The Phillies have five series left to play this season and are back to being the best team in baseball after a sweep of the Rays at home earlier this week.
The NL East — and the top seed in the entire league — is well within their sights as the push for postseason positioning continues to heat up.
So what do the Phils need to do to get the champagne flowing again in the clubhouse? Here's a look at the latest scenarios and hurdles remaining:
The NL East
The Phillies' magic number to win the NL East is nine, with 16 games remaining. The schedule gods have made it interesting but simple for Philly, as they have seven games remaining against the second-place Mets, which means in theory, winning five times against them would eliminate them from the division race (five Phils wins plus five Mets losses equals 10). New York is currently eight games behind the Phillies and would need to basically run the table to catch them.
However, the Braves are still technically also alive, as they are nine games behind the Phils. Some combination of a total implosion and the Mets or Braves playing nearly perfect baseball is the only recipe that could sour the Phillies winning their first division crown since 2011. It's a matter of when, not if.
The No. 1 seed
The top seed in the NL comes with some perks — the biggest of these is home-field advantage in every round of the postseason. Philly has the most home wins in baseball this season, and their home-field advantage in the postseason was abundantly clear in each of the last two Octobers.
Here's a look at all of baseball (including the AL) and where things stand on September 5:
| Team | Record | GB |
| Phillies | 88-58 | — |
| Dodgers | 87-59 | 1 |
| Yankees | 85-62 | 3.5 |
| Brewers | 84-62 | 4 |
| Guardians | 84-63 | 4.5 |
The NL is in good shape to host the World Series this year, and the Phillies hold a tiebreaker over the Dodgers — so in reality they have a two-game edge right now for the top seed in the postseason.`
A first-round bye
If the Phillies hold on to that No. 1 seed, they'll get a bye into the NLDS. If they fall behind the Dodgers but still fend off the Brewers for the 2-spot in the NL, they will also be afforded some time to rest in skipping the Wild Card.
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It's a little controversial, based on recent history, as to whether the bye is a good thing. It offers between four and five days off to a baseball team that has played 162 games without more than a day off (besides the All-Star break) for six months. The Phillies were actually beneficiaries of not having a bye in each of their last two campaigns. They handled the best two-of-three Wild Card rounds with aplomb. In 2022 they swept St. Louis and then beat the well-rested Braves in four games. In 2023 they swept the Marlins and beat the well-rested Braves in four games again.
In those last two postseasons, teams with a first-round bye went 3-5 in the divisional round.
The Phillies should be in the column of wanting the time off. Alec Bohm is hurt, and so is J.T. Realmuto. Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper are banged up, too. The pitching staff could definitely use some rest, not to mention there's always a chance of being upset in the Wild Card round in the short best-of-three format.
The Dodgers have the second easiest remaining strength of schedule of any MLB team — their opposition has a .450 winning percentage. The Phillies have the sixth toughest at .527, as they'll face three playoff contenders (the Mets twice, Brewers and Cubs) with just one easy series left against the Nationals. The Brewers' opponents have a .551 winning percentage, the third toughest slate remaining.
Once the NL East is handled it will be interesting to see how aggressively Rob Thomson and the Phillies management team go after that bye and No. 1 seed.
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