Saquon Barkley, Matvei Michkov, and Zack Wheeler

We knew those names would make you click. 😜

Listen. Times are tough in Philly sports right now. We’ve suffered some incredibly painful letdowns in the past several years.

But letdowns can only hurt when your teams are relevant. We’re worried about superstars like Embiid and Harper getting a ring. The Eagles had a got-damn ten point lead when Rihanna took the stage at Super Bowl LVII. The Phillies collapsed in three consecutive postseasons.

There have been years—many, many years—when these teams we love were completely irrelevant. For the younger Philly fans out there, please just know: that was worse.

One of the big four teams was late to the party, of course. But the Flyers are on the upswing.

So is this some kind of golden era? HELL no. But the big four teams are all worthy of our attention right now. And that’s something.

In the email today:

• ❗️ Oh No, Saquon, Baby What Is You Doing

• 🚨 Matvei Michkov Is Real and He Is Spectacular

• ⚾ Phillies Postmortem Series - Rotation

  • 📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

  • 📊 Poll

  • 🔗 Links

  • 📺 Coming Up

It’s a trap.

Fans want coaches and players to give them more than worn out truisms and “that’s a good team we’re up against,” etc. We live for it.

But then a player steps out onto a really pretty safe limb, and we can only shake our heads.

And we can’t help ourselves. We can only think “what the hell is this guy on about, doesn’t he understand what fans DO?”

Bless Barkley for hoping the MetLife crowd will be guided by its better angels on Sunday. It’s adorable in its own way.

Except, like, his own teammates know how it’s going to be on Sunday.

The turf is atrocious. Kickers can’t hit basic field goals given the wind pattern. The Eagles lost the last time they played at MetLife.

And yeah, they’re going to boo Barkley. Bigly.

As a rule we support players’ willingness to open up here at On Pattison. In this instance, though, it might have been better for Barkley to follow the wisdom of the elders.

You want us to do this for you.

You haven’t watched a Flyers game in a while. We understand. They were terrible for a few seasons. Then last season, they were still pretty bad but they competed.

So now you hear about Matvei Michkov. You hear that he’s different. But the Flyers open the season in western Canada, and you’ve got stuff to do so you’re not staying up to watch these games. That’s fine, and that’s why we’re here.

It’s early, but from what we have seen so far…he’s really, really good.

We know this is a cheesy trope, but trust us: You have to watch Michkov with your own eyes to see how good he is.

Statistics are the primary barometer of any great player, but with Michkov (so far), the statistics don’t really do him justice. He seems to see plays a second or two before anyone else does.

Plus, in true Philadelphia fashion, his first NHL goal was only awarded after the Oilers burned a coach’s challenge.

Goals are the reason the game is played. We get that.

All we can really say about Michkov so far is that we wish he was playing with better players, because his skill level is a bit lost given the teammates he has.

They can build from this though, these Flyers. Book it.

The Phillies' rotation was among the best in baseball in 2024, despite an ever-rotating cast of characters in the fifth starter role.

Zack Wheeler had another Cy Young-caliber season. He and Aaron Nola combined to throw 399.1 innings in a year where just four major league pitchers cracked 200 IP.

Third starter Cristopher Sanchez pitched like an ace all season long. Ranger Suarez started the year on fire before running into some health issues. Spencer Turnbull may have been as dominant as any of the others in his handful of starts.

Taijuan Walker was... also on the team.

Here's a look at how the rotation may set up for 2025:

• Zack Wheeler: Wheeler posted career-best numbers in wins, ERA, and WHIP in 2024. All while apparently keeping something in reserve for the postseason, where his fastball sat 98-99 mph after averaging around 95 mph in the regular season.

  Wheeler is an absolute monster and shows no signs of slowing down at age 34. He'll be on the mound for the Fightins on 2025 Opening Day.

• Aaron Nola: Nola had a very good 2024 season, posting an ERA lower than his career average despite leading the National League in home runs allowed (30).

  We may never see the 2018 iteration of Nola again. He won 17 games with a 2.37 ERA and 0.98 WHIP that season, striking out 224 batters in 212.1 innings.

  But the 2024 version of Nola would play just fine in 2025.

• Cristopher Sanchez: Sanchez is on an extremely team-friendly contract. He'll make just $2 million in 2025, with his salary gradually rising to $9.5 million in 2028. He could cost the Phils $14 million and $15 million in 2029 and 2030, respectively. But the club has a $1 million buyout option in each of those two final years.

  Not bad for a guy with the same career ERA as Nola (who is on a 7-year, $172 million contract).

  Sanchez may have exceeded expectations more than any other Phillie in 2024. If he can continue his success, the team's rotation should remain lethal in the years ahead.

• Ranger Suarez: Suarez was in the Cy Young conversation early in the season, going 10-2 with a 1.83 ERA over his first 16 starts. He struggled after missing time to injury, but rebounded just in time to throw 4.1 scoreless innings in his NLDS start. In 37.2 career postseason innings across three years, Suarez has a 1.43 ERA.

  This is the Phillies' projected fourth starter, to be clear. The hope for 2025 is for Suarez to stay healthy and top his career high of 155.1 innings pitched.

• Taijuan Walker: Walker's 2024 season was nothing short of a nightmare, and the Phillies organization surely regrets the four-year, $72 million deal they inked with the righthander before the 2023 season. Anticipated to be a fixture in the middle of the Phils' rotation, Walker was unplayable even as a number five guy.

  All that ugliness aside, Walker will still have a shot to be a Phillies starter again in 2025. Anything close to his 2023 numbers or career averages would work just fine at the bottom of the rotation. The ERA above 7.00 is not something that previously occurred during Walker's 12 years in the majors, and it's rare for a player with his track record to fall off a cliff at age 32.

• Andrew Painter: The prince who was promised.

  Painter arrived in Clearwater as a 19-year-old fighting for a starting rotation spot in 2023, but his fast track to the majors was derailed by Tommy John surgery. He's finally back throwing in live game action, participating in the Arizona Fall League. Painter touched 100 mph in his first AFL start.

The hype around Painter is enormous, and it's justified. This is the type of pitcher that can anchor the top of a rotation for a decade. And because he's homegrown, the Phillies could get ace-level pitching without adding significantly to their payroll. A Wheeler/Nola/Sanchez/Suarez/Painter rotation probably puts a 100-win season in play.

In 2025, managing Painter's health will be the club's primary concern. He will likely spend time in the rotation, but it's unclear how many innings the Phillies will let him throw.

📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

On October 18, 1993, the Phillies won Game Two of the World Series, 6-4. The victory sent the series from Toronto to Philadelphia tied one game apiece.

This will probably be our last update from October 1993.

📊 Poll

Results from Wednesday:

🔗 Links

• 🌀 It’s an open question where the Tampa Rays will open the 2025 season.

• ⚖️ The NCAA changed the rule that Oregon exploited to beat Ohio State.

• 🏀 Ben Simmons is still out there crushing checks and not playing basketball.

• ⚾️ Phillies fans cannot love how the Yankees are just doing what good teams do.

• 💰️South Siders are holding their breath at the prospect of Jerry Reinsdorf possibly selling the White Sox.

📺 Coming Up

Games before our next send.

October 17, 2024

• Flyers at Kraken, 10:00 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia).

Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.

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