The Phillies continue to dance their way through the playoffs, clinching the NLDS with an 8-3 win over the Braves in today’s Game 4. Two trade deadline acquisitions from the Angels played key roles in Philadelphia’s victory — Brandon Marsh’s three-run homer in the second inning gave the Phils an early lead that they would never relinquish, and starter Noah Syndergaard allowed one earned run over three innings of work. J.T. Realmuto’s inside-the-park homer in the third inning was another highlight, as Realmuto became the first catcher to ever hit an inside-the-parker during a postseason game.
Entering the playoffs as the lowest seed in the National League bracket, Philadelphia upset the Cardinals in the Wild Card Series and have now eliminated the defending World Series champions. The Phillies will now head to the NLCS for the first time since 2010, and will await the chance to oust another higher-seeded opponent in either the Padres or the Dodgers.
More from the City of Brotherly Love…
- David Robertson was left off the NLDS roster due to a calf strain suffered while jumping to celebrate Bryce Harper’s home run in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series. Talking to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber and other reporters about the “embarrassing” injury, Robertson said he received an injection last Monday, and is hoping to be available when the NLCS begins on Tuesday. The veteran right-hander has yet to throw off a mound, but he is throwing on flat ground. Another deadline addition, Robertson posted an impressive 2.70 ERA and 30.3% strikeout rate over 23 1/3 innings for the Phillies after being acquired from the Cubs.
- Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long has been considered for past managerial openings with the Nationals and Mets, and MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports (via Twitter) that Long is again gaining some “buzz” as a managerial candidate. Long is in his 16th consecutive year as a big league hitting coach and his first in Philadelphia, after past stints with the Nationals, Mets, and Yankees. He worked mostly as a hitting coach in the minors prior to his MLB work, but Long was a manager in the Royals’ farm system from 1997-99. Long also spent all eight of his seasons as a player in Kansas City’s minor league ranks, so speculatively, these past ties could be of interest to a Royals team looking to replace Mike Matheny as manager. The Marlins, White Sox, Rangers, and Blue Jays are the other teams in search of a new skipper, though Toronto may be leaning towards retaining interim manager John Schneider, and the Rangers are reportedly favoring ex-Giants manager Bruce Bochy.
I’ll be the first to say I’m rooting for the Phils to win the NL and I’d rather have them lose to the Phils than the Dodgers. With that being said, the Phils will be destroyed by whomever they face in the CS. Even after winning 3/4, the Phils don’t impress me at all. The Braves bad terrible baseball and gifted them wins. How ironic I’m saying that now, since all season I’ve been saying how much the Phils gifted the Mets a bunch of wins. Regardless, the Braves should be embarrassed with how they played. They are a far better team than the Phils and got destroyed.
You’re only as good as the results say you are and maybe you’re not as good as you thought you were.
Disagree. Top to bottom, it is a fair argument the Braves were the best and most balanced team in baseball. They played anything but that in the DS. After winning the WS, the Braves are back choking in the first round again. Just goes to show how important Rosario and Soler were in the postseason last season and I’m still firm they won because of those two.
You’re as bad as dodger fans were last year. The better team wins. End of story.
There is no gifting. There is wanting it more. Clearly Philly wants it more than Atlanta does currently.
Not true, especially in baseball. Anybody can win a series. The Phillies were the better team in the series. The Phillies are not the better team constructively. The delusion must be strong if you think otherwise. The Dodgers were a better team last season (and the Astros) constructively. The Braves played better in those series, however. It is baseball. The better team doesn’t always win.
The Dodgers were obviously the most balanced team in baseball over the season. It wasn’t even close. The Yankees, Mets, Astros and Braves all were in the argument for second.
I’ll take the Braves, Mets, and Astros rotation and bullpen over the Dodgers any day of the week. The Dodgers only look good because they destroyed their weak division.
Says the guy who claimed the Jays and Mets “clearly weren’t good enough to win the WS this year” after losing best-of-three series. Clearly the Braves weren’t good enough to win the WS this year.
The Braves were exposed in this series. They dont have balance in their lineup. Their starting pitching isn’t mentally tough. They have no team speed. I could go on and on. Suffice to say a very over rated team bested by a superior team .
No they were not or they would be in the NLCS.
No way you watched the last two games and think the Braves “gifted them wins.” Phillies outplayed and out-pitched them the whole series.
