The Philadelphia Phillies’ 2023 postseason campaign has come to an end with a loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in game 7 of the National League Championship Series.
The Phillies had a powerful start to the postseason, winning the first two games against the Miami Marlins to advance to the National League Division Series.
Trea Turner had an outstanding performance in the Wildcard series batting .571 with four hits and an RBI.
The Phillies’ postseason continued in the National League Division Series (NLDS), where they faced the Atlanta Braves, their division rivals. It was a four-game series that showcased the true spirit of playoff baseball. With strong pitching performances from Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler, and great hits from Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos, the Phillies overcame the Braves in a series that went the distance. Winning the NLDS marked the first significant step towards the NLCS.
In the National League Championship Series (NLCS), the Phillies encountered the Arizona Diamondbacks, a team equally hungry for success. The NLCS was a seven-game series filled with dramatic moments and incredible athleticism. The Phillies won the first two games at home to put them up 2-0. The Phillies then went cold, winning only one game out of three in Arizona. The Phillies went on to lose the next two games at home and lost the NLCS.
The Phillies hitting was great in the Wildcard and the NLDS. The hitting declined in the NLCS and the Phillies key players in Harper, Turner and Castellanos.
“Overall they did well, the hitting didn’t show up in the last two games of the NLCS,” said sophomore Chris Orzol.
Castellanos had an aggressive run in the NLDS, batting an average of .467. Castellanos, in games three and four of the NLDS, hit back to back two home runs to give him four home runs in total. In the NLCS, he got off to a great start with a home run in game one, but then went cold and went 0-22 in the rest of the series.
Harper had a solid postseason performance with a .286 batting average with five home runs, eight RBIs and fourteen runs scored. Harper played a key role in bringing success to the Phillies 2023 postseason, however he also lost his groove in the NLCS with a .217 batting average with five hits in the seven games.
Turner also had an impressive postseason with a .347 batting average with three home runs, and five RBIs. Unfortunately, like both Harper and Castellanos, Turner didn’t show up in the NLCS, batting an average of .200.
“Everybody just went cold,” said sophomore Michael Connell. “Harper went cold, Castellanos going 0-22 went cold and Trea went cold.”
I feel that if the three of them would have stayed consistent in the NLCS, the Phillies would be competing for a championship in the World Series right now.
Not only did the hitting decline, the Phillies bullpen was terrible in the NLCS.
The Phillies closer, Craig Kimbrel, was only good for game one at home, but was completely terrible from that point forward. In the NLCS, Kimbrel had an Earned Run Average (ERA) of 12.00, with only four strikeouts and one save in his four appearances. If Kimbrel could’ve saved game three, we probably would have kept our momentum and won the series.
“Heartbroken is the best word I can think of,” said English teacher Sarah Sherman. “You come all this way, grind this hard and get to the most important innings, and then you don’t show up. Feel like this is a common Philly sports saying.”
The Phillies starting rotation, however, was phenomenal. Both Wheeler and Nola had great performances this postseason. Wheeler had three wins and no losses in the postseason, with a 1.95 ERA and thirty five strikeouts in five appearances. Nola had a record of 3-1, with an ERA of 2.35 and 23 strikeouts in four appearances in the postseason.
“The Phillies starting rotation was great and couldn’t have done anything more,” said sophomore Cavan Buker.
In my opinion, our Manager Rob Thomson could’ve done better by switching out Johan Rojas and Christian Pache. Johan Rojas has great defense, but could not hit this postseason, batting an average of .093 with only four hits this postseason.
“Pache should’ve been out in over Rojas,” Buker said, “move Marsh to center and put Pache in left.”
Overall, the Philadelphia Phillies postseason was fun to watch. And even though they lost, they still went further than 26 other teams in the league. I have high hopes for next season, and I am excited to see what the future holds for the Phillies.