The Philadelphia Phillies saw their season end on a whimper as they fell 4-2 to the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 7 of the NLCS. Dave Dombrowski knew the Phillies had a team capable of winning the World Series and is still shocked at their Game 7 performance.
Philadelphia mustered up just five hits and didn't score a run after the fourth inning in the loss. The Phillies struck out 11 times. Dombrowski said the team's offense was chasing pitches too much pitches and that their eagerness at the dish was the Phillies downfall, via Matt Gelb of The Athletic.
“When they made adjustments, our guys still kept chasing, and I'm not really sure why” Dombrowski said. “I'm sure they didn't want to chase. I don't know if it was quality pitches or if they were fooled. I don't know if the timing was off. I don't know if they were stressing too much and feeling too much pressure.”
“But I will say that you could tell that we chased a lot more,” Dombrowski continued. “They took advantage of it. You tip your cap that they were very smart to do so.”
Dombrowski dumbfounded
Philadelphia's president of baseball operations went on to say that it's difficult to get a hitter to stop chasing. Some chase more than others. But as the Phillies look to make a deeper postseason run next season, Dombrowski said strike zone awareness would be critical.
Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos and JT Realmuto have been three of the Phillies' best hitters this season. They collectively struck out six times in Game 7. Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm had a strikeout apiece.
Scoring two runs in a must-win game is not the key to victory. Dave Dombroski still can't believe his Phillies missed on so many pitches.
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