Wednesday win over Braves reminder this Phillies team still has World Series potential

There’s still a lot to worry about when it comes to the 2023 Philadelphia Phillies.

The bullpen’s recent struggles. Aaron Nola’s not-so-recent struggles. The occasionally ghastly team defense. And then, of course, there’s the fact that their path to repeating as National League champions goes right through the Atlanta Braves.

Yep, those Braves. They of the 97 wins, +218 run differential and juggernaut offense. It’s easy to watch them bludgeon opposing pitchers with their five 30+ homer players and terrifyingly deep lineup and slide down the rabbit hole of worrying that no team will be able to withstand them come playoff time — and certainly not this flawed Phillies club.

Then, you watch games like the one on Wednesday, and you start to wonder.

Sure, there were still plenty of warning signs throughout the Phillies’ 6-5, 10-inning victory. Nola cruised through the first three innings — dominating his first time through the order, as has been his modus operandi this season — before nearly imploding in both the fourth and the fifth. The bullpen proved incapable of holding onto Nola’s lead, with the usually reliable Jeff Hoffman and the usually not reliable Gregory Soto combining to blow it in the eighth.

And finally, when Nick Castellanos chose to catch a fly ball in foul territory with just one out and the speedy Luke Williams at third base, just itching to beat the throw home and win the Braves the game in the ninth, it appeared those longstanding defensive issues might bury them once again. After all, Castellanos is far from an elite fielder, and the safe play would have been to let the ball drop rather than give Williams a chance to end the game right there. Phillies color commentator John Kruk certainly thought it was over on the team’s broadcast, shouting “no!” as Castellanos foolishly circled under the pop fly. The relentless Braves, it appeared, had worn down yet another exhausted foe.

But that’s not what happened.

Castellanos instead threw an absolute strike to Garrett Stubbs, gunning down Williams and saving the game. It was an incredible, improbable play — and one that served as a reminder that this Phillies club is uniquely capable of delivering incredible, improbable plays on the regular.

The Braves, as elite teams do, are banking on everything going as it should in the playoffs. They want chalk series outcomes, the best teams on paper to win whenever possible, for sanity to reign. The Phillies represent the opposite of sanity. They represent pure, unadulterated chaos.

And chaos is a nightmare for well-oiled machines like the Braves.

With the season series now over, Atlanta unsurprisingly got the better of the Phillies this season. It makes sense — the Braves are the better team statistically, with 14 more wins on the year. But despite winning only five of 13 games against their division rival, the Phillies split the road portion of the series (3-3), won this final three-game set, and lost two games of the games in extra innings. At least when these clubs go head-to-head, there hasn’t been a ton separating them — at least when Spencer Strider isn’t on the mound. The Phillies surely respect the Braves, but they have no real reason to fear them.

But that’s the thing about these Phillies: they don’t fear anyone. They don’t listen to outside voices saying they’re not good enough, that last year was a fluke, that they can’t beat a team as loaded as Atlanta. They only listen to the voices in their own heads, apparently, which was the whole reason why Castellanos decided at the last second to make the risky, inning-ending catch.

But even beyond the helpful influence of “evil” voices, there’s numerous other reasons for optimism surrounding this Phillies club.

Nola’s first solid start of September was a relief, and even if there’s still good reason to worry about his ability to hold up after his first time through the order, he at least proved that he’s not completely cooked for the remainder of 2023. The defense is much improved with Johan Rojas in the outfield as a near-everyday player, and Kyle Schwarber at DH.

And then there’s the simple fact that the Phils have a lot of really good players who are getting hot at the right time. Zack Wheeler rebounded from a poor September 12 start against Atlanta to shut them down on Monday. Bryce Harper is hitting home runs again (four in his last ten games). Schwarber has a 0.398 OBP and 0.994 OPS since the start of August. Trea Turner is now very much the player the Phillies thought they had signed, both offensively and defensively. Castellanos has emerged from a painful slump. And Stott — the tenth inning hero with an absolutely gorgeous piece of opposite field hitting — remains the lineup and the infield’s secret weapon.

Sure, they’re going to have to scratch and claw for every win come October. Expect lots of clenched fists and flying expletives while watching the 2023 Phillies try their hand at October baseball once again. They’re incapable of doing it the easy way.

But Wednesday was a welcome reminder that this club still does have a title-winning ceiling, warts and all.

The Atlanta Braves certainly got the message.