Phillies most to blame for embarrassing NLDS loss to Mets

It was a scene all too familiar to the Philadelphia Phillies Wednesday night in New York as their 2024 season came to a crashing end against a rival in the New York Mets. The Phillies were favored to win the series and many believed they had the right roster to go all the way this year.

Instead, after a 95-win regular season, the Phils packed their bags after a brutal showing in the National League Division Series.

The signs of decline were there throughout the second half. The Phillies played .500 baseball, including their four playoff games, over their last 102 games. Yet when the calendar flipped to October, Philadelphia expected to hit another gear as they did over the previous two postseasons.

That gear never came and the Phillies now look ahead to a crucial offseason. Changes need to be made after Philly brought back virtually the same team this year from 2023. While most of the names will remain, there are obvious holes the Phils need to fix.

Before that though, there needs to be reflection on why Philadelphia's season ended the way it did. Playing the blame game isn’t always fun, but it also provides an outlook on the improvements a team needs to make.

Here are a few factors that ultimately led to the Phillies' downfall.

Phillies bullpen implodes to historic lows

The Phillies bullpen was regarded as among the best in baseball to begin the season. It was a massive turnaround from just a few years ago when Philadelphia's relievers often couldn’t buy an out.

Throughout much of the campaign, the bullpen lived up to that label but finished the regular season ranked 14th with a 3.97 ERA. After seeing what their arms did in this series, the Phillies would’ve loved to see that number again.

Philadelphia's bullpen recorded an 11.37 ERA against the Mets in the NLDS, allowing 16 earned runs in 12 2/3 innings. It's the fifth-highest bullpen ERA in a single playoff series in MLB history (minimum 10 innings).

The Phillies used 11 pitchers in the series. All of them not named Zack Wheeler or Ranger Suarez allowed an earned run. In other words, every reliever Philadelphia trotted out to the mound surrendered an earned run.

Jeff Hoffman and Matt Strahm, both first-time MLB All-Stars this season and anchors for the Phils, combined to allow 10 earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. The former took the loss in Game 1 and Game 4. The first three Mets hitters reached base on Hoffman in the bottom of the sixth in Game 4. All three scored on a Francisco Lindor grand slam right after Hoffman was pulled.

The bullpen might be the Phillies' biggest priority this offseason. Hoffman and Carlos Estevez are slated to be free agents and will likely command multiyear deals. Then there are questions about those under contract, particularly Jose Alvarado. Can he bounce back next season after a brutal second half? Was Strahm's All-Star campaign a fluke or will he be a top option again in 2025?

There are more questions than answers for Phillies relievers following an abysmal showing in the MLB playoffs.

Bottom of Philadelphia's lineup was nonexistent

It's hard to win in Major League Baseball when you don’t score runs. Not only did the Phillies struggle to score against the Mets, they barely got on base, specifically in their three losses.

Philadelphia scored 12 total runs in the series, seven coming in their Game 2 win. Only two runs were scored before the sixth inning in their respective games.

The Phillies were essentially playing with half a lineup the entire series. Their six through nine hitters were a combined 5-for-54 at the plate for a terrible .093 batting average. Alec Bohm, who hit fifth in three of the four games, went 1-for-13. That lone hit was a single that Bohm was thrown out on trying to stretch into a double.

J.T. Realmuto, the highest-paid catcher in the league, went hitless in the series. He hit three balls out of the infield in 16 plate appearances.

The top of the order is not without blame though. Leadoff hitter Kyle Schwarber, who likely thought he set the tone in the series with a home run in the first inning of Game 1, recorded one hit after that. Trea Turner had three hits in the two-hole for Philadelphia, all singles. The two combined for 11 strikeouts.

The only real contributors to the offense were Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos, who posted a 1.279 and 1.059 OPS in the series respectively. Two hitters alone can’t win ballgames in October. The Phillies learned that the hard way.

Dave Dombrowski not blameless after lackluster trade deadline

While it comes down to how the players perform on the field, the Phillies front office can’t escape blame for not doing more to pad the roster. On paper, there weren’t many areas Philly needed to improve before the trade deadline. However, the moves president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski made were lackluster at best.

The Phillies acquired Estevez, Austin Hays and Tanner Banks in late July, along with a mix of minor leaguers. Only Estevez was truly effective, posting a 2.57 ERA in 21 innings with Philly. However, the lasting memory of his short Phillies tenure will be the Lindor slam he allowed in Game 4 if they don’t re-sign him.

Hays managed only 80 plate appearances after the trade with multiple stints on the injured list. He struck out in three of his four at-bats in the NLDS.

In Dombrowski's defense, the Phillies' only real need during the season was an outfield bat to platoon or replace center fielder Johan Rojas. The infield was set and Castellanos had right field locked down, while fellow outfielder Brandon Marsh recorded a .780 OPS in the first half.

Maybe a sharp decline from Marsh was somewhat predictable as he continued to struggle against lefties. His OPS dipped to .703 after the break while his strikeout rate skyrocketed. There weren’t many needle-moving outfielders available for trade though, with Randy Arozarena the most notable name moved.

Dombrowski has been aggressive in the offseason with both free-agent signings and trades, but he missed the mark for in-season acquisitions in 2024. Another strong offseason will keep him in good company with Phillies fans, but Dombrowski shoulders more blame than manager Rob Thomson for comparison’s sake.