Buddy, the '08 Phillies were an actual contender. They had booming bats, an ace with decent other SPs, and a dynamite bullpen. Lidge didn't blow a save. How do they compare against this team? Do you trust this bullpen? Do you trust these SPs? Sure, the bats are there, but does this team make you comfortable when matched up against the Rays, Orioles, Dodgers, Braves, or Astros? If they do, then I feel only one of our standards are off.
The Phils had an amazing run last year, and it was so much fun. But it was incredibly lucky. A team built around hitting hit, and their shaky bullpen got hot. Then they ran into an actual top team who beat them, what a surprise. People love to point out the Braves series, but that was also a 5 game series.
The whole crux of what I've been saying, on repeat, is "hoping" for a championship is a losing mentality. Most often, one of the handful of top teams win. You need to strive to become one of those teams and give yourself the best chance of winning, not pull the wool over your eyes and contently sit outside that tier hoping. To win any championship you have to beat 1 or 2 of those teams.
This team makes me crazy because, even though there's a lot of great things about them, like Wheeler, Harper, Turner, and to a lesser extent Stott, Marsh, Stahm, Sanchez, and Hoffman, there's also the fact that they're predictable in all the worst ways. If they don't hit homers, the don't score. Wheeler and Nola come up small more often than not in the high pressure innings and games. The bullpen can't be trusted in any close game on any night. All of these things, good and bad, make place them in the "hope" tier. Too good be ok, but too bad to be a true contender.
How come I'm being gatekept for realizing they're not a contender? Why am I getting yelled at for this? Is realizing this bad?
