2023 Phillies Post Season Discussion

[Callison]

Disappointment City!

When the Phils went up 1 - 0, I thought that would be enough. No clue what happened with Kerkering. Was really excited to see him get the shot he worked so hard for but he missed everything. Then Kimbrel blows a save. Just was not meant to be. Phils looked hung over.

[gmwannabe]

tough one to lose. Again, they made a 5+ Era pitcher that they were facing the first time look like Cy young. Tomorrow's bull pen game, I'm afraid to watch. hope Wheels has another good game left in the tank.
gm

[HopeSpringsEternal]

Then Kimbrel blows a save. Just was not meant to be. Phils looked hung over.

Not a blown save, since he entered the game when it was tied. But a shaky performance and a loss for Kimbrel. Alvarado has been our best reliever for the last month or so. Still, both are needed to close out games at this point.

[zambonir]

Statistically I have no doubt that Kimbrel is worse in tie games than save situations even though it shouldn't matter. Definitely had a few of these during the season.

[MichaelJackSchmidt]

Mantiply is starting game 4.

[Aquapong]

Probably just an opener. I wonder if Rob will mess with the order to counter?

I’ve got to think Sanchez is in there for one turn around. I wonder if we’ll see Walker at all given his proclivity for 1st inning troubles?

[HopeSpringsEternal]

wonder if we’ll see Walker at all given his proclivity for 1st inning troubles?

If we don’t see Walker tomorrow, then I would question why he’s even included on the roster. I think the choice of Sanchez to start game 4 may be due in part to Walker’s tendency to have 1st inning struggles. Maybe he’ll overcome that if he comes in mid-game.

[MichaelJackSchmidt]

I always assumed Walker's problem is that the first inning that he pitches is a problem for him. So that means no matter when he comes into a game he's going to have a problem. I sure hope that isn't the case, but I'm not certain that the postseason is the time to test that.

[zambonir]

You are both correct. His first inning struggles are likely an issue whether he starts or relieves. But, he doesn't have to necessarily face the top of an order in the latter scenario.

Also true that you'd have to wonder why he's on the roster if they don't use him but they had Gibson on the roster last year and he was purely for mop-up/only in case of emergency. Though that is Lorenzen this year. In theory Covey could come onto the roster for the WS but you can't rule out Walker starting a game still. Sanchez is getting it because he's the better shot at getting Caroll presumably - but Marte is a tough out for everyone.

[HopeSpringsEternal]

Sanchez outperformed Walker, especially during the latter half of the season. He deserves to start game 4 over Walker. The next move depends on the status of the game when Sanchez comes out; I think there’s a scenario where Walker is the next man out of the bullpen. But let’s hope that he has a cushion to work with if and when he’s called upon to pitch.

[bkox]

Also true that you'd have to wonder why he's on the roster if they don't use him

Well I guess the question is.. who else should fill that roster spot? Marte or Ortiz? We dont need any more bench players. The only reason Sosa, Stubbs and Cave have seen any action is because we had a blow out game.

And I think it would be a bit insulting to keep a 15 game winner off the roster when I dont think there really are better options

[allentown]

It's hard to win with 3 hits.

[BostonRoss]

I can’t help being nervous when Kimbrel comes in because I remember how shaky he was as the Red Sox closer in the 2018 postseason.

• ALDS game 1 – Came in with 2 out and a runner on first in the 8th and a 2 run lead. Got the out then gave up a homer to Aaron Judge to lead off the 9th, but then struck out the side.
• ALDS game 4 – Came in to start the 9th with a 3 run lead. Walk, single, strikeout, walk, HBP, sac fly, groundout.
• ALCS, game 2 – Came in to start the 9th with a 3 run lead. Popup, strikeout, double, wild pitch, single, fly out
• ALCS, game 4 – Came in to start the 8th with a 3 run lead. Single (but thrown out at 2B trying to stretch it), HBP, double, RBI groundout, steal of 3B, strikeout. 9th inning: foul out, walk, walk, fly out, walk, line out to LF on a diving catch.
• ALCS, game 5 – Came in to start the 9th with a 3 run lead. Strikeout, walk, strikeout, fly out.
• World Series game 1 – Came in to start the 9th with a 4 run lead; 1-2-3 inning, 2 Ks.
• World Series game 2 – Came in to start the 9th with a 2 run lead; 1-2-3 inning, 2 Ks.
• World Series game 3 – Came in with two out in the 9th and a runner on first in a tie game. Walk followed by a foul out. In the 10th: Popup, ground out, double, popup.
• World Series game 4 – Came in to start the 9th with a 5 run lead. Walk, home run, groundout, single, groundout, fly out.
• World Series game 5 – Did not pitch; Sox opted to close the game with Chris Sale with a 4 run lead in the 9th.

So, nine appearances with six saves and no blown saves (though he was saved from blowing a three-run lead by a diving catch). But only two clean innings out of nine complete innings, gave up runs in five of the nine appearances. Total 10.2 innings, 7 runs, 9 hits, 8 walks, 2 HBP, and one wild pitch. Apparently lost his job before the last game.

[zambonir]

Yikes! Though, he didn't lose his job per se - wasn't a save situation

But I also think more teams than not do that (use a starter in the last key relief spot) in the WS these days.

[andyb]

In hindsight giving Kerkering an inning was a mistake, but hard to fault using Kimbrel in the 9th. We could have given the inning to Dominguez or Soto and it might have worked, but it is not as if Kimbrel had lower expectations than those two. Or Strahm.

Bottom line yesterday is we did not hit enough to win. Need to turn that around today in what should be a more offensive game with 4th starters and bullpen games awaiting.

[zambonir]

Yeah four relievers allowing two runs isn't exactly bad. Even Kimbrel isn't typically working with that slim a margin of error. And Seranthony also allowed one run in his last outing.

It will be interesting to see how Sanchez pitches and how scripted his hook is. Gelb predicts he'll face Carroll a second time and then be done.

[Jazzhead]

I'll admit to being pumped when I saw OK entering the game - I thought this was the next step on getting him into a closer-type situation, and saw no reason to think he wouldn't succeed. But it seemed like his sweeper/slider didn't have any bite like in the 9th inning the other day, and he didn't pivot to his fastball to compensate. Too bad we lost, but hopefully he'll learn from the experience.

Bullpen game for both teams tonight. Fingers n' toes crossed.

[Austinfan]

Arizona is tough on breaking balls, Suarez was struggling with command with his secondary stuff, Kerkering probably has no experience with these sort of conditions.(very low humidity)

[MichaelJackSchmidt]

Speaking of Kerkering, I was hoping for some validation in what I saw were flat sliders that hung up in the zone. The only comments that I saw where from this Phillies rookie Orion Kerkering staying ‘ready for the next day’ after first rough outing in NLCS where they say Kerkering didn’t feel that anything was wrong, just that he didn’t execute in this given outing.

I'm hoping this is just Kerkering not willing to reveal what was going on, because otherwise, he'll be prone to these again. It was so obvious from seeing him pitch previously that the late movement on his slider wasn't there and he's going to need to locate that slider better than up in the zone to be an effective pitcher in MLB.

[andyb]

One does need to step back and realize it is a long season for Kerkering. No back to backs, but he has been pitching every 2-3 days since March. It is not surprising if his stuff is not as crisp at this point in the year. I actually wonder if he throws too many sliders also. The Phillies seem to have fallen in love with it from the first outing but not sure he was in the 70%+ slider range in the minors. His fastball may be a little straight, but it is also pretty good.

I think he'll be fine. Just should be the 5th or 6th guy we call on because of his workload.