.
Desperate times for what could easily be baseball’s biggest fart noise, but times the Phillies could capitalize on to finish as high as second place. That may not mean a Wild Card berth, but it sure would look nice, visually. Here are the utter disasters and one good team standing in their way.