The Philadelphia Phillies, who have found recent success in the past three postseasons, are starting to hit their wall. After another disappointing end to the postseason, some glaring holes came to a head. This offseason, the front office has multiple areas to attend to to make them a more complete team.
Each year since their first MLB playoff appearance in 10 seasons, the team has regressed first reaching the World Series in 2022, then the NLCS in 2023, before being eliminated in their first series, the NLDS in 2024. Each year, a step back.
The mentality going into last offseason was simple: run it back. The team had just added Trea Turner the year prior and had gone about as far as you can go without making it to the final dance, Game 7 of the NLCS. With lackluster pitching and an ice-cold lineup come the end of that matchup with the Arizona Diamondbacks, most thought that if the Phillies could get even 50 percent more production out of the lineup in the postseason, it would be enough to win it all.
The 2024 MLB playoffs proved that was not the case. In yet another year in which the bats went silent, inconsistent pitching blew games, and the ultimate goal was not achieved. While the past is in the past, it does give hope to the future as it is highly unlikely that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and managing partner John Middleton run the same playbook this upcoming offseason. Moves will need to be made.
4 areas where the Phillies absolutely need to invest this winter
The 2023 playoffs allowed the Phillies to hide and work around the holes in their game as the competition was weaker, and the finish left hope for fans. Unfortunately, 2024 ended the hope and exposed the problems in the lineup from top to bottom, including approach and situational hitting. The pitching staff did no favors either, with the lack of depth and clutch pitching being the Phillies' ultimate demise.
Being either time or money, the front office needs to look both inward and externally for not just quick patches but full-time solutions to some controllable issues that could put the team over the top.