Six Phillies with notable history against the Cardinals or at Busch Stadium

The Phillies will make their first postseason appearance since 2011 on Friday when they open up the Wild Card Series in St. Louis. 

They won’t be favored. Anything is possible in a three-game series, and the Cardinals are solid but no world-beaters, but the Phillies will still need to put together a complete weekend of baseball to exact their 2011 NLDS revenge.

Few of them have much postseason history to draw upon when predicting who the top contributors might be. Instead, let’s look at some players who carry a history of dominance against the Cardinals or at Busch Stadium specifically — as well as some players whose reversals of historical trends would bode well for the Phillies in the Midwest.

Editor’s note: All splits mentioned in this article were found using Baseball Reference and Stathead.

Aaron Nola

Nola is on tap to start Game 2 for the Phillies, and the team will be in good shape if he can continue to dominate St. Louis: He has a 2.69 ERA in 60 1/3 innings against the Cardinals in his career.

Zach Eflin

Eflin could turn out to be a difference-maker in the bullpen this weekend, but the Phillies are obviously hoping that the difference can be a positive one — rather than the 5.56 ERA he’s posted across 11 1/3 innings at Busch Stadium in his career.

Zack Wheeler

Wheeler will be making his postseason debut on Friday, and perhaps the Cardinals are a great matchup to help him settle in: He threw 14 shutout innings across two starts this season, throwing seven scoreless at Citizens Bank Park and seven scoreless at Busch Stadium on back-to-back outings in early July.

Bryce Harper

The Phillies would certainly benefit from Harper, who posted a .615 OPS this September and October, regaining his MVP form. Anything in the ballpark of the 16-for-38, .868 slugging percentage or 1.357 OPS he’s put up in his career as a Phillie against the Cardinals will, obviously, suffice.

Kyle Schwarber

A division rival of the Cardinals while he was a Chicago Cub from 2015-2020, Schwarber has been to Busch Stadium plenty. It hasn’t quite gone as planned, though: He’s slashed .165/.274/.291 in 35 games (146 plate appearances) there in his career.

Alec Bohm

The sample size isn’t huge, but the production within it is: Bohm, who one could foresee having big at bats in late-game situations against a righty-heavy Cardinals bullpen, has a 1.271 OPS — 8-for-19 with two homers and a triple — in six games against the Cardinals this season.

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