Impending free agents, aging stars and an injured ace: How much longer can the Phillies keep contending?

A shot team's play doesn't truly travel down to 1 play, oregon 2 plays, but if you're a loyal instrumentality of the Philadelphia Phillies, the last play of the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers volition unrecorded successful your nightmares for a agelong time.

Orion Kerkering's throwing error, starring to the Phillies' elimination successful Game 4 of the NLDS, is different summation to the database of heartbreaking postseason defeats. It's a agelong list, of course, due to the fact that that's what playoff shot does. But determination were 2 different abbreviated throws from Game 2 that mightiness person besides impacted the result of the series: (1) Trea Turner's propulsion that was wide close to catcher J.T. Realmuto, allowing Teoscar Hernandez to bushed the tag and descent successful safely and starring to a four-run rally for the Dodgers, and (2) Max Muncy firing a cleanable propulsion to Mookie Betts connected a bunt effort successful the ninth inning that nailed Nick Castellanos astatine 3rd basal arsenic the Dodgers held connected for a 4-3 victory.

It's casual to deliberation astir the what-ifs -- what if either propulsion went a fewer inches the different way? Or if Kerkering threw to archetypal basal alternatively of home? But it's not arsenic elemental arsenic a fewer throws, though those plays item the tiny borderline of mistake successful the playoffs.

The Phillies' play is besides implicit due to the fact that the large names didn't hit. During this four-year tally of what you mightiness telephone the Bryce Harper/Kyle Schwarber era, they reached the World Series -- somewhat amazingly -- successful 2022 but haven't made it backmost contempt having immoderate of the apical front-line endowment successful the sport. In fact, the Phillies are 3-10 successful their past 13 postseason games and 2-8 successful their past 10.

In those 10 games, they've deed .195 arsenic a team. Harper deed .206 with 1 location tally and 3 RBIs. Schwarber deed .162 with 3 location runs and 4 RBIs, 2 of those location runs and 3 of the RBIs coming successful Game 3 of this series. The others astir them didn't fare immoderate amended successful those 10 games, with Turner, Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh each hitting nether .200.

As the Phillies soak up a disappointing extremity to 2025, you person to wonderment if this mightiness beryllium the extremity of this epoch of Phillies baseball. Schwarber, Realmuto and Ranger Suarez are escaped agents this offseason. Zack Wheeler volition effort a comeback pursuing thoracic outlet syndrome surgery -- though his timeline is uncertain. Read Entire Article