Phillies’ World Series-or-bust season mentality ends in ‘failure’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
NEW YORK – The next baseball game at Citizens Bank Park, originally scheduled for late Friday afternoon, has been postponed.
Postponed until March 31, 2025. With a home opener for a new season against the Rockies, with all the usual pomp and circumstance.
But not the raising of another pennant or championship banner.
The Phillies virtually flew streamers up and down Clearwater Beach during spring training and took down billboards up and down I-95, reminding everyone that they were determined to get back to the World Series. Two years after participating in the Fall Classic and one season after one home win upon return would be slightly less unacceptable.
So what do you call it when you don’t go to the World Series, don’t go to the NLCS, only have one win against the wildcard Mets in the NLDS?
“Failure,” said shortstop Trea Turner. “I feel like we failed.”
A decisive Game 5 of the National League Division Series, which would have been played before an upset home sellout with ace Zack Wheeler on the mound, was made redundant as the Mets completed the dismantling of the team that finished the regular season in second place. best record in baseball.
Red October officially ended Wednesday night with a 4-1 loss at Citi Field. Once again the offense was powerless. Once again, going to the bullpen was baseball’s version of Russian roulette, but with patterns in all the rooms. In the four games, the Phillies were defeated 23-12.
“Very disappointing,” said manager Rob Thomson. “We were defeated in a short series.”
It’s true that anything can happen in the best-of-five format. But the fact is that this outcome should not have been shocking to anyone who had been paying attention. The Mets were one of the best teams in baseball in the second half of the season. The Phillies were 33-34 after mid-July.
“I don’t feel like we’ve been playing like ourselves the last few weeks,” Turner said. “I don’t have an answer to the question why. If I had done that, we probably would have solved it. Sometimes it doesn’t click. You can look in the mirror. You can ask a million questions. I know we’re all going to do some version of that. Try to figure it out. But it is difficult to find an answer.”
Now there will be organizational meetings. The general manager meetings are next month. The winter meetings the following month. Decisions – difficult decisions – will have to be made.
The person ultimately responsible for finding the answers is president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. He did not speak to the media in the gloomy clubhouse after the match, but after an informal survey of the room it was an excellent idea to organize it again with the same group.
“I hope they keep the core group together,” Turner said. ‘I think we have the right guys here. Teams I’ve been on in the past that have won consistently have most of the team coming back. I think you’ve seen that here over the last two or three years. Some guys will come and go or whatever, but I think we have everything here and we have to find a way to make it happen next year.
Although the Phillies have exited the playoffs slightly early each of the last two years, Thomson insisted he doesn’t think that’s a trend. “I don’t see us going backwards, no,” he said, adding that he thinks the talent is there to make a deep run in 2025.
“Absolutely,” he said. “Absolutely. There were times during the ebb and flow of the season where you got into a rut. It happens in the postseason too. But that doesn’t mean things won’t change next year.”
The reality, however, is that the Phillies have made unusually few changes this year and have taken another step backward. That’s a baseball problem, but there’s also a perception problem. You know the old, overused rule that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Still, the players are crossing their fingers and hoping for the best.
“It’s hard to lose a game like that,” said reliever Carlos Estevez, who gave up the grand slam to Francisco Lindor that sank the Phillies after Jeff Hoffman loaded the bases. “But at the same time I know this is a very good group. It’s not the last time they’ll be in the play-offs.”
However, there is no guarantee that Estevez will return. He will be a free agent this winter.
Third baseman Alec Bohm said, “Winning a championship is the hardest thing in sports. It will never be easy. This time it didn’t bounce our way. But we now have some extra time in the offseason to clear our heads and then come back and try again.
“I definitely think we’re all strong enough to get back on the horse and get back to where we want to be.”
Now the ball is in Dombrowski’s court.
