On Wednesday evening, the Philadelphia Phillies learned that they would be playing the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS after Los Angeles swept the Cincinnati Reds in the Wild Card round. It's an unusually difficult opponent for the first official round of the playoffs, but the Phillies seem up to the challenge, thanks in no small part to the home field advantage they will have in the series.
Recently, Phillies star Nick Castellanos shouted out the hometown fans during an appearance on Foul Territory.
“They care a lot, I'll give them that,” said Castellanos, per Foul Territory on X, formerly Twitter. “They show up… we saluted them after the scrimmage game was over and they were loud, they're excited, we're excited. So hopefully there's something special to come.”
The Phillies have enjoyed a strong regular season this year, winning the NL East for the second straight season and hoping that their run in the playoffs this time around goes a little bit better than it did last time around, when they flamed out against the New York Mets.
Is this the year for the Phillies?
The Philadelphia Phillies have been knocking on the door of something special for quite some time now. Back in 2022, the Phillies used a late season surge to backdoor their way into the postseason, where they ended up making it all the way to the World Series before losing to the Houston Astros.
The following year, Philadelphia was upset by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLCS, and last year, as previously mentioned, it was the divisional rival New York Mets that did them in a round earlier.
The good news for the Phillies is that their streak of losing a round earlier in the playoffs than the previous year is mathematically unable to continue, as they've at least made it as far as they did in 2024.
Still, Philadelphia would surely love to finally capitalize on all of their talent and the money they've spent and truly compete for a championship this postseason.
Game 1 vs the Dodgers is set for Saturday from Philadelphia.
