It’s not just the stars
Phillies are getting top-to-bottom contributions in the playoffs
PHILADELPHIA — Days like Saturday are the reason why John Middleton dipped into his bank account and shoveled out wads of cash for Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos. That much was clear as the T-shirted owner waltzed through his clubhouse, towered over by his jubilantly champagne-soaked employees.
Equally certain was the why of it all: Assemble enough major league talents, enough dependable bats and reliably professional hitters, and the numbers game of postseason run production would fall in the Phillies’ favor. It would require the right leader, the correct collection of pitchers, and a little fortune along the way. But the spine would be a lineup with precious few holes for opponents to exploit.
Perhaps more than any other head-to-head category, that is what decided the National League Division Series. The Phillies batters, one through nine, came through time and again, while a Braves order that last year proved itself championship-caliber went missing.
“You can go on and on about each guy,” Harper said Saturday, after an 8-3 Game 4 win to close out Atlanta. “But we’re all a team. We’re all a group. We all know that if one guy doesn’t get it done, the next guy will.”
That method, the “pass the baton” mentality, described the damage wrought on Atlanta pitching. Some series can be won single-handedly by a hot hitter. The four-game triumph over the Braves, though, was the result of constant pressure, of small-ball willingness, of piling on straw after straw to break backs.
Before arriving in Philadelphia, the Phillies had won four games with the benefit of just one home run. The defining moment of the Wild Card series against St. Louis was the manufactured ninth-inning rally in Game 1, and they wrested control of the Atlanta series with four run-scoring innings in the opener.
Until the power surge at Citizens Bank Park delivered signature long-ball moments — Rhys Hoskins’ bat spike in Game 3, Brandon Marsh’s three-run bomb in Game 4, J.T. Realmuto’s inside-the-park dash — it was about patience, taking extra bases and compiling rallies station-to-station.
“It’s so hard to hit home runs against these pitchers we’re facing,” Realmuto said. “Everybody has got such good stuff. But our offense has done a good job of when we need
it, put the ball in play, take your hit, infield single, whatever it is, just try to keep the line moving. That’s what’s made us successful so far.”
It takes a leader, a role Harper filled with aplomb. The $330 million man batted .500 in the series, with two homers and an OPS of 1.063. He was the lead everyone else could follow.
“There’s one thing on that guy’s mind at all times, and it’s winning a baseball game that day,” Realmuto said. “He’s the type of teammate, he’s going to show up every day, give his all for the guys and all he cares about is winning. You guys hear him talk. You see the actions on the field and it’s real. If he goes 0-for-4, it doesn’t matter to him. If the team wins that’s all that matters. And that’s something that all guys can hang on to, and that’s what you need in the clubhouse especially this time of year.”
Harper was backed by top-to-bottom contributions. There was Castellanos batting .313 with a signature outing in Game 1. A .462 average from Jean Segura to set the table. Bryson Stott’s epic battle off Spencer Strider to open the floodgates in Game 3. Marsh’s home run. Hoskins’ dinger. Realmuto’s team-high five runs scored. Credit is another baton passed liberally.
It kept the Braves’ stellar starting rotation under pressure from the first pitch. Save for Kyle Wright’s terrific Game 2, Max Fried, Strider and Charlie Morton combined to last just 7.2 innings. They allowed 12 earned runs, an ERA of 16.43 for a staff with a 3.72 ERA from its starting pitchers all season.
The difference in production from the Braves’ lineup was about as stark as the contrast in the two locker room moods Saturday evening. In the latter, Dansby Swanson (2-for-16 with 7 strikeouts), Austin Riley (1-for-15 with five whiffs) and Michael Harris II (1-for-14 in his playoff debut) were veritable no-shows. A team that hit .253 this season slumped to a .180 average over a season-ending fourgame snippet.
But it wasn’t just the stars. Eleven Phillies had a plate appearance in the series. Ten had hits, and all 11 scored runs. That’s in contrast to the Braves’ oh-fers: Vaughn Grissom, Eddie Rosario, Marcell Ozuna and Robbie Grossman, in 22 combined at-bats. Those are rallies dying on the vine, and they ensured that leadoff man Ronald Acuna Jr., who hit had five hits, batted with runners on base just three times in four games.
“Just the rookies that we have, the things that they’re doing in this game, from Bryson Stott to [Marsh] to Vierling, we call it our day care,” Harper said. “They’ve carried us too. It takes nine guys on the field to win each day. I’m so excited to be part of this opportunity and be part of this team and I look forward to many more.”
“Very rarely do you see one person be able to carry a team through a postseason,” Realmuto said. “It takes a complete effort. It takes the young guys; it takes the veterans. We talk about it of after every series. We always ask, who is the MVP of this series? Who is the reason we got here? And it’s always hard to answer that question for us because so many guys contribute. There’s not one person carrying the team. It’s top to bottom.”
That’s also what it takes to launch an epic celebration like Saturday’s, the Phillies third champagne-popping of the month but the first at home. And it’s what Harper hopes will lift them through the next two stages of their October goals.
“We have the group right now to do that,” Harper said. “I think we’re all excited for that opportunity to get to where we need to be and eight more.”