June 13, 2022
The Phillies have had an interesting month of June. After firing manager Joe Girardi, the Phils fired off nine wins a row — some of them in wild walkout fashion — and have crawled their way back to the .500 mark.
They are currently on the outside looking in when it comes to playoff positioning, but the expanded 12-team field certainly offers them perhaps their best chance of ending their 10-year playoff draught.
Here's a look at where they currently rank at a few big-name baseball media outlets:
Outlet | Ranking | Previous Ranking (Movement) | Rest of NL East |
MLB.com | 14 | 20 (+6) | NYM (2), ATL (8), MIA (18), WSH (27) |
The Athletic | 13 | 18 (+5) | NYM (3), ATL (7), MIA (16), WSH (28) |
CBS Sports | 14 | 17 (+4) | NYM (2), ATL (8), MIA (21), WSH (27) |
FanGraphs | 16 | 18 (+2) | NYM (4), ATL (7), MIA (15), WSH (27) |
Sports Illustrated | 15 | 16 (+1) | NYM (3), ATL (10), MIA (17), WSH (27) |
USA Today | 13 | 16 (+3) | NYM (2), ATL (7), MIA (17), WSH (27) |
DraftKings | 15th best odds (+4000) | — | NYM (+750), ATL (+1200) |
A few notes:
• It's interesting to see that the amount of movement around the rankings is so inconsistent. Some outlets clearly buy the revitalized Phillies — like MLB.com and The Athletic — and some are skeptical, like Sports Illustrated.
• The eye test and a look at the standings reveal what these power rankings also infer, the Phillies are just on the cusp of being a playoff team, right outside of the 12-team field via these power rankings.
• FanGraphs is the only website that has the Phillies fourth among NL East teams. They have the Phils behind the Marlins, who have been quietly winning games of late just like the Braves have. It is worth mentioning that FanGraphs does give Philadelphia a 35% chance of making the playoffs.
• The easy schedule — 10 games ahead versus teams with losing records — could help the Phillies to make yet another leap in rankings at the start of next week.
Follow Evan on Twitter: @evan_macy
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports