In July, I wrote a post about Rhys Hoskins and how he has been such an important figure in this Phillies dash for the postseason.

Ever since then, every time he has an 0-fer, or heaven forbid, makes an error, a certain segment of the fan base feels the need to hurl stones my way:

I know what you’re thinking. These are a bunch of Twitter Trolls looking for a rise out of me, and now I’m glorifying them by putting them in a post. Of course they were nowhere to be found last night when Hoskins hit his 26th homer of the year and made a couple of nice plays at first base during he Phillies’ 5-3 win over the Nationals.

Don’t worry, they won’t read this post. They never get past the headline because they’re too busy ordering another Natty Light from the corner of the Delco dive bar they all but reside in. They’re likely guys I played softball against in the past. I’m used to the ribbing.

But I point it out because it’s not just them.

I also wrote a post in August about how great a year Aaron Nola has had on the mound for the Phillies, and called him an ace.

Of course, the very next start he went out and had the worst start of his career, and I was abused for this too.

Don’t believe me? Just go to the post on the Crossing Broad Facebook page on Aug. 26 and read the comments. I love getting into it with those folks. None of them read the posts either, but unlike Twitter, where they troll you, here, these dopes actually take ridiculous stances backed by little to no actual facts. So, I start with a simple engage, it quickly escalates, because they know no other form of communication, and I answer their challenges, not backing down, or blocking them, like many in my field tend to do. I even had one of my responses lead to a threat from Facebook to be put in Facebook jail for a week. (Think about that. Arguing about baseball goes against Facebook’s community standards. Grow a pair Meta, OK?)

Nevertheless, Nola bounced back in his next start (as he has done almost every time he’s had a bad start) and pitched really well against Miami in a game the Phillies won. In September.

Which leads to the next group of fans that don’t realize what they are saying about the Phillies and September.

And these are the fans that really matter. Because I believe most of them really care about baseball. Really are fans of the Phillies. Are capable of having a conversation about the sport, but are just full of anxiety – all because of the narrative that the Phillies can’t win in September.

And while the last few Septembers have been disappointing after contending seasons, they need to be taken in context, and who was on those teams also needs to be considered.

While the Phillies haven’t made the playoffs since 2011, the second-longest drought in the majors, 2013-2017 can sort of be excused. It was supposed to be the Phillies’ rebuild, and fans were willing to buy that. Get younger, develop prospects, and then by 2018, come out and be a team that can contend for a title.

But starting in 2018, the Phillies were in the playoff mix every summer once the calendar hit September, and by the end, left nothing but a bitter taste of disappointment in fans’ mouths.

So far, this September, the Phillies are 3-4. It’s not great, but it’s not terrible. I probably would have predicted 5-2, been content with 4-3 and just slightly bothered by 3-4 if given the options before the month began.

At the moment, the Phillies are 76-62. They are currently comfortably in a playoff spot with 24 games to go. They trail the San Diego Padres by a 1/2 game for the second wild card and are 3 1/2 games ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers, who are currently the first team out of the playoffs in the National League. The Phillies hold tiebreakers on both teams, so that helps too.

So does the fact that six of the 24 games left on the Phillies schedule are against a Washington team they are 11-2 against already this season. While the Phillies are playing the Nats in those games, the Padres are playing the Dodgers, who have baseball’s best record, and the White Sox, who are trying to chase down the AL Central Division title. While the Brewers are playing Cincinnati, who they lost to Friday, and Miami, two teams who they are a combined 10-6 against so far this season, which is good, but not great considering both teams stink.

The Phillies’ magic number for clinching a playoff spot stands at 20. That means any combination of Phillies wins and Brewers losses totaling 20 gets the Phillies into the postseason. Beating the Nationals 5-6 more times, which they should, shaves off at least a quarter of that total.

Still, because of the fear of another “September swoon,” fans still aren’t filling the park.

They did break 30,000 for each game against the Pirates in the last home series of August, but after a 1-5 road trip, the September scare hit the fan base again and in four home games since, the attendance figures have been dismal.

