The Philadelphia Phillies entered the postseason as heavy underdogs, having won “just” 87 regular season games after barely fending off the Milwaukee Brewers to earn the right to play in October.
Fast forward a couple of weeks, and they are 9-2 in the postseason and have eliminated the St. Louis Cardinals, the Atlanta Braves, and the San Diego Padres in strict order.
Now, they may be in front of their biggest challenge yet on their way to the World Series title: the Houston Astros.
To the contrary of the Phillies, Houston secured its ticket to the playoffs a long time ago, well before the end of the regular season.
They won 106 games from April to early October, 19 more than the Phillies.
That’s close to being a record, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
A Large Regular Season Disparity Is Not A Death Sentence To The Phillies
“The Astros had 19 more regular season wins than the Phillies, the second-largest disparity in regular season wins by teams to meet in the World Series all-time. The only World Series with a larger difference was 1906, when the 116-win Cubs lost to the 93-win White Sox,” they tweeted.
The Astros had 19 more regular season wins than the Phillies, the second-largest disparity in regular season wins by teams to meet in the World Series all-time.
The only World Series with a larger difference was 1906, when the 116-win Cubs lost to the 93-win White Sox. pic.twitter.com/3a4aUOiCdg
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 28, 2022
The fact that there was such a large regular season gap between the Astros and Phillies means something, but it’s not a conclusive argument to say Houston will easily win..
They were better, deeper, and more consistent in the regular season, but despite the fact Houston is undefeated in the playoffs, we can’t ignore the fact that the Phillies are 9-2 in postseason play.
If the 93-win White Sox defeated the 116-win Cubs in 1906, why can’t the Phillies pull off an upset?
It will be extremely difficult and they will be required to play some excellent baseball (almost perfect, you could say), but the Phillies have Bryce Harper, Rhys Hoskins, J.T. Realmuto, Alec Bohm, Nick Castellanos, Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Seranthony Dominguez, and other talented ballplayers.
It will be a fun series.
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