With Cole Hamels and Jimmy Rollins both being placed on the disabled list, making a run at history may be out of the question for the Philadelphia Phillies. Getting healthy before the postseason may be a more desirable goal than becoming just the third National League team to win 108 games. But the feat is in their sights. Philadelphia could match the win totals of the 1975 Reds and 1986 Mets by finishing the season with a 25-10 record.
Do the Phillies belong among the best NL teams of all time?
They certainly have a pitching staff comparable to New York’s rotation in 1986 that saw four different starters — Bob Ojeda, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez and Dwight Gooden — receive Cy Young votes. Those four combined for a 66-23 record.
The Phillies have a three-headed monster that should dominate the NL Cy Young voting ballots this year. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Hamels have combined for a 42-19 record, and each has a sub-2.75 ERA.
While Philadelphia’s offensive production is not going to come close to the 840 runs scored by the Reds in 1975, the Phillies do have a lineup that consists of seven former All-Stars and two MVPs.
The Phillies may not reach the 108-win mark, but they hope to accomplish what the Mets and Reds were able to do during their historic seasons: continue their dominance into the postseason and win the World Series.
– Jeffrey Tomik
