Philly Sports weekly recap (September 19th-25th)

It was an emotional week for Phillies fans as we saw the Fightins show two extremes in their play. On one end was the 18-12 debacle at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays and on the other end, we saw the Phillies take care of the 95-win Atlanta Braves with relative ease 9-1 during Friday’s contest. This has fans on edge heading into the final week of the regular season with a playoff birth far from realized. As we saw this week there is no telling what Phillies squad we are going to get, on any given night. The Phils went 3-3 splitting both a two-game series with the Blue Jays and a 4 gamer with the Braves. Which is by no means something to complain about considering the caliber of the teams they faced, but when you consider that the Phillies could have come away victors in all three of their losses, the vision becomes just that much more bleak. The Brewers now idle the Phillies by just 1.5 games and have one of the easiest remaining schedules in Baseball while the Phils prepare for a 10-game road trip that will see game in Chicago, Washington, and Houston.

It was announced this week by the Phillies that 1B/DH Darick Hall and SP Andrew Painter have been named the organization’s Paul Owens award winners for the season. The Paul Owens award is given to the players seen as the best minor leaguers in the Phillies system. It was plain to see that Hall and Painter were both well deserving of the award. This season for AAA Lehigh Valley the young slugger Hall pounded a record 28 home runs while boasting a .255 batting average and .867 OPS. As for Painter, who was named the Phillies top prospect and a top 25 prospect in baseball by the MLB. The young righty was nearly unhittable through 22 starts across Low A, High A, and AA. The 2022 season saw Painter boast numbers such as a 1.48 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, and a stunning .188 BAA.

On the injury front, Zack Wheeler was lifted from the IL on Tuesday and Sam Coonrod was optioned to AAA Lehigh Valley to open a roster spot. Wheeler, was placed on the 15-Day IL with Right Forearm Tendinitis on the 25th of August after showing visible signs of fatigue during his start. After multiple rushed attempts to return, Wheeler is officially back and pitched 4 innings of scoreless ball during Wednesday’s 4-3 extra-innings win over the Blue Jays.

It’s a rare occasion to have two Football games in a week, but that is exactly what we got from the Eagles who played Monday night vs the Vikings and obviously Sunday vs the Commanders. The Eagles have seemingly proved they are a legit contender with two easy wins over some formidable opponents. The Birds defense allowed just 15 points between their last two games, while the offense seemed unstoppable at times led by Jalen Hurts and the deadly duo of Devonta Smith and AJ Brown. It is however still early in the season and there are many games to be played. But to this point in the year, we have seen no reason to believe that this Eagles squad isn’t going to be a force to be reckoned with.

Darius Slay was named NFC Defensive Player of the week for his performance in Monday Night’s game with the Minnesota Vikings. Slay, who was recently named a team captain for the first time in his 10-year career. Had a game to remember Monday, racking up 2 interceptions, and 5 PBU’s, while allowing just 19 yards of offense.

The Flyers began their 2022 preseason with a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins at Wells Fargo Center Saturday night. The match saw brothers Noah and Jackson Cates score both of the teams goals, While Felix Sandstrom and Troy Grosenick both played outstanding games in goal.

Sean Couturier was diagnosed with a Herniated Disc and will reportedly miss most if not all of the 2022-23 season. Couturier, who missed nearly all of last season with a back injury was poised to lead this young Flyers team into the future and would most likely have been named captain if the injury did not occur.

Flyers coach John Tortorella announced that Defensemen Ryan Ellis will miss the entirety of the upcoming season with a core muscle injury in his back. Ellis played only 4 games for the Flyers last season after being acquired for Phillipe Myers and draft picks in the prior offseason. Unless Ellis were to return down the road and play at a Norris award level, then this move will most likely go down as one of the worst in team history.

No new news from the Sixers who started training camp today (9/26). The team will practice down in South Carolina for the weekend before heading back to begin their preseason schedule on October 3rd against the Nets.

The Union have come to an agreement with captain Alejandro Bedoya on a 1-year contract extension through 2023. The veteran Bedoya will be entering his 8th season with the club since his joining in 2016. And is referred to as one of the best players in the teams short history.

As the offseason trudges on the USFL so does the news cycle, nothing new from Philly’s newest team this week.

The offseason in the NLL has seemingly come to a close as signings and trades look to be fewer and farther between, Lacrosse will return soon enough to South Philly.

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