Phillies Done Way too Soon - And it Sucks!
It’s over.
The Phillies season is done
after a weak effort in Game 4 of the NLDS, a 4-1 loss to the Mets. New York
moves on with a 3-1 series win.
Philadelphia braces for a
potentially long, dark winter filled with questions.
Once again, Bryce Harper and
Nick Castellanos provided the only offense. After Harper walked with 1 out in
the 4th inning, Castellanos doubled. Ironically, Alec Bohm – who was non-existent
all series, and, quite frankly, choked on two grounders that he held on to because
he couldn’t decide where to throw the ball – hit a misplayed dribbler to third
to bring in the Phillies only run.
Ranger Suarez was as bad as
feared, though he kept wiggling out of jams and inexplicably pitched into the 5th
giving up 0 runs despite constantly having runners – a lot of runners – on base. Jeff
Hoffman got the Phillies out of the inning, preserving the lead.
After a lengthy but fruitless
top of the 6th, Rob Thomson sent Hoffman back out to the mound and watched
him give up a single, throw a wild pitch, hit a batter, and throw another wild
pitch. He then walked another guy to load the bases, before actually getting an
out – at home! And this was all with the bottom of lineup batting for the Mets.
Thomson finally yanked Hoffman
for Carlos Estevez, who promptly gave up a grand slam to Francisco Lindor.
Bryson Stott and JT Realmuto
lead off the 9th inning with two walks. After Cody Clemens struck
out and Brandon Marsh flied out, Kyle Schwarber had a chance to extend the
season. A homer tied the game. Instead, he whiffed.
This sucks.
I said it all year and I didn’t
trust my instincts picking this series, but you just can’t wait for the home
run. Maybe that’s what baseball is now, but it’s like catching lightning a
bottle. And the Mets did the same thing. This team does nothing to manufacture
runs, and it always bites them.
Castellanos carried this team
as much as he could in the second half. Harper’s still an All-Star and a clutch
hitter. There are at most two pitchers I trust going forward – and they’re not
named Nola. (Zack Wheeler and Christopher Sanchez.)
What else do you truly have
right now to trust? The bottom of the lineup sucked this whole series. Trae Turner
looks closer to a bust than anything. Bohm? Stott? Any of the outfielders to
hit outside Castellanos? Schwarber, maybe. And back him up in the damn lineup.
Even Thomson’s ass needs to
start feeling some heat on his seat. He did nothing to shake this team up in
the second half of the season.
The scary part is I don’t see much changing. How many times is ownership going to go get the marquee free agent? At some point, there’s got to be more than a September beer bath celebrating making the playoffs. Red October isn’t supposed to end in less than a week.
Comments