PHILADELPHIA — In their meeting before Game 1 of the National League division series, Dodgers hitting coach Aaron Bates gave his players some advice: At some point, something will happen to make the 45,000 red-clad phanatics in Citizens Bank Park go nuts. Instead of letting the noise get to them, the Dodgers should just focus on silencing the crowd.
As it turned out, two games into this series, the Phillies’ bats have done that all by themselves. They staged a ninth-inning comeback attempt but still fell short, 4–3, in Game 2 to bring themselves one loss from winter.
Indeed, until that ultimately unsuccessful rally, the loudest sound of the night was the response as the Phillies’ stadium experience staff insisted on turning off the lights, turning up the music and playing closer Jhoan Duran’s flame- and spider-themed graphics as he entered a game his team was losing by three: a chorus of boos. (The opprobrium only increased once the game was over: One caller on WIP 94.1 suggested that an appropriate punishment for DH Kyle Schwarber would be to ban him from Wawa.)
It was hard to blame the fans. The starting pitching has been as good as the Phillies could have hoped for after ace Zack Wheeler was diagnosed with first a blood clot and then venous thoracic outlet syndrome in August. Cristopher Sánchez, the NL WAR leader with 8.0, allowed two runs through 5 ⅔ innings in Game 1; Jesús Luzardo allowed two in six-plus in Game 2. And outside of one Matt Strahm four-seamer that caught enough of the plate for Teoscar Hernández to hammer it for a three-run homer, the relievers have largely generated the strikeouts and weak contact they sought.
But the offense—especially the $709 million top three in the order—has not resembled the lineup that slugged .431 this year, fourth in the sport. Through the first two games, shortstop Trea Turner, Schwarber and first baseman Bryce Harper have combined for two singles, four walks and 11 strikeouts in 25 plate appearances. The only extra-base hits have come from catcher J.T. Realmuto (a triple in Game 1 and a double in Game 2), part-time right fielder Max Kepler (a double in Game 1 and a triple in Game 2) and Nick Castellanos, the other half of the right field platoon (a double in Game 2). As a team the Phillies have a .601 OPS this series. They are the only team still in the tournament that has not yet hit a home run.
And they can’t even agree on the problem, let alone the solution.
“I think [the guys at the top of the order] are trying to do a little too much right now, instead of just being themselves and looking for base hits and the power will come,” said manager Rob Thomson.
“I wouldn’t say we’re pressing,” said Harper. “I think we’re missing pitches over the plate. They’re making good pitches when they need to.”
“I’m not looking to go up there and slug,” said Schwarber. “I’m looking to take my at-bat and feel like you’re taking a quality at-bat. So I just feel like these guys, the first two games, they’ve been on.”
“I don’t really feel like we’re beating ourselves,” said Turner. “I feel like we’ve played good defense. We’re getting some hits here and there. It just doesn’t seem like enough.”
This is a disheartening assessment. Unfortunately, it might also be true. There have been a few unforced errors, such as when Castellanos loafed after a ball in the seventh and then threw to the wrong base, and when, two batters later, Turner made a wide throw on a fielder's choice that allowed the game's first run. Perhaps most curious was Thomson's call to have second baseman Bryson Stott bunt with the slow-footed Castellanos on second and no out in the ninth. The Dodgers executed a perfect wheel play and erased Castellanos at third.
But the Phillies could have overcome any of those mistakes if they had simply scored between the second inning of Game 1 and the eighth inning of Game 2. The Dodgers have pitched brilliantly, mixing offerings and pacing, hitting their spots and missing off the plate, generating whiffs. It makes for a rough hitter’s meeting when your best hope is that the other guys start making more mistakes.
“I’ll have probably a little meeting with them on Wednesday,” said Thomson. “But I love the fight in the eighth and ninth inning. They fought like hell, and hopefully that carries over into Wednesday. But this is a resilient group. Our backs are against the wall. We’ve just got to come out fighting.”
What he did not say—what none of them want to acknowledge—is that it’s been a while since this group did that. Since the magical 2022 run that ended in a six-game World Series loss to the Astros, the Phillies have produced only stunning flameouts. In ’23, they took a commanding 2–0 lead over the Diamondbacks in the NLCS only to let the bullpen blow the next two games. They won one more, then combined to score three runs over the final two games, both at home, and watched an 84-win Arizona team celebrate the pennant. Last year, they didn’t even make it that far: The third-place Mets rolled into Philadelphia and knocked them out of the NLDS in four games. Again the Phillies scored three runs in the final two games.
This core is rapidly exiting its prime. Harper, Turner and Schwarber will all be 33 next year, and Schwarber will be a free agent. Realmuto will be 35 and a free agent. Wheeler will be 36 and managing serious health concerns. Only three of the players who started Game 1—third baseman Alec Bohm, left fielder Brandon Marsh and Stott—are still on their initial rookie contracts, and even they have reached salary arbitration. When the Phillies are playing well, they have a lot of veteran leadership. When they’re struggling, they might just be getting old.
They can stave off those conversations with two wins in Los Angeles this week. In the 90 postseason best-of-five series in which one team went up 2–0, the trailing team has forced Game 5 17 times, and won it 10 times. The Phillies believe they can be the next ones. If they are wrong, it will be an awfully quiet October at Citizens Bank Park.