Philadelphia Phillies Star Bryce Harper Shares Ominous Thoughts on Division Race

The entire Philadelphia Phillies roster hopefully has the same mindset as superstar Bryce Harper.

Sep 8, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper (3) sits in the dugout against the Miami Marlins in the second inning at loanDepot Park. / Rhona Wise-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies dropped two of four against the Miami Marlins, a tough result as they look to solidify the division.

While the Phillies are seven games ahead in the National League East standings, it's not over until it's over.

Crazier things have happened in Major League Baseball history, and for a veteran-led team like Philadelphia, hopefully, they understand that.

The New York Mets are in second place and have been one of the best teams in baseball for much of the past two months. That hot stretch has continued for them, winning nine of their last 10 games. They beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 on Monday night.

The Mets have a comfortable lead in the National League Wild Card, sitting five games ahead of the closest team. The Atlanta Braves are now one game out of the playoff picture after they lost 1-0 on Monday night, hurting their chances of making the postseason or winning the division.

The likeliest outcome is the Phillies ultimately hold onto their massive lead in the NL East at this point in the calendar.

While that seems to be how things will play out, Philadelphia's superstar Bryce Harper knows this is far from being over.

"This division ain't close to being done," he said according to NBC Sports Philadelphia. "Obviously there are two good teams behind us. We're going to play the Mets a couple times. We've got to keep rolling. We can't really worry about the magic number or anything like that. The magic number is nothing to worry about when it's not under 10 games. We've got to keep going, keep grinding."

As Harper alluded to, this ball club can't get caught up in worrying about a certain number they need to chase. If the Phillies come out and play the baseball everyone knows they can, things will take care of itself.

If they put together another solid week of play, they should be in a great position to secure their first division title since 2011.

Philadelphia will host the Mets in a three-game set starting Friday night at Citizens Bank Park and will play them again about a week later for a four-game set in Queens.

Even if they finish 3-4 over those seven games, the division will likely be locked up barring Atlanta doing anything unusual.