The Braves are a game back of Chicago for first place in the NL Central after a big week that included a sweep of the Marlins and three more wins against the Brewers. What? You mean they’re still in the NL East? Fine. They’re 5.5 out and within a day or two from being mathematically eliminated, but they have won seven of eight and clinched an over-.500 season, which is a good thing.
This Week’s Stats
Scores and FanGraphs game summaries:
9/17: Braves 11, Marlins 6
9/18: Braves 4, Marlins 3
9/19: Braves 5, Marlins 1
9/20: Braves 3, Brewers 1
9/21: Brewers 4, Braves 1
9/22: Braves 4, Brewers 3
9/23: Braves 7, Brewers 4
Stats for the week alone:
| Hitting | PA | OPS | pLI | WPA | WPA/LI | Clutch | CP | pWPA | pWPA/LI | pClutch | pCP |
| Scott Thorman | 2 | 2.500 | 0.99 | +0.487 | +0.217 | +0.270 | +0.272 | +24.35 | +10.85 | +13.50 | +13.61 |
| Mark Teixeira | 30 | 0.977 | 0.94 | +0.286 | +0.191 | +0.095 | +0.107 | +0.95 | +0.64 | +0.32 | +0.36 |
| Martin Prado | 1 | 2.000 | 2.86 | +0.211 | +0.074 | +0.137 | +0.000 | +21.10 | +7.38 | +13.72 | +0.00 |
| Matt Diaz | 19 | 0.865 | 1.08 | +0.196 | +0.077 | +0.119 | +0.113 | +1.03 | +0.40 | +0.63 | +0.60 |
| Chipper Jones | 31 | 1.116 | 1.06 | +0.186 | +0.432 | -0.246 | -0.270 | +0.60 | +1.39 | -0.79 | -0.87 |
| Edgar Renteria | 31 | 0.799 | 0.99 | +0.167 | +0.134 | +0.033 | +0.034 | +0.54 | +0.43 | +0.11 | +0.11 |
| Yunel Escobar | 16 | 1.101 | 1.01 | +0.091 | +0.208 | -0.117 | -0.119 | +0.57 | +1.30 | -0.73 | -0.74 |
| Pete Orr | 3 | 1.167 | 0.96 | +0.068 | +0.063 | +0.005 | +0.008 | +2.27 | +2.08 | +0.18 | +0.28 |
| Tim Hudson | 3 | 1.167 | 0.95 | +0.018 | +0.018 | +0.000 | +0.001 | +0.60 | +0.58 | +0.02 | +0.05 |
| Julio Franco | 1 | 2.000 | 0.11 | +0.007 | +0.064 | -0.057 | +0.000 | +0.70 | +6.36 | -5.66 | +0.00 |
| Brian McCann | 24 | 0.675 | 0.84 | +0.003 | -0.003 | +0.006 | +0.005 | +0.01 | -0.01 | +0.02 | +0.02 |
| Brayan Pena | 2 | 0.000 | 0.03 | -0.003 | -0.060 | +0.057 | -0.002 | -0.15 | -3.00 | +2.85 | -0.08 |
| Chris Woodward | 1 | 0.000 | 0.09 | -0.003 | -0.033 | +0.030 | +0.000 | -0.30 | -3.33 | +3.03 | +0.00 |
| Corky Miller | 3 | 0.667 | 1.37 | -0.010 | -0.012 | +0.002 | +0.007 | -0.33 | -0.41 | +0.08 | +0.24 |
| Chuck James | 3 | 0.000 | 0.25 | -0.019 | -0.076 | +0.057 | +0.000 | -0.63 | -2.54 | +1.91 | +0.01 |
| Jo-Jo Reyes | 4 | 0.000 | 1.32 | -0.024 | -0.012 | -0.012 | -0.008 | -0.60 | -0.31 | -0.29 | -0.19 |
| Willie Harris | 4 | 0.000 | 0.24 | -0.025 | -0.079 | +0.054 | -0.006 | -0.63 | -1.97 | +1.35 | -0.15 |
| Brandon Lamon Jones | 4 | 0.000 | 0.62 | -0.026 | -0.046 | +0.020 | +0.002 | -0.65 | -1.14 | +0.49 | +0.05 |
| Jeff Bennett | 2 | 0.000 | 0.93 | -0.053 | -0.054 | +0.001 | -0.003 | -2.65 | -2.69 | +0.04 | -0.16 |
