Phillies’ starting pitching failed to come through at the worst possible time
With two chances to wrap up the series, the Phillies had both their ace No. 2 Aaron Nola and postseason standout Ranger Suárez lined up to finish things off. Both entered their games with an ERA below 1.00 during the 2023 postseason, with a total of four big wins between them.
However, the Diamondbacks would get to Nola early in Game 6, as they managed to score four runs off of the Phillies’ ace, including belting two home runs — Nola’s main nemesis throughout the regular season. In the series finale, Suárez fared slightly better than Nola, giving up only three earned runs in 4 2/3 innings pitched, but with the Phillies struggling to score, it proved to be too much to overcome in the end.
With all their great work during the postseason, the blame shouldn’t be all on both of their shoulders, just that their losses came at the worst possible time, to end the Phillies’ season.
Phillies’ lethal offense suddenly disappeared
With the Phillies’ potent lineup firing on all cylinders, they scored a total of 27 runs in their first five games of the NLCS against the Diamondbacks, all while using the long ball as their main weapon of destruction. It appeared as though they could just power their way right to the World Series.
Unfortunately, they suddenly suffered a severe power outage in the latter part of the series. Despite the Phillies’ pitching holding the Diamondbacks to within striking distance, the offense would wind up just putting up three runs over the final two games of the NLCS, ultimately leading to their downfall.
Bats can be hot and cold over the course of the season, including in the playoffs, but in the case of the Phillies, they just suddenly all went cold at the most inopportune time.