Major League Baseball season
Major League Baseball team season
| 2020 Philadelphia Phillies |
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| League | National League |
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| Division | East |
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| Ballpark | Citizens Bank Park |
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| City | Philadelphia |
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| Record | 28–32 (.467) |
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| Divisional place | 3rd |
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| Owners | John S. Middleton |
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| General managers | Matt Klentak |
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| Managers | Joe Girardi |
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| Television | NBC Sports Philadelphia
NBC Sports Philadelphia +
NBC Philadelphia
(Tom McCarthy, John Kruk, Ben Davis, Rubén Amaro Jr., Jimmy Rollins, Gregg Murphy) |
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| Radio | Phillies Radio Network
WIP SportsRadio 94.1 FM (English)
(Scott Franzke, Larry Andersen, Jim Jackson, Kevin Frandsen)
WTTM (Spanish)
(Danny Martinez, Bill Kulik, Rickie Ricardo) |
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| Stats | ESPN.com
BB-reference |
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The 2020 Philadelphia Phillies season was the 138th season in the history of the franchise, its 17th season at Citizens Bank Park, and the first season under new manager Joe Girardi. The Phillies failed to improve from their 81–81 record in the previous year and missed the playoffs for the ninth straight season.
On March 12, 2020, MLB announced that because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the regular season would be delayed by at least two weeks in addition to the remainder of spring training being cancelled.[1] Four days later, it was announced that the start of the season would be pushed back indefinitely due to the recommendation made by the CDC to restrict events of more than 50 people for eight weeks.[2] On June 23, commissioner Rob Manfred unilaterally implemented a 60-game season. Players reported to training camp on July 1 in order to resume spring training and prepare for Opening Day on July 24.[3]
Player stats
Batting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; AVG = Batting average; SLG = Slugging average
Source:[1]
Pitching
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts
Source:[2]
Season summary
July
The Phillies dropped their home opener, 2–5, against Marlins but was highlighted by shortstop Didi Gregorius' home run. The team rebounded with a 7–1 victory the next day powered by Gregorius' second home run and designated hitter Phil Gosselin's 2-home run performance to give pitcher Zack Wheeler the victory in his Phillies' debut. The Marlins won the rubber match, 11–6, as the Phillies left the bases loaded 3 times in the latter half of the game.
COVID-19 outbreak
The Marlins' opening day catcher Jorge Alfaro was placed on the injured list after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier in the day. First baseman Garrett Cooper and outfielder Harold Ramírez also tested positive for COVID-19 shortly thereafter. Two days later prior to the final game of the opening series, Marlins' pitcher José Ureña tested positive for COVID-19 and was scratched from his start.[17] Following the game the Marlins delayed their flight back to Miami due to concerns of an outbreak.[18][19]
On July 27, the Marlins' home opener against the Baltimore Orioles was postponed amid reports that eight new players had tested positive for COVID-19.[20] Reports stated that 11 Marlins players and two coaches had tested positive. MLB also postponed the Phillies' next game against the Yankees as the Yankees would be using the same clubhouse as the Marlins.[5] The Marlins remained in Philadelphia pending further testing.[20]
On July 28, sources reported that at least four more members of the Marlins had tested positive for COVID-19. In five days, the Marlins had a total of 17 people test positive for the virus.[21] On the same day, the MLB announced that the Marlins and Phillies seasons would be put on hold and their opponents' schedules adjusted.[10][22]
The Phillies' home-and-home series with the New York Yankees was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.[5] The July 31 game with the Toronto Blue Jays was also postponed and rescheduled as an August 1 traditional doubleheader.[10][11] However, on July 30 after an unnamed coach and Phillies' clubhouse worker tested positive (which were later determined to be false positives[23]), the Blue Jays series was postponed.[24]
August
As Major League Baseball juggled the schedules, the Phillies opened August with a home-and-home series with the Yankees, making up games postponed from the previous week.[6] Hours before the first pitch on August 3, the next day's game was postponed due to the impending inclement weather with the approach of Hurricane Isaias, setting up a doubleheader at Citizens Bank Park where each team would take turns at being the home team.[14] Earning a split of the 4-game Yankees' series, the Phillies went on to split the 4-game Atlanta Braves' series. After being swept in a 3-games series by the Baltimore Orioles, the Phillies completed their homestand by sweeping the New York Mets.
In their first real roadtrip of the season (they had played a single game in New York earlier in the month but traveled back to Philadelphia after the game), the Phillies split a 2-game series with the Boston Red Sox. After leading early in both games of a doubleheader against in the Blue Jays, the Phillies were swept in the brief 1-day stay in Buffalo, New York, the Jays' home stadium (Sahlen Field) in 2020 due to the pandemic. In Atlanta, the Phillies led early in the opening 2 games of the series only to have the bullpen lose the games in the final innings. In the Atlanta finale, broadcast on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, the Phillies held on for a 5–4 victory with the game-tying run thrown out at home plate to end the game.
Playoffs again not reached
On September 27, 2020, the Phillies lost the season finale to the Tampa Bay Rays, 5–0, and they were therefore not eligible for the playoffs. If the Phillies had won that game and the San Francisco Giants and the Milwaukee Brewers had lost, they would have clinched the eighth playoff spot. The Giants and Brewers both lost their games.
