Philadelphia Phillies Late-Season Matchup Against Mets Gets Moved Into Primetime

The Philadelphia Phillies has seen a change in their schedule after one of their late-season matchups against the New York Mets has now been moved into a primetime window.

Sep 6, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies players celebrate after the game against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

After previously winning six games in a row, the Philadelphia Phillies lost two consecutive against the Miami Marlins over the weekend that caused a split instead of a dominating series victory.

The losses aren't overly concerning at the moment unlike immediately after the All-Star break.

The Phillies have been able to build enough of a lead where the NL East isn't really in jeopardy anymore, although they still need to play well coming down the stretch to officially secure the title.

What is the more pressing issue is how banged up this roster is all of a sudden.

Once enjoying a relatively clean bill of health throughout the year, Philadelphia has now placed Austin Hays, Alec Bohm, and Edmundo Sosa on the injured list in subsequent days, with J.T. Realmuto also on the sidelines for the next couple of contests with a swollen knee.

That's not even including the wrist and elbow issues Bryce Harper is dealing with, something that has concerningly sapped his power.

But, the Phillies can't use this as an excuse.

They still have plenty of talent on their roster to close out the NL East division and win it for the first time since 2011.

All of a sudden, Philadelphia has a new team they'll have to fend off coming down the stretch as the New York Mets have gotten red-hot after the All-Star break en route to winning the fourth-most games in the MLB coming into Monday's action.

Because of that, television executives are firmly taking advantage of the late-season matchup between the Phillies and Mets.

According to Matt Gelb of The Athletic, ESPN has picked up the Sept. 22 finale for Sunday Night Baseball, putting this game into the 7 p.m. EST primetime slot. That will make it three out of the four contests in this series broadcasted on national television, with the Sept. 19 fixture being on Fox, followed by Apple TV+ carrying this matchup the next day.

Philadelphia will have a chance to extend their current seven-game lead over New York this weekend when they host their division rivals.

The Phillies could be getting back some of their injured stars before that showdown, something that could be a huge benefit when trying to shut the door on this division race.