Phillies absolutely annihilated the Braves on both sides of the ball. So I don’t quite get how you’re not impressed at all, but to each their own.
Baseball being Baseball. Thats the playoffs for you. Bravo Phils and that resilient lineup and pair of aces. Absolutely demolished the Braves by putting their foot on their throat and not letting up. Love October Baseball. How can you not be romantic about it?
This is a great game…Love that movie too
Why should I be impressed by a team who happen to play well for 4 days compared to a bunch of mediocre games they played in the regular season?
With how things ended this season, Harris and Strider are not just ROY contenders, but also the biggest MVPs of the season. Without these two (quite literally), the Braves are not as good.
Quite hilarious though that with all the back and forth between the Mets and Braves, it is the Phils who go the furthest in the postseason.
You shouldn’t be impressed with the regular season, although they were one of the best teams in baseball post Girardi, but I was talking about their playoff performance.
The Braves didn’t show up, that is why. The series was not competitive at all. If the Phillies battled and took the Braves down with clutch hits and a bunch of back and forth momentum, then surely I’d give credit. The Phillies demolished the Braves in all 3 games they played on every facet of the game. Hell, if the Braves at least showed up defensively, I’d give the Phils more credit.
Let’s put it this way, this series quite frankly was basically Mets vs. Phillies in 2022, except the Phillies are the Braves and the Mets are the Phillies. The irony of it all is hilarious, since I’ve been trashing the Phils are listen for gifting the Mets wins. Karma haha.
but as I said before, knowing the Braves, they probably would have lost to the Dodgers in the CS, so I’d rather they just lose now so I don’t have to stress over the remaining games this season.
Sure. I mean if the Phillies were winning games 3-0 because of Braves errors, I wouldn’t be impressed, but they kind of absolutely hammered the Braves. Take away the Braves sloppy outfield play, and the Phillies still win. The Phillies played q8 road games in a row before finally coming home. They won playoff games in St. Louis and Atlanta. I’m impressed. It’s okay to be dissapointed by your team’s performance, but I can’t see how the Phillies were gifted anything. These were convincing wins. Also if Hoskins catches a routine grounder, we may be looking at a sweep.
The point is the Braves did not play like a 101 win team they clearly are and capable of being. Instead, the Phillies beat a team that played like the 2022 regular season Phillies. I’m not discrediting the Phillies, however. The series should have been closer and one team did not show up. As you said before, Strider’s absence was the killing blow.
What you’re saying here is quite different from “The Braves gifted the Phillies the series” and “I’m not impressed” and “The Phillies will lose to whomever they play in the NLCS.” Of course the Braves didn’t play to their potential, but I’m still impressed with the Phillies performance.
I mean, if you are a Phillies fan, you should be ecstatic. Enjoy it. As I’m sure you remember, nothing is guaranteed after you win the WS (’08) even if you have an elite team. The superior teams (’09 Phils, ’22 Braves) don’t always win even after winning a WS the year before with an inferior one.
Of course. Very rarely do the best regulsr season teams win, and also playoff baseball is different animal.
The Yankees in ’09 were much better than the Phillies. They won 10 more games as well.
The 2022 Phillies are similar to the 2021 Braves. This season, the Phillies won 87 games. Last season the Braves won 88. The Braves got hot in the PS, just like the Phillies have now.
Braves fans seem to think it was okay for that 88 win team to get hot, bring down a 106 win team, and win the WS. But now that the situation is somewhat reversed. All of a sudden some Braves fans are acting like they were the better team, but were robbed by bad luck or something.
The 2021 Braves were impressive throughout the 2021 PS. It’s time for some of them to acknowledge the impressive play of the Phillies.
The difference between the ’21 Braves and the ’22 Phils is that the Braves won the division and objectively were the best team in the East. The ’22 Phillies barely made the postseason. However, they might be hot now, so yes if the momentum is truly on their side now, then they may surely win the WS this season and I wouldn’t even be upset if that happens.
Braves fans always think that everyone else is lucky and there is no way they can lose. I guess that’s what happens after an 88 win season World Series championship. Maybe the Phillies can match that this year.
Congratulations to your team ,Von. And to you too for representing your team’s fan base better than the Braves fans on here
I was comparing the Braves, as major underdogs to the Dodgers last season, to the Phillies being the big underdog this year. The Phillies taking down the Braves, after taking down the division winning Cardinals, is no less impressive than what the Braves did last year.