  • Tuesday vs. Miami – 17,145
  • Wednesday vs. Miami – 17,755
  • Thursday vs. Miami – 19,073
  • Friday vs. Washington – 22,304

The opponents stink, so there’s that, and yes, for Phillies fans, the last four Septembers have been dreadful. No one wants to go through another month like it again.

But this is a different team.

Let me guess. You are rolling your eyes. I know. I’ve seen that reaction every time I’ve said this is a different team to people in the past several weeks.

But it is. Truly.

That’s why I’m here today – to dispel another negative narrative about the Phillies.

In order to do that though, I am going to have to take you back through some of those sickening Septembers in recent years. Just be forewarned. What I write next may not be for the squeamish, faint of heart, or angst-ridden Phillies fans.

2018

It was Gabe Kapler’s first season as manager. We all remember how that started right?

But, to the Phillies credit, they shook that off, and despite some managerial shortcomings with managing pitching usage, Kapler had his Phillies in first place after games on August 7th. They were 64-49 and had a 1 1/2 game lead in the N.L. East.

But, after an underwhelming trade deadline where then-GM Matt Klentak and President of Baseball operations Andy McPhail came up empty with landing a prized target like Manny Machado, things slowly started to erode as the Phillies would not win more than two consecutive games the rest of the season.

The rest of August was choppy, as they went 8-13. Still, they entered September just two games behind the Braves for first place in the East and three games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for a wild card spot.

Then, everything went sideways.

The Phillies would go 8-20 in September. There were separate losing skids of three, five and nine games.

The bats came up small but pitching was even worse, especially the starters.

In September the Phillies batters hit .218 (26th in MLB) with an OPS of .673 (23). Phillies starters  had an ERA of 5.92 (28), witha WHIP of 1.48 (38) and allowed opponents to accumulate an .818 OPS (28) against them while the bullpen had a 4.98 ERA (26) and 1.41 WHIP (20) while allowing a .749 OPS (20).

It was an epic collapse, as the Phillies became the first team in Major League history to go from 15 games over .500 as late as August 7 and still finish with a losing record.

As painful as this was, looking back at it, here’s what you need to know (current active Phillies in BOLD):

  • Usual Starting Nine: Jorge Alfaro (C), Carlos Santana (1B), Cesar Hernandez (2B), Mikael Franco (3B), Scott Kingery (SS), Rhys Hoskins (LF), Odubel Herrera (CF), Nick Williams (RF).
  • Starting rotation entering September: Aaron Nola, Jake Arrieta, Nick Pivetta, Vince Velasquez, Zach Eflin.
  • Bench players with at least 100 plate appearances: Aaron Altherr, Andrew Knapp, Asdrubal Cabrera, Roman Quinn, J.P. Crawford, Wilson Ramos.
  • Relievers with at least 20 innings pitched: Seranthony Dominguez, Tommy Hunter, Victor Arano, Adam Morgan, Luis Garcia, Hector Neris, Edubray Ramos, Yacksel Rios, Austin Davis, Pat Neshek, Drew Hutchison.

That’s three players remaining on the current team from that collapse.

2019

After an offseason of owner John Middleton spending “stupid money,” Kapler again got his team off to a good start, as the Phillies were tied for first place on June 11 with a record of 38-29. But a pre-summer swoon would follow, as they went 6-11 the rest of the month, including as seven-game losing streak.

Through July and August the Phillies treaded water, going .500 through both months combined. However, once again, McPhail and Klentak failed to give the team a boost at the deadline, choosing instead to dumpster dive for trash heap relievers, and we were treated to an all-time gaffe quote by McPhail when asked about making the playoffs, “If we do we do, if we don’t we don’t.”

Trying to reverse course from a season earlier, the Phillies actually won the first three games of September to get to 72-65, and within 2 1/2 games of the wild card.

And then it happened… again.

An utter collapse in September, as the team went 9-16 in its final 25 games.

The thing is, they improved statistically over the previous season, both batting and pitching. The lineup was mediocre, as was the starting pitching, and the bullpen was top 10 in the sport in the final month of the season.

