Philadelphia Phillies: 5 Ways Wrapping Up Division Early Could Doom Them

For the Philadelphia Phillies, the goal for the season has been accomplished: to win their fifth straight NL East division title. They did so last Saturday, led by a Raul Ibanez grand slam and nine total runs of support for Roy Oswalt to give the team a 9-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Although the champagne celebrations were fun to watch, the team hasn’t been since. They’ve lost five games in a row since then, consisting of the last two games of their four game series to the Cardinals and three to their division rivals, the Washington Nationals. In those five games, the Phillies have scored just 11 runs total, whereas the opposition has scored 23 runs. And in their last 10 games, the Phillies are 4-6.

While the Phillies are still most likely on their way to having the best record in the majors (or at least the NL) by the season’s end, their production right now and total attitude towards passing their team-record 101 wins has seemed to diminish. In order for the Phils to be successful in the postseason, they need to start winning again so it doesn’t seem foreign to them come the NLDS.

Despite being an optimist, sometimes I have to play devil’s advocate, and unfortunately, this is one of those times.

So, without further ado, I pessimistically present to you five ways why the Phillies winning the NL East could bring them their demise in the playoffs.

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