Aug 28, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielders Brandon Marsh and Max Kepler share a handshake before a game against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park. (Grace Del Pizzo/On Pattison)
Disclaimer: This is meant to be a fun exercise while the Phillies are on the bye, not reporting.
By virtue of their 96-66 record, the Phillies won the NL East and secured a first-round bye in the senior circuit's playoffs. We don't yet know who their opponent is or what time slot they will be playing in, but we do know that the Phillies will host Game 1 of the NLDS at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday, Oct. 4. Then after a Sunday off day, they'll host Game 2 on Monday, Oct. 6. Games 3 and 4 (if necessary) will be played in the visiting city, before Game 5 (again, if necessary) would be played in Philadelphia on Saturday, Oct. 11.
Just off of some circumstantial evidence and common sense, we can try to figure out what time slot the first two games of the series will be at.
The NL playoffs this year will be on TBS, and Phillies Tailgate did some sleuthing that will be useful for our purposes:
TBS has blocked out the following times for their NLDS games. Game assignments will be set after the completion of the Wildcard Series.
Saturday, October 4
1pm and 7pm
Monday, October 6
6pm and 9:30pm
Wednesday, October 8
5pm and 8:30pm
Thursday, October 9
8:30pm
Saturday,… pic.twitter.com/S0VsiK0KLr
YouTube TV actually has the Phillies listed in the 1 p.m. ET time slot and the Brewers in the 7 p.m. ET, although that's presumably just based on Milwaukee being the No. 1 seed. In other words, that could be changed based on what series MLB wants in primetime:
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The Phillies are unquestionably a bigger draw than the Brewers, so if there's a tie to be broken, it's probably safe to assume Philadelphia will get the primetime slot over Milwaukee. But obviously, opponent here will matter. The Phillies will play the winner of the best-of-three NLWCS between the Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers. If it's Dodgers-Phillies, take it to the bank that will be in the primetime slot. But if the Reds were to upset the Dodgers, things could get murkier.
Let's say the Chicago Cubs defeat the San Diego Padres and they are playing the Brewers in one NLDS, while the other matchup is Reds-Phillies. In that case, who would get the evening spot? It's tough to say. The Cubs are a bigger national brand than the Phillies. At the same time, the Phillies of this era are a more established team in terms of star power and postseason accomplishments than the Cubs. In this scenario, it's a toss-up. If it's Padres-Brewers and Reds-Phillies, the latter will almost certainly get the prime-time slot.
Another interesting thing to consider is that the Flyers have moved their final preseason game Saturday to an earlier start:
SCHEDULE UPDATE: Our preseason finale on Saturday, October 4, originally scheduled for 3PM, has been moved to 12:30PM. #NJDvsPHI https://t.co/NpSvE8HV9I
What does this mean? Probably just that the Flyers realize the most likely outcome is the Phillies and Dodgers play in the evening, which would make it a circus at the sports complex if their preseason game is letting out around the time people are tailgating for a playoff game.
Since the publication of this article, we've also learned that Brian Anderson — the play-by-play announcer for the No. 1 crew on TBS — revealed Sunday that he'll be on the call for the Phillies series:
Brian Anderson announced on yesterday’s Brewers broadcast that he will call the Phillies NLDS Series for TBS! pic.twitter.com/Uv9DyaMv4O
The only caveat here is that Anderson's day job is as the play-by-play announcer for the Brewers. It's possible that without even knowing who the Phillies will play in the NLDS, TBS preferred not to have Anderson calling the team he works for (at least not until the NLCS, should Milwaukee get there.)
Also of note is that just because the TV slots are 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. doesn't mean that's the exact minute the game would be starting. There is a half-hour time slot at 12:30 p.m. ET listed on the YouTube TV guide for a pregame show on TBS. But with commercials and whatnot, it's possible the game starts at 1:05 or 1:10, or even a time without a round number.
Soon enough, we'll know the answers to all these questions. But hopefully this entertained you on an off day.
