If you recall, the 2018 season didn’t end on a high note for the Phillies. The team that was leading the National League East as late as August 12th suffered an epic collapse in the last month and a half of the season. The nadir may have come in late September when the Phillies traveled to Colorado for a four-game set and were utterly demolished. The Phillies lost all four games by a combined score of 39-7, and it was about as pleasant to watch as it sounds.
But 2018 is over. The 2019 Phillies are not the same lifeless group that traveled to Denver to be slaughtered, but enough of them remain to carry a grudge.