| John Smoltz | 5 | 0.400 | 0.50 | -0.088 | -0.117 | +0.029 | -0.029 | -1.76 | -2.35 | +0.59 | -0.58 |
| Kelly Johnson | 18 | 0.528 | 0.81 | -0.100 | -0.070 | -0.030 | -0.044 | -0.56 | -0.39 | -0.17 | -0.24 |
| Jeff Francoeur | 28 | 0.519 | 0.91 | -0.170 | -0.260 | +0.090 | +0.068 | -0.61 | -0.93 | +0.32 | +0.24 |
| Andruw Jones | 28 | 0.694 | 0.96 | -0.221 | +0.127 | -0.348 | -0.343 | -0.79 | +0.46 | -1.24 | -1.23 |
| Totals | 263 | 0.769 | 0.93 | +0.978 | +0.780 | +0.198 | -0.205 | +0.37 | +0.30 | +0.08 | -0.08 |
| Total Pitching | IP | ERA | pLI | WPA | WPA/LI | Clutch | CP | pWPA | pWPA/LI | pClutch | pCP |
| Rafael Soriano | 6.0 | 1.50 | 0.85 | +0.435 | +0.237 | +0.198 | +0.235 | +1.98 | +1.08 | +0.90 | +1.07 |
| John Smoltz | 14.0 | 1.93 | 0.93 | +0.415 | +0.319 | +0.096 | +0.119 | +0.83 | +0.64 | +0.19 | +0.24 |
| Chuck James | 7.0 | 0.00 | 0.71 | +0.301 | +0.425 | -0.124 | -0.001 | +1.25 | +1.77 | -0.52 | -0.00 |
| Joey Devine | 1.7 | 0.00 | 2.60 | +0.217 | +0.034 | +0.183 | +0.129 | +3.10 | +0.49 | +2.61 | +1.84 |
| Tim Hudson | 7.7 | 3.52 | 1.47 | +0.199 | +0.254 | -0.055 | -0.174 | +0.60 | +0.77 | -0.17 | -0.53 |
| Jeff Bennett | 5.7 | 1.59 | 1.04 | +0.194 | +0.063 | +0.131 | +0.129 | +0.81 | +0.26 | +0.55 | +0.54 |
| Octavio Dotel | 1.3 | 0.00 | 2.27 | +0.164 | +0.062 | +0.102 | +0.023 | +3.28 | +1.25 | +2.03 | +0.46 |
| Jo-Jo Reyes | 10.3 | 3.48 | 1.15 | +0.066 | +0.181 | -0.115 | -0.142 | +0.16 | +0.43 | -0.27 | -0.34 |
| Jose Ascanio | 0.7 | 40.50 | 0.10 | -0.008 | -0.155 | +0.147 | +0.008 | -0.13 | -2.59 | +2.45 | +0.13 |
| Tyler Yates | 1.7 | 16.20 | 1.27 | -0.009 | -0.074 | +0.065 | +0.085 | -0.10 | -0.83 | +0.73 | +0.95 |
| Royce Ring | 0.3 | 0.00 | 1.54 | -0.031 | -0.018 | -0.013 | -0.004 | -1.03 | -0.59 | -0.45 | -0.13 |
| Ron Mahay | 2.0 | 0.00 | 3.08 | -0.046 | -0.037 | -0.009 | +0.068 | -0.42 | -0.34 | -0.08 | +0.62 |
| Manuel Acosta | 3.0 | 6.00 | 1.14 | -0.051 | -0.015 | -0.036 | -0.034 | -0.32 | -0.10 | -0.22 | -0.21 |
| Peter Moylan | 3.7 | 2.45 | 1.00 | -0.289 | -0.124 | -0.165 | -0.166 | -1.81 | -0.77 | -1.03 | -1.03 |
| Totals | 65.0 | 2.91 | 1.19 | +1.557 | +1.151 | +0.406 | +0.275 | +0.58 | +0.43 | +0.15 | +0.10 |
| Relief Pitching | G | IP | TBF | gmLI | G/T | tG/T | USG | SV | EO | EOC | EO% |
| Rafael Soriano | 6 | 6.0 | 22 | 1.35 | 0.74 | 1.73 | 0.99 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| Joey Devine | 2 | 1.7 | 7 | 2.59 | 1.42 | 1.66 | 0.24 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| Jose Ascanio | 1 | 0.7 | 6 | 0.04 | 0.02 | 1.49 | 1.46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Octavio Dotel | 2 | 1.3 | 5 | 1.84 | 1.01 | 1.27 | 0.26 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| Tyler Yates | 3 | 1.7 | 9 | 1.98 | 1.08 | 1.10 | 0.01 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 50% |
