Trea Turner clinches NL batting title for Phillies team feeling strong headed into the postseason

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kyle Schwarber took the mic before the Phillies' regular-season finale to thank the nearly 3.4 million fans that poured into the stadium this season and remind them so much more was possibly ahead.

“Let’s see where this takes us," Schwarber said.

The Phillies have known —- officially, at least — for two weeks they had a path to the postseason for the fourth straight season when they clinched the NL East.

They're taking some personal hardware into October, as well.

Schwarber never missed a game and won the NL home run and RBI crowns in the final year of a four-year contract that will surely earn him one of the richest free-agent contracts of the offseason.

Trea Turner returned from a three-week layoff with a hamstring injury to clinch the NL batting crown, the first Phillies’ batting champion since Richie Ashburn in 1958.

Cristopher Sánchez didn't lead the league in any major pitching statistical categories, but finished the season with a 2.50 ERA and set career highs in strikeouts (212) and innings pitched (202).

Not bad for a Game 1 playoff starter.

The Phillies are indeed feeling good after Nick Castellanos capped Philadelphia’s 96-win season with a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning in a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.

The final outcome didn't really matter.

The biggest win, Turner's right hamstring held up over two at-bats and four innings in the field and — throw in another five days off from playing games — the batting champ is feeling like his old All-Star self headed into the playoffs.

“I felt like I could have run harder than I did because I feel really good, body feels good,” Turner said. “Swing feels good. So just more of just getting back out there, being smart and getting ready for Saturday.”

The Phillies are set to host Game 1 of the NL Division Series on Saturday against the winner of the first-round series betweein the Dodgers and Reds.

The Phillies will try to stay sharp during the layoff with an intrasquad scrimmage on Wednesday night.

Turner, in the third season of an 11-year, $300-million contract, won his second career batting title after he hit .328 with the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers in 2021. He was the NL’s only .300 hitter this season and his .304 average was second-lowest of any winner in NL history. San Diego’s Tony Gwynn had the previous low for an NL champion at .313 in 1988.

Turner is the eighth Phillies player to win a batting championship and just the third right-handed hitter for the Phillies to top the NL.

“I think it's cool,” Turner said. “Only one guy gets it in each league, which makes it tough. Can't vote on it, stuff like that. I think the ERA title and the batting title are cool awards. I think it just means you had a consistent year, a good year. It's hard to compete with 150 hitters or however many there are. It's rewarding.”

Schwarber led the league with 56 homes and 132 RBIs in 162 games, mostly as the designated hitter.

The Phillies finished at 96-66 and are looking to win their first World Series title since 2008. Loaded with All-Stars and an opening day payroll that reached almost $284 million, the Phillies have struggled in the postseason the last three seasons, losing in the 2022 World Series, the 2023 NLCS and last year to the New York Mets in the division series.

They enter this October with ace Zack Wheeler sidelined as he recovers from surgery to remove a blood clot in his throwing shoulder. The Phillies do have a bona fide closer in Jhoan Duran and his 19 saves with the Phillies (32 overall) since he was acquired from Minnesota at the trade deadline.

With Wheeler out, Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo and Ranger Suárez appear lined up to start the first three playoff games. Sánchez posted a 1.65 ERA in five starts in September.

Sánchez struck out eight without a walk over 5 2/3 scoreless innings on Sunday before he was lifted with one out to go so he could receive a deserved standing ovation from a sellout crowd of 42,637.

Manager Rob Thomson had a laugh on the mound when it was time to lift his ace.

“I told him that about 44,000 people think I'm an idiot right now by taking you out,” Thomson said.

The Phillies' 96 wins are the sixth-most in franchise history in a season, their 55 home wins are the most in the history of Citizens Bank Park (which opened in 2003), and they set a team record with 35 series wins this season.

“We're more experienced as a group, that's for sure,” Castellanos said. “We know what it feels like. We know what it sounds like.”

Is that enough for this core group to finally feel like World Series champions?

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb