Phillies Face Mets; Division Series Picks

The Phillies open their 2024 playoffs Saturday afternoon against the New York Mets, which, I believe, was the lowest seed they could have faced. At least by the end of the Brewers-Mets Wild Card Series, the Phillies were set to face the winner. Yet, I get the impression that Phils fans would have preferred to see Milwaukee.

Despite hearing some optimism about their chances to win the World Series, I have some trepidation about the Phillies going into the playoffs. The Phillies are limping into the post-season, going 4-6 in their last 10 games and losing recent series against the Mets and Brewers. That said, they beat the Mets in 2 of 3 games just prior to that and swept Tampa Bay the series before that.

The Phillies were also dealing with plenty of nagging injuries down the stretch of the season. So, while earning a bye is sometimes detrimental to baseball teams given the time off, five days of rest should benefit Philadelphia.

The odds makers seem to agree. Here are all the odds for each team in the upcoming series:

Phillies -190 vs. Mets +155

Dodgers -141 vs. Padres +115

Guardians -134 vs. Tigers +110

Yankees -225 vs. Royals +180

I think the Phillies will get by the Mets on pitching. Zack Wheeler has been great all season, and Christopher Sanchez didn’t lose a game in September and only gave up 8 earned runs in 5 starts. Even Aaron Nola, who was shaky early in the month, finished with three strong starts. The bullpen has also been solid.

I dabbled a bit in baseball gambling this summer. I’m going to make a small parlay pick on the division series, taking the Phillies -190, Dodgers -141, Tigers +110, and Yankees -225, at +697 for $20 to win $159.33. The Dodgers and Yankees have been good all year, and the Tigers were hot in the second half of the season.