| Ron Mahay | 4 | 2.0 | 11 | 3.72 | 2.04 | 0.74 | -1.29 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 33% |
| Royce Ring | 3 | 0.3 | 3 | 1.54 | 0.84 | 0.72 | -0.12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Manuel Acosta | 4 | 3.0 | 16 | 1.55 | 0.85 | 0.62 | -0.24 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 50% |
| Peter Moylan | 5 | 3.7 | 16 | 1.22 | 0.67 | 0.00 | -0.67 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0% |
| Totals | 30 | 20.3 | 95 | 1.82 | 18 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 58% |
Season totals:
| Hitting | PA | OPS | pLI | WPA | WPA/LI | Clutch | CP | pWPA | pWPA/LI | pClutch | pCP |
| Chipper Jones | 577 | 1.033 | 1.06 | +4.111 | +4.548 | -0.437 | -0.731 | +0.71 | +0.79 | -0.08 | -0.13 |
| Yunel Escobar | 335 | 0.835 | 0.98 | +2.480 | +1.509 | +0.971 | +1.008 | +0.74 | +0.45 | +0.29 | +0.30 |
| Edgar Renteria | 530 | 0.862 | 0.96 | +1.820 | +1.959 | -0.139 | -0.059 | +0.34 | +0.37 | -0.03 | -0.01 |
| Matt Diaz | 368 | 0.871 | 1.00 | +1.515 | +1.547 | -0.032 | -0.028 | +0.41 | +0.42 | -0.01 | -0.01 |
| Mark Teixeira | 220 | 1.006 | 1.09 | +1.261 | +1.103 | +0.158 | +0.061 | +0.57 | +0.50 | +0.07 | +0.03 |
| Kelly Johnson | 594 | 0.839 | 0.97 | +1.179 | +2.201 | -1.022 | -0.949 | +0.20 | +0.37 | -0.17 | -0.16 |
| Corky Miller | 24 | 0.726 | 1.01 | +0.132 | +0.017 | +0.115 | +0.115 | +0.55 | +0.07 | +0.48 | +0.48 |
| Martin Prado | 55 | 0.686 | 0.95 | +0.094 | +0.037 | +0.057 | +0.059 | +0.17 | +0.07 | +0.10 | +0.11 |
| Brian McCann | 539 | 0.783 | 1.04 | +0.051 | -0.700 | +0.751 | +0.779 | +0.01 | -0.13 | +0.14 | +0.14 |
| Tyler Yates | 1 | 0.000 | 0.03 | -0.001 | -0.033 | +0.032 | +0.000 | -0.10 | -3.33 | +3.23 | +0.00 |
| Peter Moylan | 5 | 0.200 | 0.55 | -0.047 | -0.051 | +0.004 | -0.019 | -0.94 | -1.02 | +0.08 | -0.38 |
| Jeff Bennett | 2 | 0.000 | 0.93 | -0.053 | -0.054 | +0.001 | -0.003 | -2.65 | -2.69 | +0.04 | -0.16 |
| Oscar Villarreal | 5 | 0.450 | 1.24 | -0.053 | -0.085 | +0.032 | +0.052 | -1.06 | -1.69 | +0.63 | +1.04 |
| Brandon Lamon Jones | 8 | 0.000 | 0.52 | -0.069 | -0.147 | +0.078 | +0.007 | -0.86 | -1.84 | +0.98 | +0.09 |
| Jo-Jo Reyes | 19 | 0.358 | 1.12 | -0.140 | -0.131 | -0.009 | +0.007 | -0.74 | -0.69 | -0.04 | +0.04 |
| Willie Harris | 376 | 0.758 | 1.01 | -0.164 | -0.422 | +0.258 | +0.262 | -0.04 | -0.11 | +0.07 | +0.07 |
| Tim Hudson | 81 | 0.595 | 0.77 | -0.221 | -0.295 | +0.074 | +0.007 | -0.27 | -0.36 | +0.09 | +0.01 |
