Coming off their most exciting series of the season, the Philadelphia Phillies stay on the road, heading to Queens, New York.
Despite squaring off against the Mets just a week ago in Philly, there will be a new look to their opponent.
On Friday morning, the New York Mets fired manager Carlos Mendoza after a 34-47 start to the season.
When the Phillies moved on from Rob Thomson and the Boston Red Sox moved on from Alex Cora, many thought New York would follow suit with Mendoza. Instead, they gave him a chance to turn things around. After being swept by the Chicago Cubs and seeing their losing streak reach six, the Mets felt they had to make a move.
Andy Green has been named the interim manager for New York. He previously managed the San Diego Padres from 2016 to 2019.
This matchup will see two interim managers face off.
At the time of this writing, the Mets have yet to announce a starting pitcher for each game against the Phillies this weekend.
For Philly, the club will send Zack Wheeler to the mound on Friday night. Pitching against his former club, Wheeler is coming off a win against the Mets on Sunday.
Wheeler is 7-1 in 2026 with a 2.11 earned run average. Wheeler enters the night with 12.2 innings shy of qualifying for the ERA crown this season. He will have to continue to pitch roughly six or more innings the rest of the season to meet that mark.
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On Saturday, the Phillies will send Alan Rangel to the mound. Whether or not the team uses an opener before handing the ball to Rangel remains to be seen. Regardless, the Phillies' rookie looked solid in his first outing on Monday against the Washington Nationals.
With Andrew Painter back in Triple-A, Rangel has a chance to cement his spot with the Phillies moving forward.
On Sunday, the series will conclude with Jesus Luzardo taking the mound for the Phillies.
Luzardo is coming off an incredibly weird outing against the Nationals. He tossed 6.2 innings, striking out 13 hitters. However, he also allowed five earned runs and walked three batters. He did not factor in the decision. It has been hard to tell which version of Luzardo the Phillies might get on a given night. However, if he is dialed in, he can pitch like one of the best arms in all of baseball.
Entering play on Friday night, the Phillies are 4.0 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the National League East.
Atlanta currently holds the tiebreaker over Philly, thanks to their 5-1 record against them this season. If the Phillies are to leap the Braves, they will need to win head-to-head matchups later in the season.
The Braves are on the road this week in San Francisco, where they meet a struggling Giants club in the midst of controversy.
In theory, by the end of the weekend, the Phillies could be as close as 1.0 games back of the Braves. They could also be 7.0 games back in the worst possible scenario. Regardless, as long as they continue to stack series wins, the Phillies remain in the hunt for their third straight division title.
