4 Phillies to blame for abysmal NLCS Game 7 loss to the Diamondbacks

Trea Turner

Trea Turner. Can you imagine anyone with a better feel-good redemption story that didn't have the storybook ending we'd all imagined? As the Phillies' huge offseason signing, Turner was expected to bring his star power to an already star-laden lineup. Instead, he crumbled under the pressure over the first four months of the season before coming to life in August.

His torrid late-season continued into the postseason. He hit .571 with a 1.482 OPS in the Wild Card. He hit .471 with a 1.441 in the NLDS. It felt like he was constantly on base, and when he was, he was a threat to run, swiping four bags over those first six games of the playoffs. Six of his 12 hits were of the extra base variety: four doubles and two homers.

Turner had a genuine shot to end his first year in a Phillies uniform as an instant legend. Instead, through the NLCS and especially Game 7, he reverted back to his early-season form.

Turner hit .200 with a .636 OPS over the course of the seven-game NLCS. That's 5-for-25, with one double, one home run and two RBI. And then, in the biggest game of the season, Turner all but disappeared, going 0-for-4 and coming up empty when it mattered most.

Like Harper, the most significant moment of Game 7 for Turner came in the seventh with the Phillies down 4-2. With runners on first and second, he immediately dug himself into an 0-2 hole against Ginkel, swinging at a pair of sliders nowhere near the zone. After fouling off a high fastball, he lifted a lazy fly ball to center fielder Thomas and spun his bat away in disgust.

Disgusting, indeed.

That meek at-bat would prove to be his final plate appearance of the 2023 season. Instead of going out with a bang and carrying the Phillies to the pinnacle of the sport, he faded away with nothing more than a whimper.