| Lance Cormier | 17 | 0.059 | 0.67 | -0.281 | -0.349 | +0.068 | -0.048 | -1.65 | -2.05 | +0.40 | -0.28 |
| Jeff Francoeur | 674 | 0.767 | 1.00 | -0.424 | -0.735 | +0.311 | +0.309 | -0.06 | -0.11 | +0.05 | +0.05 |
| Julio Franco | 45 | 0.636 | 1.05 | -0.431 | -0.081 | -0.350 | -0.346 | -0.96 | -0.18 | -0.78 | -0.77 |
| Brayan Pena | 29 | 0.517 | 1.28 | -0.525 | -0.357 | -0.168 | -0.070 | -1.81 | -1.23 | -0.58 | -0.24 |
| Buddy Carlyle | 42 | 0.258 | 0.89 | -0.548 | -0.696 | +0.148 | +0.074 | -1.30 | -1.66 | +0.35 | +0.18 |
| Pete Orr | 66 | 0.437 | 0.77 | -0.619 | -0.500 | -0.119 | -0.233 | -0.94 | -0.76 | -0.18 | -0.35 |
| Jarrod Saltalamacchia | 153 | 0.745 | 1.11 | -0.711 | -0.273 | -0.438 | -0.408 | -0.46 | -0.18 | -0.29 | -0.27 |
| Scott Thorman | 300 | 0.662 | 0.92 | -0.795 | -0.580 | -0.215 | -0.261 | -0.27 | -0.19 | -0.07 | -0.09 |
| Chuck James | 61 | 0.268 | 0.85 | -0.810 | -0.913 | +0.103 | -0.033 | -1.33 | -1.50 | +0.17 | -0.05 |
| John Smoltz | 67 | 0.201 | 0.85 | -0.912 | -1.072 | +0.160 | +0.001 | -1.36 | -1.60 | +0.24 | +0.00 |
| Chris Woodward | 147 | 0.503 | 1.03 | -0.940 | -1.180 | +0.240 | +0.275 | -0.64 | -0.80 | +0.16 | +0.19 |
| Andruw Jones | 647 | 0.726 | 1.08 | -2.495 | -0.903 | -1.592 | -1.522 | -0.39 | -0.14 | -0.25 | -0.24 |
| Totals | 6147 | 0.773 | 1.00 | +0.524 | +1.718 | -1.194 | -2.069 | +0.01 | +0.03 | -0.02 | -0.03 |
| Total Pitching | IP | ERA | pLI | WPA | WPA/LI | Clutch | CP | pWPA | pWPA/LI | pClutch | pCP |
| John Smoltz | 201.7 | 2.95 | 1.03 | +2.496 | +2.759 | -0.263 | -0.346 | +0.30 | +0.33 | -0.03 | -0.04 |
| Peter Moylan | 87.7 | 1.85 | 0.79 | +2.301 | +1.547 | +0.754 | +1.077 | +0.66 | +0.44 | +0.22 | +0.31 |
| Rafael Soriano | 71.0 | 3.04 | 1.17 | +2.299 | +1.450 | +0.849 | +0.603 | +0.84 | +0.53 | +0.31 | +0.22 |
| Tim Hudson | 218.3 | 3.34 | 0.94 | +2.148 | +3.237 | -1.089 | -0.907 | +0.24 | +0.36 | -0.12 | -0.10 |
| Chuck James | 157.7 | 4.11 | 0.99 | +1.089 | -0.104 | +1.193 | +1.192 | +0.16 | -0.02 | +0.18 | +0.18 |
| Tyler Yates | 65.0 | 5.26 | 1.06 | +0.362 | +0.045 | +0.317 | +0.314 | +0.12 | +0.02 | +0.11 | +0.11 |
| Manuel Acosta | 19.7 | 2.29 | 0.88 | +0.235 | +0.451 | -0.216 | -0.162 | +0.29 | +0.56 | -0.27 | -0.20 |
| Joey Devine | 6.7 | 1.35 | 0.72 | +0.204 | +0.098 | +0.106 | +0.134 | +0.66 | +0.32 | +0.34 | +0.43 |
| Jeff Bennett | 5.7 | 1.59 | 1.04 | +0.194 | +0.063 | +0.131 | +0.129 | +0.81 | +0.26 | +0.55 | +0.54 |
| Ron Mahay | 25.0 | 2.52 | 1.44 | +0.100 | +0.091 | +0.009 | -0.031 | +0.09 | +0.08 | +0.01 | -0.03 |
| Royce Ring | 3.7 | 0.00 | 0.48 | +0.033 | +0.192 | -0.159 | -0.060 | +0.21 | +1.20 | -0.99 | -0.37 |
| Jose Ascanio | 15.0 | 5.40 | 0.69 | -0.117 | +0.019 | -0.136 | -0.130 | -0.16 | +0.03 | -0.19 | -0.18 |
