On Oct. 9, 2024, the Philadelphia Phillies playoff run was cut short at Citi Field after the New York Mets won the fourth game of the best-of-five National League Division Series 4-1. 

The playoffs looked promising for the Phillies, as they finished the regular season with the second most wins in major league baseball and for the first time since 2011, clinched the National League East pennant. 

Many Phillies fans are looking at one aspect of the team to blame, like an out-of-control bullpen, too-aggressive hitters, poor management choices, or simply a determined Mets team, though all seemed to play a part in their early elimination. 

Offense

The Phillies bats went silent, only producing nine runs throughout the series. The Phillies hitters combined batting average was a .186, whereas the Mets offense hit .241. 

Batters six through nine in the Phillies lineup went 5-for-54 and  hit .093. According to Matt Gelb of the Athletic, this bottom of the order made postseason history for the lowest ever batting average from the bottom half of a lineup during the postseason. 

Catcher J.T. Realmuto, who hit .266 in the regular season, had no hits the whole series. Other offensive weapons, like shortstop Trea Turner, added little to the postseason roster, with Turner going 3-for-15 and third-baseman Alec Bohm going 1-for-13 during the series. 

“There’s a ton of talent in this league, so you really have to be playing your best baseball at the right time. And we showed this year that we just weren’t doing that,” Realmuto explained in a postgame interview. 

On the contrary, first-baseman Bryce Harper and right-fielder Nick Castellanos together produced six RBIs, two home runs, and five runs. 

The Bullpen

Though not receiving offensive support and pitching against a hot Mets offense, the Phillies bullpen did little to prevent the Mets from moving on in the postseason.  

According to the MLB, the Phillies bullpen had the fifth-highest ERA by any bullpen in postseason history, which was an 11.37 ERA against the Mets offense during the series. 

The relievers at use in the NLDS had a combined ERA of 2.78 during the regular season, which included Orion Kerkering, Jeff Hoffman, Matt Strahm, José Alvarado, Carlos Estévez, Tanner Banks, and José Ruiz. 

The Phillies season seemed to be officially over when Mets shortstop, Francisco Lindor, hit a grand slam against Estévez in Game 4 when the Mets had a one-run deficit. 

Management

Another question that Phillies fans have is how much of the series loss is Phillies’ Head Manager Rob Thomson responsible for.

Many may look to his choices regarding the relievers and bullpen. At the top of the fifth inning in Game 4 of the NLDS, Jeff Hoffman was called on to relieve Ranger Suarez. In his outing, he got two big outs and kept the Phillies lead 1-0. However, in the sixth, he threw two wild pitches, gave up a single, hit a batter, then walked another batter. While this was occurring, Thomson hadn’t ordered anyone to warm up in the bullpen. On top of leaving Hoffman pitching for too long, the next reliever, Estévez, as mentioned before, gave up the grand slam that would send the Mets to the NLCS.

“Even though he got up three times because of Ranger’s pitch count in the first couple innings, he didn’t throw all that much. He didn’t have many pitches down there, so I thought he still had some left,” Thomson stated in a postgame interview. 

Phillies second-baseman Bryson Stott was benched for Game 3, which may be questionable given his big role in the Phillies Game 2 victory, hitting a two-run RBI triple. This off-day seemed to have slowed his momentum, as when he was back into the starting lineup in Game 4, he went hitless. 

Given that the Phillies have made it to the playoffs three years in a row and have come up short every time, fans are starting to lose hope and question the future of the team. 

Ricky Botillaco, NBC Sports Philadelphia reporter, reflected on the Phillies’ past three years in the postseason. 

“This is a team that was good enough to win a World Series in these last three years and you know what you came up with? Nothing, [they] came up empty,” Botillaco stated. “I don’t think there’s one fan in this area that is happy about the way this season ended, nobody should be.”