Three big questions for the Phillies as they close in on clinching the NL East and prepare for the NLDS

As the Phillies packed their bags Wednesday night in Milwaukee, a party raged on the field and in the Brewers’ clubhouse.

Consider it a sneak preview.

Because even a catastrophizing fatalist would concede it’s a fait accompli that the Phillies will toast clinching a playoff spot (perhaps as soon as Thursday night in New York) and bust out the beer goggles for a sudsier celebration of their first NL East title in 13 years (as early as Friday night).

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And then, swiftly, they will get back to business.

The Phillies led the division by seven games with 10 left entering Thursday night against the second-place Mets. Despite losing two of three to the Brewers this week, the Phillies still led Milwaukee by three games (plus the tiebreaker) for a bye in the wild-card round.

Those are the numbers that matter now. But after back-to-back playoff runs that ended short of a parade down Broad Street, the Phillies set the mission in spring training: World Series or bust. So they will leave no stone unturned in preparing to meet that challenge. No strategy debate is too trivial, no roster minutiae too small.

Here, then, are three of the bigger questions that the Phillies will try to answer over the final 10 regular-season games and before Game 1 of the National League Division Series in two weeks:

For two years, it almost was a reflex. If the Phillies were able to align the rotation for a playoff series, Zack Wheeler started Game 1 and Aaron Nola got Game 2.

Odds are, it will be that way again.

But Cristopher Sánchez’s recent dominance, coupled with his divergent home-road splits, surely will give manager Rob Thomson and pitching coach Caleb Cotham something to think about.

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First, the raw data: In 16 starts at home, Sánchez has a 2.05 ERA, 0.959 WHIP (85 hits, 16 walks), and 95 strikeouts in 105⅓ innings; on the road, the lefty has a 5.13 ERA, 1.665 WHIP (89 hits, 22 walks), and 47 strikeouts in 66⅔ innings over 13 starts.

Sánchez is aware of the discrepancy. He can’t explain it.

“I’ve checked the numbers, and they’re not so good on the road,” he said last week through a team interpreter. “I think that’s something I have to work on to get better.”

Regardless of venue, though, Sánchez has a 1.99 ERA in his last six starts, fifth-best among NL starters since Aug. 15.

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The Phillies almost certainly will be home for the first two games of the division series. And depending on the matchup, it might help to start a lefty in one of those games. The Padres, for instance, were batting .239 with a .689 OPS against lefties through Wednesday, compared to .275 and .768 vs. righties.

It will be tempting, then, to go with Sánchez.

But Wheeler-Nola has been an effective 1-2 punch. The Phillies are 3-1 in Nola’s Game 2 starts over the last two postseasons. And after back-to-back poor starts, Nola gave up one run in seven innings Wednesday night in Milwaukee.

Upon trading for Austin Hays at the deadline, the Phillies thought they solved their left field problem. But Hays has missed 28 of the last 38 games, first with a strained hamstring and then a kidney infection that landed him in the hospital two weeks ago.

“It’s really unfortunate,” he said last week. “I waited three, four months into the season for the opportunity I was getting. I was feeling really good and playing well, and this just happens.”

Hays completed a course of antibiotics and felt better Wednesday, Thomson told reporters. He was expected to meet the Phillies in New York and could play games in triple A this weekend.

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It’s possible, then, that Hays will be ready for the postseason. But how much playing time can he handle? Will he be the everyday left fielder, or the righty-hitting side of a platoon with Brandon Marsh?

Either way, Hays would have a larger role in a matchup with the Mets’ trio of lefty starters (Sean Manaea, José Quintana, and David Peterson), or against the Braves’ Chris Sale and Max Fried. The Padres and Diamondbacks each have only one lefty starter: Martín Pérez and Eduardo Rodriguez, respectively.

If Hays can handle a full-time load, Marsh and Johan Rojas likely would split time in center field. If not, it could open a spot for Cal Stevenson as a platoon partner for Rojas or a lefty bat off the bench.

Never mind that the division series is a best-of-five format. The Phillies stuck with 13 pitchers on the 26-man roster in each of the last two years. They used 11 to vanquish the Braves last year; in 2022, they used 10.

Clearly, Thomson prefers to maximize his options.

Here’s the thing: It’s hard to come up with a 13th pitcher this year.

Two postseasons ago, the Phillies had surplus starters Bailey Falter and Kyle Gibson as break-glass-in-case-of-15-innings relievers. Last year, Taijuan Walker and Michael Lorenzen filled that role.

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But the Phillies have cycled through fifth starters in recent weeks, with Tyler Phillips, Seth Johnson, and Kolby Allard failing to hold the job. Walker, removed from the rotation late last month, will get another chance Thursday night against the Mets.

The Phillies will need only four starters — Wheeler, Nola, Sánchez, and Ranger Suárez — in the postseason. They have five high-leverage relievers: Jeff Hoffman, Matt Strahm, José Alvarado, Orion Kerkering, and closer Carlos Estévez. José Ruiz and Tanner Banks have seats in the bullpen, too. Walker is the if-necessary long man.

That’s 12 pitchers.

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Maybe Spencer Turnbull will pitch in a triple-A game this weekend after being sidelined since June 26 with a shoulder strain. But here’s the question: Would they benefit more from an extra bench bat (Kody Clemens or Weston Wilson) than another long reliever (Allard or possibly Turnbull)?

A lot may depend on Hays. If he’s ready to play every day in the division series, a four-player bench might be enough. Otherwise, Thomson could run two platoons in the outfield, which could create spots for Wilson and Clemens — or maybe Stevenson — as righty and lefty pinch-hit options for Marsh and Rojas, respectively.