But, the clutch hits eluded them. Defense cost them (15 unearned runs in those final games). And again, suspect management of the rotation and lineup left the Phillies out in the cold again, and would lead to the firing of Kapler as manager, although it was clumsily handled, took too long and led to one of the most awkward press conferences in town in quite some time.

More pain. More incompetence. But also significant difference from the current team. (Current active Phillies in BOLD):

  • Usual Starting Nine: J.T. Realmuto (C), Rhys Hoskins (1B), Cesar Hernandez (2B), Mikael Franco (3B), Jean Segura (SS), Andrew McCutchen (LF), Scott Kingery (CF), Bryce Harper (RF). 
  • Starting rotation entering September: Aaron Nola, Jake Arrieta, Jason Vargas, Vince Velasquez, Zach Eflin.
  • Bench players with at least 100 plate appearances: Adam Haseley, Andrew Knapp, Jay Bruce, Sean Rodriguez, Odubel Herrera, Corey Dickerson, Roman Quinn, Brad Miller, Nick Williams.
  • Relievers with at least 20 innings pitched: Hector Neris, Jose Alvarez, Ranger Suarez, Juan Nicasio, Adam Morgan, Nick Pivetta, Cole Irvin, Mike Morin, Edgar Garcia, Blake Parker, Seranthony Dominguez, Jared Hughes, Austin Davis.

That’s seven players remaining from this collapse, and Dominguez was already on the IL when it happened, so really, six.

2020

In came Joe Girardi to manage the team, but also in came the COVID-19 pandemic. It upended sports. Baseball also had disputes between the Players’ Association (union) and the owners, and it resulted in a shortened, two month, 60-game season with an expanded, eight-team playoff.

By September 4, the Phillies were 19-15, had won 10-of-11, were only two games behind the Braves for first place in the N.L. East, and were three games ahead of the ninth place team for the final playoff spot. It looked like the Phillies would at least get into this weird, hybrid playoff and see what happens.

Instead, they went 9-17 in the final 26 games.

Despite the collapse, the Phillies entered the final series of the season in Tampa Bay in need of just one win to force a one-game playoff for the post-season and two wins to clinch a spot.

They were swept, including a shutout in the final game of the season to miss the playoffs by one game.

The story of the season was one of the worst bullpens in the history of the game. In the final month of the season, it was brutal. It had a 7.04 ERA It had a 1.69 WHIP. It was pathetic.

But, let’s put it in perspective. It wasn’t a usual season. There were no fans. There were only 60 games against the same set of teams. There wasn’t a usual build up to the push in September. September 2020 was akin to May in most seasons. Some superstars were terrible in 2020. Some also rans had career years. It was just odd altogether.

And really, if you take away that one winning stretch where they went 10-1, the Phillies were 18-31. Does that mean they choked in September? Or they just weren’t a good team who happened to have one, two-week hot stretch?

I’ll go with the latter.

As for the roster:

  • Usual Starting Nine: J.T. Realmuto (C), Rhys Hoskins (1B), Jean Segura (2B), Alec Bohm (3B), Didi Gregorius (SS), Andrew McCutchen (LF), Roman Quinn (CF), Bryce Harper (RF), Phil Gosselin (DH).
  • Starting rotation entering September: Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Zach Eflin, Jake Arrieta, Spencer Howard.
  • Bench players with at least 50 plate appearances (smaller number because of shortened season): Scott Kingery, Jay Bruce, Adam Haseley, Andrew Knapp.
  • Relievers with at least 10 innings pitched (smaller number because of shortened season): Hector Neris, Tommy Hunter, Blake Parker, Adam Morgan, Brandon Workman, Connor Brogdon, David Hale, JoJo Romero.

That’s eight players remaining from this unusual September.

2021

I was in the crowd the day the Phillies retired Roy Halladay’s number on August 8th. It was a sell out. Wheeler pitched a two-hit shutout and dominated the Mets. The Phillies improved to 59-53 and were two games up in the division. My dad and my youngest son were there with me. They were pumped up, as they should have been. These Phillies finally felt like they were going someplace.