The Braves may have been a division winner last season, but that was not a strong one in 2021. It was in 2022, but they peaked too soon, and the Phillies are peaking at the right time. And maybe you’re forgetting that jury-rigged OF last season, cobbled together at the deadline, that caught lightning a bottle, and had a huge impact on their winning the title.
I can understand how being the Goliath this year, after being the David, is hard to take. But the bitter grapes are unseemly. Just recognize another team coming together at the right time, and respect what they’ve done. Calling them unimpressive just comes off as petty.
I’ll be impressed if they beat the Astros and win the WS. Otherwise, no one cares about winning the DS, CS, and participation WS award. You win the whole thing, or the season is lost. This applies to any team, not just the Phillies. Beating the Braves when they underperformed in every facet is not impressive. Same applies to the Dodgers/Padres. Am I impressed the Padres beat the Dodgers? No, because the Dodgers destroyed them all season and they happen to now lose 1 series to them all season – which also happen to be the most important. Good for the Padres for moving on, but the Dodgers are still the better team.
Right on, Von! If anyone was gifted anyone it was when the Phillies gift-wrapped three runs for them in Game 2 after Hoskins’ miscue on Olsen’s groundball.
To the dissenters who say my Phillies were lucky, count up all the hits and runs in Games 3 and 4. Replay the balls they hit that ended up as souvenirs for fans beyond the outfield fences.
And it ain’t luck when your right fielder stands there with his finger up his butt and watches Harris chase Reamuto’s hit that caromed away from him. Kudos to J.T., but that’s only a double if Acuna moves his butt.
Don’t forget we lost the reigning NL MVP for two months. We lost a clutch hitter (Segura) for two months. We lost our ace (Wheeler) for practically all of September. We lost our #3 SP (Eflin) for two and a half months. We lost our best option to close (Seranthony) for rover a month.
You mock our 87 wins, but how many more Ws would we have tallied if we had not suffered all those injuries to key players?
No one cares about winning the DS or CS! You seem to care a whole lot that your team lost. If those series victories are meaningless, why aren’t you home gearing up for Falcons game today!
That literally made no sense. Years from now when people review the WS winners, the only thing they will remember is what 2 teams made it in, who won, who lost. Nobody will ever remember or talk about how much money a team overpaid to make a run, or who was better “on paper” except fans of those teams. Give credit where credit is due and stop hating because your team underperformed and got eliminated “by the better team”
You’re right Backup Catcher. Every fan cares whether their team wins or loses in the DS or CS. Saying that ‘no one cares’, along with other tired tropes like, ‘the other team was lucky’, or, ‘we should have won because we were the better team’, are just loser’s laments.
Right now the Padres are the better team. The Padres loaded up on talent at the trade deadline and closed the gap considerably with the Dodgers talent. Some of those guys traded like Soto, Josh Bell, Closer Hader had problems adjusting to their new team and City and vastly underperformed their career numbers after the All Star break. If those players had just had average 2nd half production, then The NL West Race would have looked like the Mets -Braves Division Title race this year.
Now, their team is finally all coming together and could be dangerous the rest of the playoffs too!
The Padres also lost some key players to injuries including their best position player SS Fernando Tatis Jr who had a separated shoulder. Then took some pain killers that happened to have an ingredient that was on the banned substances list and was suspended by the league for the rest of the year. The kid is 23 and made a mistake/should have known better.
Point being, every team has injuries and must play with out some contributors.
After posting a 7-1 lead, the Phillies held on a won a nail biter 7-6.
In the 70’s the Phillies couldn’t get past the Reds or the Dodgers. In 1980 the Astros Phillies NLCS was amazing
Disagree! If your team is not the Yankees or the Dodgers, then making the playoffs is a really big deal. And, advancing in the playoffs is a really big deal. Making the NLCS or ALCS is a really big deal.
Winning the World Series is icing on the cake.
Happy the Phillies are giving you a good showing Von.
Thanks Metz6986. Nice to see guys rising the occassion. It’s been a long time.
Congrats Von. I remember seeing some understandable trepidation from you recently, but that’s natural, not to mention realistic. Enjoy this, and take pride in how they performed. They deserved to move on in the PS.
Congrats, Von. Hopefully the Phillies have solved their bullpen issues because the rotation will be nicely set for the NLCS.
