Philadelphia Phillies: Dumb features of the 2020 schedule

NL East overload

This one doesn’t specifically speak to the Phillies’ road trips, although strange travel is a small part of it. But does anyone else think that baseball tries a little too hard to cram pennant races and division rivalries down our throats?

Exhibit A is the last leg of the Phillies’ schedule, which sees them play 20 of their final 22 games against NL East competition. I understand that the division-heavy format means that any stretch will feature a large number of games against divisional opponents. And I realize that, financially, baseball is best served when teams who are competing for the same playoff spot meet head-to-head with everything on the line.

But 20 of the last 22 games being against NL East foes tells me that baseball messed something up along the way with the Phillies’ schedule. It feels like the first five months almost don’t matter unless the Phillies have either played so badly that they have no chance in September or so well that they have a commanding lead with weeks to go.

I can only hope that the first scenario doesn’t happen. I know for a fact that the second one won’t.

As for the “strange travel” I referenced earlier, it comes in the form of the only two non-divisional games that the Phillies play during this stretch. After finishing a three-game series in Atlanta on September 13, the Phillies head to Toronto for two games against the Blue Jays before returning home to face the Braves again.

What, you haven’t had a layover in Toronto between Atlanta and Philadelphia?

Let’s just hope that their schedule is the screwiest part of the 2020 Phillies season.