Then, in the course of the next 10 days, Rhys Hoskins, who was No. 2 to Bryce Harper in offensive production, went down for the season. So did Zach Eflin, who was the Phillies No. 3 guy behind Wheeler and Nola. J.T. Realmuto was playing through injuries, until he couldn’t anymore, finally shutting it down in September. Still, they entered September with a chance – at 68-64 they were two games out in the N.L. East and 3 games out of the Wild Card.

They went 14-16 in September. Not exactly a collapse, but also not good enough, considering 11 of the 16 losses were to sub-.500 teams. But keep in mind, they had zero depth. They were trying to win with Brad Miller as an every day first baseman and with one of the worst bullpens in baseball pitching a bullpen game every fifth day in the final month of the season.

Harper was otherworldly, and almost got the Phillies to the promised land by himself, but they went into a series in Atlanta in the final week of the season where they needed to sweep the Braves just to have a shot, and instead got swept. You lose the first one, and it’s over, so the others didn’t even matter.

Too many injuries, not enough depth in the organization, and an offseason that brought sweeping changes to the way the Phillies minor league system would work as Dave Dombrowski realized just how poor a situation he had taken over from Andy McPhail and Matt Klentak.

Was it frustrating? Yes. But not because the team collapsed, but rather because they didn’t have the pieces to fill in when guys went down. And here’s the most important thing, even though it was only a year ago,  there was also a significant difference from the current team. (Current active Phillies in BOLD):

  • Usual Starting Nine: J.T. Realmuto (C), Rhys Hoskins (1B), Jean Segura (2B), Alec Bohm (3B), Didi Gregorius (SS), Andrew McCutchen (LF), Odubel Herrera (CF), Bryce Harper (RF).
  • Starting rotation entering September: Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez, Kyle Gibson, Bullpen.
  • Bench players with at least 100 plate appearances: Brad Miller, Ronald Torreyes, Andrew Knapp, Travis Jankowski, Nick Maton, Freddy Galvis, Luke Williams.
  • Relievers with at least 20 innings pitched: Hector Neris, Connor Brogdon, Jose Alvarado, Archie Bradley, Sam Coonrod, Chase Anderson, Bailey Falter, Brandon Kintzler, Enyel De Los Santos, David Hale, Ian Kennedy, J.D. Hammer.

That’s 14 players from last year who are currently on the roster this year. Oh, and there’s a new manager this year too.

So, what’s the difference? How about half the team in the clubhouse this year, wasn’t here for not only last year’s failure, but any of the others before that? So, how are they impacted by this perceived “choking” in September?

They aren’t. This is a different team. Completely.

Are they dealing with some injuries and fatigue right now? Sure. Has that contributed to a 3-4 start to the month? Yes. But why are they staying afloat – as they did for two months while Harper was on the injured list? Others have stepped up and made contributions.

The Phillies don’t beat Washington last night without two hits and two RBI from Dalton Guthrie, who sounds more like a Country Music singer than a baseball player, but here he was, helping to win a game in a September playoff push.

The wouldn’t have done it without a great defensive play by Matt Vierling, by red hot hitting and great defense from Edmundo Sosa, from the continued growth of Bryson Stott as an every day shortstop. By the vastly improved hitting approach from Alec Bohm and from the resurgence of Realmuto. They’ve been getting strong pitching from Falter, and Nick Nelson earned his first big league save against the Nats.

Aside from Realmuto and Bohm, none of these guys were part of the past.

But they are a part of the now. And the now, is why the past September narrative no longer matters. This is a different group.

And as for the guys who are the same, there was Hoskins hitting a key home run Friday. There was Nola pitching really well on Tuesday. Both contributed to wins. Segura, Harper, Realmuto – they’ll keep doing their thing.

And don’t overlook the fact that Seranthony Dominguez returns to the roster on Sunday, Zach Eflin and Zack Wheeler close behind him, with Eflin moving into a bullpen role. And right after that should be Nick Castellanos.

Things are actually on the upswing for the Phillies.

And they’ll will have a winning record in September and make the playoffs, clinching before the calendar even flips to October. Book it.