The Philadelphia Phillies fell into a 0-2 hole after losing Game 2 of the NLDS. Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts almost let Philadelphia back in the game with a questionable pitching move in the ninth inning. But Roki Sasaki bailed out Roberts, earning his second-career save and closing out a 4-3 Dodgers win.
Philadelphia earned home field advantage by finishing the regular season as the league’s No. 2 seed. But the team lost the advantage with a collapse in Game 1. Now the series shifts to Los Angeles with the Phillies on the brink of elimination.
Philadelphia won the NL East for the second-straight season in 2025, finishing with the second-best record in baseball. But after losing the NLDS to the New York Mets last year, drastic changes could be made over the offseason if the Phillies flame out against LA.
Here are the primary culprits for the team’s 0-2 start against the Dodgers.
Schwarber comes up short
Kyle Schwarber is coming off the best season of his career. The three-time All-Star led the majors with 132 RBI. Schwarber hit a league-leading 56 home runs while posting a .928 OPS and 4.7 bWAR.
The MVP-caliber campaign powered the Phillies to a 96-66 record as they buried the Mets, winning the division by 13 games. Unfortunately, the 11th-year veteran is in a rut at the absolute worst time
After finishing the regular season on an 0-14 skid, Schwarber has struggled mightily in the playoffs. He’s 0-7 with five strikeouts and one walk against the Dodgers.
With the Phillies needing a spark, Schwarber has repeatedly come up empty in the NLDS. And it’s not his first postseason no-show with the team.
The 32-year-old slugger has performed well in the playoffs over his career. He has 21 home runs, 34 RBI and an .892 OPS in 70 postseason games. But it’s been a different story over the last two years.
Schwarber is now 2-23 with a solo home run and a single in his last six playoff games. He has three walks and 11 strikeouts and Philadelphia has gone 1-5.
In addition to disappointing Phillies fans, Schwarber could damage his value on the open market if he doesn’t pull out of the skid soon. He set himself up for a massive payday with an incredible year before becoming an unrestricted free agent after the season. But a poor showing in the playoffs would end things on a sour note.
No extra-base hits for Harper
Like Schwarber, Bryce Harper has come up small for the Phillies in the playoffs. The two-time MVP is just 1-7 with three strikeouts against the Dodgers in the NLDS. Harper is still looking for his first extra-base hit of the postseason. And this was also a trend for him down the stretch.
Harper closed out the regular season going 6-29 with six singles and zero extra-base hits. He had a .207 slugging percentage with no RBI over the final eight games of the campaign.
After a rocky start against LA, he's now gone 10 games without an RBI or extra-base hit. But unlike Schwarber, Harper was excellent in the 2024 NLDS against New York. The 14th-year veteran had a home run, two doubles, three RBI and three runs scored in last season’s Division Series.
Harper posted a 1.279 OPS against the Mets and he has a career 1.006 OPS in 54 playoff games. Which makes his disappearance in 2025 all the more difficult for fans to take.
Harper has become underrated as one of baseball’s most consistent offensive producers. He racked up 27 home runs, 32 doubles, 75 RBI and 72 runs scored in 132 games for the Phillies in 2025. His .844 OPS and 3.2 bWAR were down a bit from the last two years but he was still the second-most important bat in Philadelphia’s lineup this season.
While the eight-time All-Star has had success in the playoffs throughout his career, his teams have not done so well. The Phillies are on the brink of losing their fourth-straight postseason series. And Harper, 32, is still searching for his first championship.
Matt Strahm & Company
This isn’t entirely about Matt Strahm. The veteran lefty is a stand-in for the Phillies’ bullpen. As a group, the team’s middle relievers have struggled against the Dodgers. While LA’s bullpen has surprisingly held strong (albeit with a bit of a hiccup in Game 2), relief pitching has been a significant weakness for Philadelphia.
The Phillies got strong starts out of Cristopher Sanchez and Jesus Luzardo. But the team couldn’t capitalize in either game because the bullpen fell apart.
In Game 1, Sanchez allowed two runs in 5.2 innings. He exited in the sixth with a 3-2 lead. But the Phillies' middle relievers couldn’t get the game to closer Jhoan Duran.
David Robertson allowed the first two batters to reach in the seventh inning before being replaced by Strahm. The 10th-year veteran then coughed up the lead as Teoscar Hernandez hit a go-ahead three-run home run.
In Game 2, Luzardo delivered a quality start, working into the seventh inning. Orion Kerkering took over in a tough spot as the Dodgers had runners on second and third with no outs. And Kerkering quickly lost the Phillies’ shutout. Then Will Smith’s two-run single chased him from the game.
Strahm came on and gave up an RBI single to Shohei Ohtani that put the Dodgers up 4-0. Philadelphia couldn’t quite overcome the four-run lead, falling just short in Game 2.
The Phillies landed Duran in a trade with the Minnesota Twins at the deadline this year. The team wanted a legitimate closer for a postseason run. But the bullpen hasn’t been able to keep Philadelphia in the game long enough for him to get involved.
Facing a dangerous Dodgers team is no small task. And the Phillies’ may need to rely on their relievers even more in Game 3 with Aaron Nola taking the mound. But if the group continues to struggle, Philadelphia will suffer an early playoff exit for the second-straight season.
