3 big mistakes Rob Thomson made in Phillies' season-ending Game 4

The Philadelphia Phillies' season came to an unceremonious conclusion on Wednesday night with a 4-1 loss to the New York Mets at Citi Field. Francisco Lindor played the hero, swatting a go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning that would prove to be the difference.

Watch below, and behold the death of Philly's dreams on national TV.

Rob Thomson naturally incurs blame as the manager. We can't not blame the manager, even if there is plenty of responsibility to go around. Dave Dombrowski didn't do enough at the trade deadline, Philly's stars came up small on the road. The list goes on and on. But, as the man pulling the strings from the dugout, Thomson is under a particularly harsh microscope.

Nobody can honestly sit here and say that Thomson is a bad manager. Few teams have been more prominently involved in October baseball over the last few years, even without a World Series title to show for it. Thomson expresses uncommon faith in his guys and it often works to his advantage.

Thomson couldn't quite pull the right strings in this NLDS, though, with the red-hot Mets showing up Philadelphia in three of four games. Here are some of the more egregious missteps from Thomson in the Phillies' Game 4 loss.

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Weston Wilson starting over Johan Rojas made no sense

It's hard to get up in arms about benching Johan Rojas in the playoffs, but the Phillies' decision to trot out Weston Wilson against the left-handed Sean Manaea was presumably rooted in math. Wilson's OPS against southpaws (1.025) was far superior to Rojas' (.525) this season, so on the surface, this was a no-brainer.

That said, maybe the Phillies should've been a tad more targeted with their math. In a game where hits were scarce, Philadelphia did not tailor the lineup specifically to Manaea, a pitcher Rojas has gotten the best of historically. The numbers are plain as day.

Wilson predictably went 0-for-3 and struggled to make his presence felt. Rojas has been an offensive liability in the past, so Thomson's thought process is understandable, but sometimes a specific hitter just understands a specific pitcher. Rojas has mashed Manaea in the past and, after three straight postseason starts, he probably deserved a shot at repeating history in Game 4.

Thomson's lineup choices were curious all series long. The sudden benching of Alec Bohm in Game 2. The weird platoon work in the outfield. This decision was just a micocosm of Thomson's inability to get the most out of a severely limited depth chart. For all of Philadelphia's perceived power, the offense fell flat in three of four games. Great pitching only goes so far without run support.

Going back to Jeff Hoffman did not serve the Phillies well

Bullpen management will be the sticking point for most Rob Thomson critics after this series. On balance, Philadelphia got plenty from its talented starting rotation. The bullpen was a complete mess, however, with nobody struggling more than All-Star setup man Jeff Hoffman.

At a certain point, it's fair to ask what more can Thomson do? Hoffman has been Philadelphia's best bullpen arm all season. He finished the campaign with a 2.17 ERA and 0.97 WHIP through 66.1 innings. That said, Hoffman just didn't have his best stuff in this Mets series. He coughed up two hits and a walk (and three earned runs) without recording a single out in Game 1. He only made a brief cameo in Game 2.

That led to speculation that New York had some dirt on Hoffman's pitches.

Who's to say if Hoffman was actually tipping his best stuff, but it sure felt that way. Hoffman was put in another high-leverage situation in Wednesday's Game 4 — a 1-0 ballgame with a single out in the fifth inning — and he promptly imploded.

Hoffman got the final two outs in the fifth, but he coughed up a single, a HBP, and a walk to load the bases with zero outs in the sixth. A fielder's choice led to out No. 1 at home, but Hoffman set the table for Lindor's game-winning grand slam. He was yanked for Carlos Estevez, who gave up the actual kill shot, but Hoffman's god-awful series was quite possibly what doomed Philadelphia. There may not be a single Phillie more responsible than him.

It's tough to say 'bench your best reliever,' especially after burning through Orion Kekering in Game 3, but the Phillies needed somebody other than Hoffman on the mound in that spot. Matt Strahm struggled in this series too, and clearly Estevez was not pitching shutout stuff, but this is the nature of postseason baseball. It's a nearly impossible juggling act and the manager inevitably shoulders the bulk of the blame.

Phillies should've put Zack Wheeler on the bump in Game 4, point blank

The Phillies opted to save Zack Wheeler for a Game 5 that never was. It would've been a masterstroke had Philadelphia won Game 4, but here we are. The Phillies went out with their best pitcher watching from the dugout, unable to deliver a potential knockout blow to his former team.

Wheeler would've been pitching on short rest in Game 4, but it's the postseason and this was Philadelphia's do-or-die moment. You can't save bullets in an elimination game, and that's exactly what Thomson did. Ranger Suarez was fairly sturdy overall (4.1 scoreless innings with five hits, four walks, and eight strikeouts), but he was yanked early, which led to the unfortunate collapse of Jeff Hoffman, Carlos Estevez, and the Phillies bullpen.

Philadelphia struggled to generate offense all series. Their best bet at getting back home for a Game 5 was to cancel out the Mets' explosive offense. Zack Wheeler allowed one hit and zero runs across seven innings in Game 1. Philadelphia blew it in the eighth once Wheeler left the game, but the Phillies' chances of winning are exponentially higher when Wheeler is dealing. He should've been on the bump in Game 4. It's a classic sliding doors moment. It's hard not to think what may have happened if Wheeler was able to push deep into the game without allowing a back-breaking, spirit-crushing grand slam.

Of all Thomson decisions, this is the most egregious. Pitching depth has been Philadelphia's strength all season and Suarez has a tremendous postseason reputation, so the urge to push four starters deep is understandable. If Philadelphia was up 2-1, it probably would've been the right decision. But, when your backs are against the wall, it's imperative to leave no stone unturned. Wheeler is the best ace in the MLB right now and letting him watch an elimination game from the bench was criminal.

Oh, well. Time to shift focus to 2025. Hopefully Thomson learned his lessons and takes something positive away from this depressing defeat.