I’m glad my Phillies are in the NLCS. However, had we faltered, the team I would have been pulling for is the Mets. Love Alonso and McNeil. Love their passionate fans, too.
Congrats Von and other Phils fans. October baseball can be cruel, and it can be exhilarating. But that’s why I love it.
I like Nimmo too
Well Von congrats to you and Phils! You patiently all season watched and read all the posts from us Mets fans and Braves as they raced towards 100 and a Division. Then the Phils said “hold my beer” and swept as road dogs back to back. I’d imagine you never expected for it to play out this way even a week ago.
…
Not sure why this one post went up multiple times.
Sorry!
It’s definitely nice seeing the Phillies playing super well in the playoffs. The Braves and Mets were two of the favorites to be at the least in the World Series and both have been eliminated from the playoffs. The only team from the NL East that remains in the playoffs are the Phillies. Let’s go Phillies.
Braves blew their wad sweeping the Mets. They just completely ran out of gas right after that series. They barely beat the Marlins the following week.
Strider’s injury was a killer blow.
Yup, but the offense was pretty putrid too,.
Facing Wheeler and Nola in a short series is brutal. Game 1 was so crucial, and the Phils hitting Fried changed the entire series.
according to 007 guy braves had so much depth!
Give K-Long whatever he wants to stay in Philly. That guy is the best hitting coach around.
Braves collapse
I would still take the braves over 162 game schedule. Pitching staff as a whole is much deeper for the long haul. In a short series anything can happen especially in baseball. Not always indicative of organizational strength. In this case , a short series , two excellent big horses ( Nola Wheeler) and you’re good. You need more though over 162.
Of course! No one is saying otherwise.
Yes, but the Phillies knew this. Build the team on starters and power hitters and they can easily dominate short series.
It’s not always about depth, especially in the playoffs.
Well, the world series is a combination of playing well in a long season and playing well in short series. You have to do both.
KLong is the Jonathan Gannon of the Phillies.
Congratulation for the Philies. Especially 2 former angels.
Wouldn’t be surprised if we get a Guardians-Phillies tilt.
I’m the biggest Braves fan there is but give credit to the Phils. They simply executed at the right time. Atl never recovered from game 1 which served as a microcosm for the whole series. Braves inability to get the big hit and Phils ability to get the big hit. The fans at CBP were a factor as well. I could’ve pitched today for the Phils and the result would be no different. In terms of fan response, they were loud and intimidating. Very hostile environment and I feel it effected the Braves.
Can I just say also that Acuña, although supremely gifted, is nothing but a front running primaDonna.,, When things are going well for him he excels. When they don’t he sulks and is uninvolved. Horrible play in the biggest game of the year and he comes up small. 3k’s along with lazy outfield play. Just a disgraceful performance.
“it’s his knee”
Glad someone else sees him as a liability. He is very weak-minded baby who lets his emotions on the field affect his play. I admired his emotions when he hurt his knee last season; however, there have been so many times where he slipped, tripped, fell or got hit, and he acted like he broke every bone in his body. Acuna is a boy among men on the Braves.
The guy is immensely talented, but he is equivalent to Ben Simmons.
We will see what Acuna will do in a ‘full healthy season’ in ’23 with the Braves or another team (hopefully, the latter). Simmons remained with the Nets. We will see if Brooklyn regrets it.
You got to feel for Acuna. It’s tough being on the sidelines when your team wins it all and then falling short when you return, despite an impressive season. But his OF play was unacceptable.
Like any young player he has some maturing to do, but I did admire his grit by staying in the game after taking 96 off the arm.
That definitely stung. I wondered if the long delay was gamesmanship on Acuna’s part to get Wheeler out of rythm. If so, I think it was brilliant, but we’ll never know.
Von;
He didn’t move from his position in RF to backup the CF when Realmuto hit the inside-the-park HR.
I’ve seen this from many of the young “stars” that MLB markets. Either they don’t understand how to play baseball unless they’re hitting HR’s and showing off running down to 1B with the bat in their hands and then showboating around the bases; or they just don’t care. For sure they seem to be disinterested if the spotlights not on them.
I think Acuna has a world of ability. I don’t think he’s a winning ballplayer.
Yup. That one play probably didn’t matter in the long run, but it was a really bad look for Acuna. He either thought it was an out or a homer and just stood there. Showed no heart or baseball IQ.
