Phillies Win National East! Now what?

The Phillies are the National League East champions! After a hot start to the season that still has the team fighting for the best record in baseball, last night’s division clinching win has seemed inevitable for months.

In fact, the most surprising thing about last night may have been the realization (for some, myself included) that it was the first division championship for the Phillies since 2011.

The Phillies have poured plenty of champagne and beer on each other for the last four years celebrating playoff clinching wins, playoff series wins, and even a National League championship. Apparently, a subdued celebration followed Friday night’s playoff clinching win, a game that most fans couldn’t even watch since the game was being exclusively streamed by Amazon. Last night, though, the usual full celebration seemed to be taking place. Phillies’ play-by-play guy, Tom McCarthy, described the locker room floor as a pond with all the libations players had dumped on each other.

Better on the floor than in the players’ mouths, I suppose, with work still to be done. Though I’m sure plenty of alcohol was actually consumed.

It’s always fun to watch the guys celebrate. I think they even trotted out “Dancing with Myself,” a song that became an anthem of sorts for these events. The night club like light swinging in the locker room seemed a bit odd, but OK. Seeing a handful of guys go back to the field to celebrate with their families was a nice new twist.

But let’s face it, there’s only one celebration that’s going to truly matter to this team and its fans – a parade down Broad Street after a World Series victory.

It’s the only thing missing for the team with its current core. The truth is I think most fans, and probably the team, expected to have at least one World Series trophy on display by now.

In some ways, I have the least amount of confidence going into this year’s playoffs than I’ve had in recent years.

By my count, the Phillies are 31-30 after the All-Star break going into tonight. The statistics are good for the offense, but the injury bug has swirled around the team. Alec Bohm recently had an extended slump before going on the injured list. JT Realmuto has been in and out for a while, but he had a big home run last night.

A lot has been made about Bryce Harper’s lack of power and his elbow. I actually like that he’s hitting for average (.285), because I think this team relies on home runs way too much. The elbow, however, feels like a ticking time bomb.

On the flip side, there’s plenty of reasons for hope. Zack Wheeler and Christopher Sanchez have been excellent, especially lately. The Phils have won Sanchez’s last 5 starts with the lefty giving up just 7 earned runs in 30.2 innings. Wheeler is 4-1 in his last five starts – and went 7 innings and gave up just 2 runs in the 2-1 loss on Sunday against the Mets. Even Aaron Nola has bounced back after some shaky outings with 2 strong starts of 6 and 7 innings giving up just 3 total earned runs.

The bullpen has been solid lately, especially Matt Strahm, Orion Kerkering (with one exception), and Jeff Hoffman. José Alvarado has been pretty good since returning from a personal leave.

My gut tells me the Dodgers and Yankees are juggernauts this year. But the Phillies record is right there with them. Red October? It should be fun finding out.