Back in 2019, when the Phillies were looking to spend “stupid money” in an attempt to quickly get their team into contention, one of the prized names on the free agent market was starting pitcher Patrick Corbin. The former Diamondback was coming off a season where he was worth 4.4 wins above replacement and finished in the top five of NL Cy Young voting.

The Phillies were reportedly very interested in him and had him in for a visit. They did not come to a contract agreement, largely because Corbin was seeking a six-year deal and the Phillies didn’t want to go that long. The Washington Nationals, whose contention window appeared to be closing, threw caution to the wind, and gave Corbin that sixth year.

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The signing was an immediate success. Corbin was excellent in 2019 and was a big part of the Nationals World Series run. After all, flags fly forever, and anything after that was just house money.

Corbin spent the next five years testing the absolute limits of “flags fly forever,” because he quickly devolved into arguably the worst player in baseball. He was mediocre in the short 2020 season and then spent four years making Nationals fans yearn for mediocrity.

Between that and the “Beating Philadelphia isn’t as hard…” tweet, the Nationals’ social media team was on a real heater in 2020.

He would go on to lead National League in losses and earned runs in three different seasons. He always took the ball every fifth day, and inning eaters have some value in baseball, but the hope is that most of those innings won’t be awful.

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Getting to face Corbin multiple times a season was a special gift for the Phillies. From 2020 to 2024, he made 13 starts against them, going 1-9 with a 6.14 ERA and a .963 OPS against. In 2022, he made four starts against the Phillies and put up an 11.74 ERA in four losses. Considering the thin margin by which the Phillies made the playoffs that year, if Corbin disappeared in a “It’s a Wonderful Life” style vision, there’s probably a different National League champion that season.

Unsurprisingly, Corbin wasn’t a highly sought after commodity on the free agent market this past offseason. He signed with the Rangers for a much cheaper deal than his last one, and he’s mostly paid off for them. He has a 3.91 and has been a cromulent inning eating mid-rotation starter.

It could be that he’s genuinely improved, and the Phillies won’t be able to knock him around as they did in recent seasons. But it’s also possible that he has losing to the Phillies in his muscle memory, and lineup is in for a big day on Sunday.

X-Men character of the series

Hairbag

Not every comic book villain is going to be a real threat; Some of them, are just there to be punched. A lot of times, one of the main villains has a team of henchmen who mostly cannon fodder. Hairbag, a member of Mr. Sinister’s Nasty Boys teams is one such character.

As is often the case with these disposable henchman characters, Hairbag’s powers are lame: He’s a little bit animalistic with enhanced speed, strength, and claws. Sure, that probably makes him more dangerous than the average human, but Wolverine can pretty much take him down in seconds.

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Hairbag is often used as part of a larger storyline when the writer wants to have a big fight scene. He and some other disposable henchman will show up, get in the X-Men’s way, and promptly get their butts handed to them within a few pages. The heroes will then move on to whatever the real crisis is.

Additional thought about the series

The Phillies clearly dodged a bullet by not signing Corbin. Had he been on the roster, they likely would not have gone after Zack Wheeler the following offseason.

Speaking of Wheeler, he’ll actually be facing Corbin on Sunday afternoon, in a start that Phillies fans will want to pay close attention to. Wheeler clearly hasn’t been at his best lately and complained of some discomfort after his last start.

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If the Phillies were majorly concerned, he’d likely miss a start rather than pushing it back a couple of days, but “shoulder soreness” is never something you want to hear about a pitcher, especially when the pitcher is so crucial to the team’s hopes. It would be really nice if Wheeler had a strong game on Sunday and put some of our fears to rest.