This site needs a thumbs down choice!
There are a lot of factors involved in teams going out that had 101 wins, and 111 wins respectively in the Braves and the Dodgers. But the key factor is Manfred. He is the worst commissioner that baseball has ever had. First of all he did nothing about this shifting bs, finally he’ll do something about it next season, then also, he created a 3rd wildcard, this should never have been agreed to.
Since when do teams that come 3rd in their divisions ie. Rays and Phillies, deserve a spot in the post season. Then the Phillies get the crap shootout with the Cardinals, a team that won their division, the Phillies win that, the MLB commissioner then decides that the NL & the AL should play all 4 playoff games on one day and schedule the Braves for all day games. The defending champs shouldn’t have the time they play their games dictated to them, split the days for the Al/NL.
The Braves didn’t want to play day games, and they should have a say in when their home games are played in play offs.
If Phillies wanted day games at Philadelphia then they should also have had a say.
The Dodgers, Yankees, Braves, and Astros were sitting around twiddling their thumbs, hitters taking bp, and guess what, all of those teams excluding the Astros bar one game looked rusty. Verlander pitched lights out all season gives up runs, and only for Servais making a poor decision bringing in Ray, Astros would have also been down by 1 game in the opener.
As for the Braves, they were on fire v Mets and then tried to clinch the division against Marlins. I do not see why you try and win a division now with Manfred baseball. If you sit around for 5 days not playing it’s not helping at all, hitters can lose timing and mechanics quickly, as the best practice is playing proper games, and as far as I am concerned you’re playing teams that should not have a shot in the post season in the first place by coming 3rd.
The test is no longer the 162 game regular season, if you come 3rd you get a shot because Manfred said so. You can go listen to Frank Thomas, David Ortiz or any of these legend players, they do not believe that this 3rd wildcard and play off system is good.
As for the Braves, Fried was ill all week, and Snitker started him. In Game 1, Contreras was called a strike that was a foot inside, the next pitch was a ball and that would have been ball 4, instead the pitch after that was a strike out, no runs. It makes a big difference scoring first in that game. Snitker also brought in Jesse Chavez in that game with runners on, he is not good with inherited runners. The score was 4-1, he had to keep it at 4, instead Phillies tack on 3, and the Braves lose 7-6.
Strider was not ready, 96.4mph on his last pitch showed his velocity was down, his slowest pitch of the whole 2022 season, so that supports the fact. Morton gets hit on the arm and Snitker takes him out after 2.
Good luck to the Phillies, they are a good team, and no disrespect to them, but as far as I am concerned I don’t care who comes 3rd, there should be no 3rd wildcard or 2nd wildcard for that matter, I’d say the same if the Braves made it that way. There should be just 1 wildcard from the AL and the NL, otherwise what is the 162 game season for?
As far as I am concerned baseball is no longer attractive because over 162 games that is the test, but now it plainly isn’t. There’s no coincidence that the Yankees are on the verge of being eliminated, the Braves were eliminated, and the Dodgers were eliminated, and in the Dodgers case they had the best winning record in all of baseball, but I always said their division isn’t as strong as the NL East, and also taking into consideration SF had a lot of injuries as well. However, the fact is sitting around with what Manfred says is a ‘bye’ helps none of these players or franchises. MLB has become a joke and a farce.
Bye, don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Enjoy your NFL
The two lowest teams in the NL are going to represent the league. Still, I would like to see two teams that haven’t won or haven’t won in a very long time such as San Diego and Cleveland.
The two lowest teams in the NL are the Pirates and Nats.
I love it… The better team always wins. Braves and Dodgers may have the better regular season records, but the better teams won.
The better team won the series. It’s as simple as that.
Phillies absolutely demolished STL and ATL. Their 2 aces have been dominating & Alvarado and Seranthony have been lights out from the bullpen. The offense has demonstrated patience and been clutch. Harper has been the leader he was signed to lead and his swing has looked the best it has looked since he was injured. Padres will have their hands full next round.
Harper has looked good in the playoffs.
But, his hitting was not up to his high standards in 2nd half.
The Phillies actually played better and were more games over 500 when Harper was out.
The Braves were WS champions in 2021.
During the season they won 88 games.
MLB is a playoff league. Teams have to be built for both the regular season and teh post-season.
