GDT 7/27/25 Philadelphia Phillies (Wheeler) @ New York Yankees (Rodón)

[BostonRoss]

Next year, we make Wheeler go to the All-Star Game.

[zambonir]

Yeah, but I think it's pretty by the book to not save a pitcher for an inning that might never come, including when it is extra. It's also never as simple as L/R these days. But if they thought Strahm was the best person to get those outs they were the most important outs at that time. And if the Phillies had extended the game they probably felt okay about Orion.

Wheeler has been scuffling, by Wheeler standards, since the complete game. His lesser outing [four runs, not that many Ks] against San Diego seemed like one of the reasons he bailed on the All-Star game. And he gave up 7 hits, his most since April, against Boston in an otherwise effective start. Hopefully it's just a blip but too bad the offense couldn't do more and the early lead was worthless.

[VoteForKalas]

Wheeler's last several starts have been sluggish. Hope he is ok.

[donaldorc]

Or get him to start the first day back. What a joke, starting with the "bottom of the lineup" of pitchers to begin the second half!

[LoneStarPhan]

Three home runs but only three total runs. Just not enough today, but taking series from the Red Sox and Yankees is a positive.

On to Chicago and another series win.

[zambonir]

It's not like batting order, where the second-half rotation set-up determines who pitches the most innings. And even if it did, with the season now 65% done they should actually be looking to reduce the workload of our three best pitchers [or at least Wheeler and Suarez, Sanchez seems to have both youth and durability on his side for now] with an eye towards October. Even if the real reason they did it was to break up the LHPs. In Wheeler's case it meant he faced Boston and NY instead of Anaheim, which I'm sure was desired too. And now our two worst pitchers line up for the last two against the White Sox.

[LoneStarPhan]

Sadly, the Mets are hot. Beat SF again and move 1.5 games ahead of the Phillies.

Mets have a 7 game winning streak.

[zambonir]

I gotta admit I am not all that absorbed by the division standings, especially if it ddoesn't come with a bye. But they are also in danger of finishing as the 5th seed behind a NL Central team, and then that's the team they'd play.

[EastFallowfield]

Plus there is still so much of the season left to be played, being a game in the loss column back doesn't seem like that big a deal. The Mets blew a 5 game lead earlier this year, then later blew a 5 1/2 game lead. Maybe they're just streakier than the Phils?

And the bye doesn't mean anything much.

[Philsmania]

Yes, the Mets have been streaky. Seven game win streak but they are only 7-3 in their last ten.

I don't have the time at the moment to do a deep dive but it seems the Phillies run support for Wheeler has been lacking this season. That's been a long-running problem for this organization. Going back to Schilling in the '90's, Hamels early last decade and Nola later last decade. We have pitchers who pitch at the top of their games but don't get the wins because the Phillies don't give them runs.

[zambonir]

I would imagine if you did a really deep dive you'd find that a lot of aces didn't enjoy the very best run support, at least in the post-PED and three true outcomes ERA. It can become a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy of pitcher's duel type games. Or perhaps they face the best opposing pitchers more often. Plus the offense maybe being complacent of course. Or just facing better relievers [in this era].

And while the Phillies certainly haven't skimped financially on their offense, they haven't spent a significant dime on it since Turner. As the core declined and the younger players failed to emerge all the $ has gone to Wheeler and Nola, and the only major trade for Luzardo. It seems to be working but this offense isn't as good in general, so it won't be as good for Wheeler either.

Wasn't Nola's season before the injury also almost entirely devoid of run support? Like he had 2 or 3 genuinely poor starts a lot of that otherwise.

[zambonir]

The lack of a bye creates a real risk that you could lose a short series, a la St. Louis in '22, even if it's rare, and does wear down your team more. But obviously we've also seen all the bye teams be rested and lose in the NLDS, including the Phillies last year, with the lower seed also winning the NLCS in '22 and '23. I think Dodgers were the first team to end both those trends last year.