Thursday, October 1, 2026
79 ° Clear
79 ° Clear
In what seemed like at times the blink of an eye and at others a slow crawl, the 2026 Philadelphia Phillies season has reached the final home stretch. The Phillies will host the champions of the NL Central, the Milwaukee Brewers, in a series that has massive postseason implications for the Fightin’ Phils.
Speaking of the postseason, Zack Wheeler has been an elite presence in that area for the Phillies over the past few years, and one they missed in 2025. Wheeler will need to treat Tuesday like a playoff start and is on the right track after keeping the Nationals scoreless through seven frames on Wednesday. Opposing Wheeler will be Dustin May, who will look to rebound after after a rough outing in Baltimore. Friday night, the right-hander allowed three runs on six hits over 2.1 innings, getting the early hook.
On Wednesday, Aaron Nola will duke it out against Logan Henderson in what will likely be his final start of the regular season. Nola kept the Mets scoreless through seven innings on Thursday night. The veteran pitcher owned a 5.75 ERA before the All-Star Game but has turned his season around with a superb 2.78 ERA. He will matchup against Henderson, who owns a 2.51 ERA over 17 starts this season.
At the time of publishing, neither team has announced their start for Thursday’s 6:05 p.m. matchup. That slot in the rotation would belong to Jesús Luzardo if he were healthy and will likely be another bullpen start instead. Tim Mayza got the start in the previous bullpen game.
When Zack Wheeler takes the mound Tuesday, he will have the chance to become the 96th player in Major League Baseball history to record 2,000 career strikeouts. Currently standing at 1,997, Wheeler just needs three strikeouts to against the Brewers to hit the milestone.
Wheeler will become the 10th active starter to hit the milestone with Aaron Nola most recently hitting the milestone on August 8.
As the series begins Tuesday, the Phillies own the No. 6 seed in the National League. Both the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres sit 1.0 games ahead of the Phillies. The Cubs begin a three-game series against the Miami Marlins while the Padres are on the road against the Los Angeles Dodgers. If the Phillies want a chance to host the NL Wild Card Series, Phillies fans need to ally with the Marlins and Dodgers for the next three days.
On the flip side, the Arizona Diamondbacks are still in play to try to steal the final Wild Card slot from the Phillies. 4.0 games back, the Phillies’ magic number to lock in a playoff berth is down to three. A combination of three Phillies wins and D-Backs losses will do the trick. The next three days likely will not help on the D-Backs side as they face the worst team in baseball, the Colorado Rockies.
Who will the Phillies face in the Wild Card round?
As things stand, the Phils would face off against the Braves in the Wild Card round.
Are the Phillies healthy for the playoffs?
There will be a couple of notable omissions. Adolis Garcia's season came to a premature end back in June, while the Phillies could also be without a key cog of their bullpen in Jesus Luzardo for the Wild Card game, depending on how his shoulder inflamation injury looks.
How can I watch Phillies vs Brewers?
The series will be broadcast on NBCSP.
MORE: An inside look at Philadelphia's path to the playoffs