Can’t believe you watched the same series I did! I guess it was clouded too much with those tomahawk chop sunglasses! The Phillies pounded the Braves in the NLDS and it should have been worse considering all the men the Phillies left on base!
When your catcher hits a inside the parker you know its going to be a magical run. When your much maligned 1st baseman hits a momentum changing 3 run shot you know its going to be a magical run. When your rookie ss makes a mind blowing pick and throw in a big moment you know its going to be a magical run. When Brandon friggin Marsh clouts a completely unexpected it’s over 3 run blast you must know it’s a magical run. The moments are adding up and I believe this phillies team is going to win it all!!.
The Dave Dombrowski haters from the Red Sox fan base are keeping quiet I see.
Those who were scapegoating him for the Red Sox problems
after Dombrowski won multiple Division Titles and
a World Series in Boston?!
Just to Remind you that “I told you so”?! lol!
Dombrowski wins where ever he leads a Front Office and team
And, Dombrowski has only been in Philadelphia for 2 years and the whole team has been turned around already?!
Dombrowski took over a Phillies team struggling to play 500 ball with many ill fitting pieces and holes in the team.
Many were talking about whether they should tear the whole thing down again and
start their rebuild over?!
One of the worst bullpens in MLB?!
Fixed by Dombrowski by trades, free agents and player development (getting more out of the players they had)
Dombrowski convinced JT Realmuto to sign a contract extension.
Dombrowski beefed up the rotation, the bullpen the OF with trades and free agent signings. Dombrowski traded for young Angels CF and rising star Brandon Marsh.
Dombrowski did not gut the farm system. He gave up one top prospect in catcher O’hoppe who was blocked by JT Realmuto.
But, Dombrowski refused to deal the Phillies 3 top pitching prospects.
At least two of the Phillies young stud pitchers could be in the rotation as early as sometime next year.
Dombrowski weeded out SS Didi, Obdubel Hererra and a few others.
Dombrowski convinced JT Realmuto to sign a contract extension.
Dombrowski changed managers. (Joe Girardi is a quality guy & manager but he just wasn’t a fit in Philadelphia with this roster).
Dombrowski changed the clubhouse culture by promoting Rob Thomson to Manager.
Dombrowski signed Schwarber and Castellanos.
Dombrowski brought in Snydergard and others at the trade deadline.
This is a remarkable turnaround in Philadelphia in just two short years
Congrats to the Phillies and Dave Dombrowski as they get ready to play in the National League Championship Series in 2022!
Dombrowski also made changes to the Front Office, to Scouting and Drafting, to Player Development.
Owner John Middleton was interviewed recently and he was very impressed that every move Dombrowski made that Dombrowski’s focus was always:
“how is this move going to help us win a World Series?!
DD has completely turned this team around (yes, obviously Rob Thompson, etc, did too). But, I have to say that for any doubters of DD, it’s going to be incredibly difficult to argue with his results….again.
Dombrowski can write his own ticket anywhere in MLB.
Built powerhouse Expos teams on shoe string budgets and a team with the best record in MLB before the strike(he had left for the expansion Marlins).
Dombrowski:
Built the expansion Marlins into a World Series Champion in record time with notoriously cheap ownership.
After the World Series parade, was ordered to tear down the team so Wayne H could sell it for maximum returns,
Players acquired in Dombrowski Marlins fire sale trades
became the foundation and key pieces of their 2nd World Title after Dombrowski had left for Detroit.
Inherited a doormat/last place Tigers team for 15 years.
In 3-4 years, he built a World Series team by 2006.
Won multiple Division Titles and another AL Championship in 2012.
Then, won a World Series Championship and multiple Division Titles in Boston.
Now, hired only 2 years ago, he has tweaked this Phillies team, added and subtracted key pieces and they are in the NLCS after a decade in the baseball wilderness.
Dave Dombrowski s is a first ballot Hall of Fame Executive.
Rob Thomson was a great hire.
If it had been the last front office before Dombrowski, they may have just let Joe Girardi complete the season and not had the same results.
And, maybe they don’t even hire Thomson at the end of the season, but go for someone entirely different who is not as effective if another POB or GM was in the Phillies chair.?!
It’s a shame Hoskins got ripped so bad for that ground ball fiasco. The way I see it, it was Wheeler who lead to his own downfall by putting those 2 runners on base with the HBP and following walk. No one to blame for that except for him. If those runners weren’t on base, they wouldn’t have scored.