(Photo by ClickHole)
"I want my (bleep)ing trophy back!" The words from Phillies CEO John Middleton as his baseball club clinched the NL East and began their revenge tour after being shocked by the Diamondbacks in two games at Citizens Bank Park.
This turned into their death sentence in the 2024 playoffs.
After having a bye for this season's postseason, Philadelphia had it all in their favor. They cruised to a 95-67 record and won their first division title in 13 years. The club was seething and foaming at the mouth at a chance to get another crack at a World Series championship.
Their opponent was their division rival in the New York Mets. Daddy Cohen's team used inspiration in Grimace (Yeah, really) and a song by their shortstop Jose Iglesias. OMG indeed!
The Mets were riding a wave of momentum after Peter Alonso's epic go-ahead home run in the Wild Card round against Milwaukee. This should be a cakewalk, eh?
Game 1 started out well. Kyle Schwarber hit a leadoff home run to start off the bedlam at the Bank. Zack Wheeler pitched a gem for seven innings and their bullpen decided to give up five runs in the top of the seventh inning to watch this game slip away from them.
Game 2 was an instant classic as both teams traded hits and runs with saw Nick Castellanos, who was booed by Phillie fans, delivered the game-winning hit to tie the series up.
So, if Middleton's proclamation was their death sentence, Citi Field was their graveyard.
Game 3 was slow and painful. Homers by Jesse Winker and that man, Peter Alonso, combined by great defense and clutch pitching give New York a 2-1 lead after a 7-2 drubbing of the Phils.
Game 4 was actually close with Philadelphia clinging to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth with the bases loaded and Francisco Lindor coming up to bat. So, Carlos Estevez, not Charlie Sheen, looked flustered with Lindor up there. Here's why
(Photo by MLB and YouTube)
What this means is Lindor was money with the bases loaded. Estevez couldn't walk him, so this was a gamble. Unfortunately, the gamble didn't pay off. Francisco launched the ball over the right field fence and administered last rites for the Phillies.
What killed the Phillies? Here's a few things that did. I decided to use the title cards from one of my favorite shows, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, to describe what went wrong for the Phillies.
THE GANG COULD NOT PITCH WELL IN LATE INNINGS
-The bullpen, oh Lord, the bullpen. Manager Rob Thomson has been lost to find a capable shutdown reliever during this series. Matt Strahm, Jeff Hoffman, Jose Alvardo, Orion Kerkering and the aforementioned Estevez had trouble shutting down the Mets in the late innings. It was Strahm and Hoffman who gave up five runs in Game 1, Strahm gave up the game-tying homer to Mark Vientos in the ninth of Game 2 and of course, Estevez giving up the grand slam to Lindor. It's obvious what the Phillies need to do during the off-season, get a dominant closer. This whole idea of shuffling relievers is not working.
THE GANG FORGOT HOW TO HIT
Other than Schwarber's leadoff homer and Castellanos' game-winning hit, Philadelphia's bats went cold and the way of the Nightman. (Watch the show for what I'm talking about) Harper had his hits, but didn't have his big playoff home run that he accomplished in the last two postseasons. Alec Bohm, JT Realmuto, Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas all had their bats in snooze mode in this series. Castellanos was the only guy who tried to get himself and his teammates on base. Once again, Phillies fans booed him.
THE SLUMP PUTS FRANK...ERR..ROB THOMSON INTO A CORNER
Okay, I get that starting Wheeler in Game 1 was a good idea. The problem is that Rob Thomson had some issues with multiple players struggling and decided to bench Bohm for Game 2, which was a way to hopefully light a fire under him. It didn't work. Thomson could have sat Realmuto, Stott, Marsh and Rojas to help them. Unfortunately, you cannot sit all of them at once. And of course, the bullpen problem. Actually, I don't think that was Thomson's fault, they just sucked.
The Philadelphia Phillies have to sit and ponder what they need to accomplish in 2025.
Sorry, John, you will have to wait for that (bleep)ing trophy.
(For more content, check out our Facebook page, our website www.realsportsmarksaz.com and the Wix mobile app)
Comments