Arraez Is Off the Wild-Card Roster. The Phillies Move On Without Him.

Luis Arraez has been ruled out for the postseason roster, ending whatever remained of the ankle situation that I've been tracking since late September. He finishes his Phillies tenure at .300 on the season — exactly the number that, for any other hitter, would be unremarkable, but for Arraez represents the floor of what he does. The batting title chase is over too, at least as a Phillies story.

The practical loss at second base is real but manageable. Bryson Stott has handled the bulk of the work there all year, and Edmundo Sosa is available as a depth option. What Arraez represented was something harder to replace in October: a contact-first presence who doesn't give away at-bats, which is exactly what a lineup averaging 3.2 runs a game over its last ten contests does not have enough of right now.

Philadelphia acquired him at the deadline to add a different kind of bat to a lineup built around power — Harper, Schwarber, the home run threat throughout. Twenty-two games in, the ankle cut that experiment short. The Phillies are 85-71, holding the six seed with six games left, and they'll chase the wild card with what they have: Harper, Schwarber, De La Cruz's hot hand in limited time, and a rotation anchored by Sánchez and Wheeler. That's a real team. It's just a slightly thinner one than they built.