3 offseason changes Phillies must make to return to World Series
By Rylie Smith
The Philadelphia Phillies had a long playoff run, making it to the World Series. Unfortunately, they fell to defeat against the Houston Astros.
The Philadelphia Phillies were on fire this postseason. They immediately knocked MLB legend Albert Pujols and the rest of the St. Louis Cardinals out of contention in the Wild Card series, then they went on to stop the Atlanta Braves from having the chance to win a second consecutive World Series title, knocking them out in the NLDS.
They overtook Juan Soto, Manny Machado and the rest of the San Diego Padres in the NLCS, ultimately earning a spot in their first World Series since 2009. To make things even better, this was their first time in the playoffs since 2011.
They truly came up as the underdogs of the postseason. Most expected their division competitors, the New York Mets and the Braves, to be the ones advancing far into the postseason.
Their time in the World Series, however, wasn’t nearly as seamless. They won Game 1 and came back from a 5-0 deficit after Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander made it all too easy to hit off of him, and then went on to lose Game 2 with Framber Valdez performing flawlessly.
Game 3 was another level of success for the Phils as they thrived off the energy of their first home World Series game since 2009 ,and nearly half of the lineup hit a home run throughout the game to lead to a 7-0 shutout. Games 3, 4 and 5 weren’t quite as fortunate for Philadelphia, which ultimately led to the Astros second championship win in franchise history.
The Phillies need to improve several areas if they want to become more stable contenders to take home the title in the future.
3 radical changes Phillies must make to shock baseball
Bullpen, bullpen, bullpen
The Phillies rotation and bullpen depth has been a major area of concern throughout the 2022 season. Through the regular season, among all MLB teams, they had the 13th-worst ERA (3.97) and15th-worst opponent batting average (.245). They gave up the 11th-most walks (463) and fifth-most homers (150). They have a few great pitchers (Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler), but not enough to compare to the best teams in the league.
Their lineup carried them in the postseason. Some of their wins relied solely on their ability to hit home runs, and their pitching, for the most part, wasn’t necessarily spectacular.
Of course, their rotation wasn’t been horrible. If it were, they wouldn’t have been able to make it as far as they did, despite great power in the lineup. However, their lineup far outweighs their rotation and especially their bullpen. With more development of their pitching, they could be a much more consistent and solid team.
Look for the Phillies to add a bullpen arm, at the very least, this offseason. Bringing back David Robertson, and perhaps signing a stable veteran alongside him, seems like the best options for Philly.