| Chad Paronto | 40.3 | 3.57 | 0.63 | -0.120 | -0.364 | +0.244 | +0.111 | -0.07 | -0.20 | +0.14 | +0.06 |
| Oscar Villarreal | 75.3 | 4.30 | 0.79 | -0.380 | -0.360 | -0.020 | -0.094 | -0.11 | -0.11 | -0.01 | -0.03 |
| Bob Wickman | 43.7 | 3.92 | 2.05 | -0.472 | -0.173 | -0.299 | -0.117 | -0.23 | -0.08 | -0.15 | -0.06 |
| Buddy Carlyle | 103.0 | 5.16 | 0.87 | -0.848 | -0.402 | -0.446 | -0.499 | -0.19 | -0.09 | -0.10 | -0.11 |
| Jo-Jo Reyes | 44.0 | 6.75 | 1.05 | -1.261 | -0.983 | -0.278 | -0.231 | -0.62 | -0.49 | -0.14 | -0.11 |
| Lance Cormier | 45.7 | 7.09 | 0.84 | -1.483 | -1.324 | -0.159 | -0.371 | -0.71 | -0.63 | -0.08 | -0.18 |
| Kyle Davies | 86.0 | 5.76 | 0.98 | -1.659 | -1.037 | -0.622 | -0.640 | -0.43 | -0.27 | -0.16 | -0.16 |
| Totals | 1406.3 | 4.12 | 0.97 | +3.483 | +2.753 | +0.730 | +0.162 | +0.06 | +0.05 | +0.01 | +0.00 |
| Relief Pitching | G | IP | TBF | gmLI | G/T | tG/T | USG | SV | EO | EOC | EO% |
| Rafael Soriano | 70 | 71.0 | 273 | 1.32 | 1.25 | 1.86 | 0.61 | 10 | 13 | 17 | 76% |
| Peter Moylan | 76 | 87.7 | 349 | 0.87 | 0.82 | 1.72 | 0.90 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 89% |
| Tyler Yates | 74 | 65.0 | 291 | 1.07 | 1.01 | 1.09 | 0.08 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 58% |
| Chad Paronto | 41 | 40.3 | 180 | 0.82 | 0.77 | 0.99 | 0.22 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 40% |
| Joey Devine | 7 | 6.7 | 31 | 0.84 | 0.79 | 0.79 | 0.00 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| Ron Mahay | 26 | 25.0 | 107 | 1.49 | 1.40 | 0.65 | -0.75 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 50% |
| Oscar Villarreal | 50 | 75.3 | 331 | 1.01 | 0.95 | 0.61 | -0.34 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 64% |
| Jose Ascanio | 12 | 15.0 | 71 | 0.50 | 0.47 | 0.44 | -0.02 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 50% |
| Royce Ring | 8 | 3.7 | 16 | 0.85 | 0.80 | 0.41 | -0.39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Manuel Acosta | 18 | 19.7 | 80 | 1.02 | 0.96 | 0.33 | -0.63 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 75% |
| Jo-Jo Reyes | 1 | 3.3 | 16 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.24 | 0.24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Bob Wickman | 49 | 43.7 | 204 | 1.60 | 1.51 | 0.21 | -1.30 | 20 | 11 | 15 | 73% |
| Buddy Carlyle | 2 | 3.0 | 10 | 0.61 | 0.58 | 0.00 | -0.58 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Totals | 503 | 518.7 | 2245 | 1.06 | 260 | 37 | 62 | 91 | 68% |
Best plays of the week:
- Scott Thorman homered off Francisco Cordero, tying Saturday’s game at 3 with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning (+.488).
- Matt Diaz singled in a run off Claudio Vargas, tying yesterday’s game at 4 and advancing a runner to second (+.222).
- Martin Prado singled off Ray King, advancing Diaz to third and scoring Andruw Jones later in the inning to give the Braves a 5-4 lead (+.211).
- Mark Teixeira singled off Brian Shouse, driving in the winning run of Saturday’s 4-3 game against the Brewers (+.180).
- Joey Devine got Damian Miller to fly out, stranding the bases loaded in the top of the 11th on Saturday (+.175).
Comments
Even though the games are mostly irrelevant now, it’s good to see the Braves have a good week. A sweep of the Phillies would pull the teams even for second place, and it would be nice to see the Braves wreck two different teams’ playoff hopes in one week.
Let’s get the poor performances out of the way first. Johnson and Francoeur struggled at the plate, and Andruw Jones posted a negative WPA despite a couple of home runs. He now has 26 HR and 93 RBI (so he could even get to 100), but that .221/.312/.414 line is still awful compared to his career numbers. Johnson’s season WPA of +1.181 is at its lowest since 4/24, but you have to appreciate an .839 OPS coming from someone seeing his first full-time action at second base. Frenchy is closing in on one win below average at -.424 for the season. His great power has been mostly missing this season, and his OPS is only about 40 points better than Andruw’s.
McCann had an average week at the plate, and then you see the usual suspects on the rest of the leaderboard. Scott Thorman had a huge home run to pull him above two wins below average at -.795. Teixeira, Chipper, Diaz, Renteria, and Escobar all fell into the slightly-above-average category, with Tex having the best week overall. When you have that many players hitting that well, that’s a good sign. Also a good sign: Diaz 19 PAs, Harris 4.
On the other side of the ball, four of seven starts were of the “quality” variety, including both of John Smoltz’ (and neither of Jo-Jo Reyes’). Jeff Bennett was 1/3 of an inning away from recording one, and it’s hard to say his start wasn’t successful for a spot guy. This probably goes to show the futility of trying to reduce a measurement of the quality of a start to one binary variable (“yes” or “no”). Hudson and James pitched the other “quality” starts. All five of the Braves’ starters finished above zero in WPA for the week, which I believe is the case for the first time all season. Together they totaled +1.175, which is quite impressive.
Rafael Soriano was the relief MVP, pitching in 6 of 7 games and converting both of his effective outing chances. He allowed one earned run in six innings, but it’s interesting to see that only Ascanio and Moylan were used in lower-leverage chances on average. Ascanio, Yates, Acosta, Moylan, Ring, and Mahay all finished below zero in WPA, with Mahay converting just 1 of 3 EOs. As a staff, the bullpen converted 7 of 12 such chances, slightly south of the going rate for the year (68%). Of course, when you play a ton of close (extra inning) games, you’re going to end up putting players in those roles when you otherwise wouldn’t.
Barring a huge collapse, Chipper Jones (+4.111) will lead the Braves in WPA this year, as he currently has a lead of over 1.6 over second place (John Smoltz). Smoltz will be fighting off Escobar, Moylan, Soriano, and possibly Hudson, for second-place honors.
The Road Ahead
The Braves finish the season on the road, in Philly and Houston for three games each. With no realistic shot to reach the playoffs (the Mets would need to go 1-6 against Washington, St. Louis, and Florida, with the Braves going 6-0), they’ll have to play spoiler to the Phillies in order to accomplish much this week. The Phils are currently 2.5 back of the Mets, with a 34% chance to reach the playoffs according to Cool Standings.
Here are the probables:
Tuesday: James vs. Jamie Moyer
Wednesday: Hudson vs. Kyle Lohse
Thursday: Smoltz vs. Adam Eaton
Friday: Reyes vs. Roy Oswalt
Saturday: TBA vs. TBA
Sunday: James vs. Felipe Paulino
jfwiii.net 
The answer is (unfortunately), no. From the perspective of a Cubs fan, you need to stay where you are.
The Braves took care of business with the Beermakers this weekend; we owe you one.
I’ve got mixed feelings about the Braves-Phils series; I like the Phils but I’d much rather see NY in the playoffs right now.
A-Rod a Cub?