For the 4th consecutive year, the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team has fallen short of a championship. Each year, they find a new way to break the hearts of their dedicated fanbase, who sacrifice their hard-earned money and time to watch this team play. As soon as Orion Kerkering threw that baseball into orbit, this storied chapter of Philadelphia Phillies baseball seemed to come to an abrupt end, leaving the fans without the coveted World Series championship. On paper, they have a World Series-caliber team with an elite offense, one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, and a front office whose only goal is to bring a World Series back to Philadelphia. It was looking promising that 2025 was going to be the year they win it all. As the series played out,  this was not accomplished, and the following are, in my opinion, the 5 key factors that led to the Phillies’ collapse. 

1: The Offense. Specifically, “The Big 3”, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and Bryce Harper not showing up when it mattered most.

During the NLDS (National League Division Series), the Los Angeles Dodgers only scored 13 runs over the span of 4 games. This is very low and shows how dominant the Phillies’ pitching staff was. In most cases, when the pitchers are this good, the offense usually will dominate, but for the Phillies, this was not the case. The Phillies team batting average vs the Dodgers was .212 (batting average is the percentage of times a player gets a hit). In comparison, the New York Yankees, who also lost their series 3-1, batted .250, a huge step up compared to what the Phillies produced. The primary focus here is the top of the Phillies’ batting order: Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and Bryce Harper, who are being paid a combined $72.27 million this season. These 3 players make up a quarter of the team’s annual payroll, and they did not show up in the playoffs.

2: Manager Rob Thompson’s questionable decision to have Bryson Stott bunt in the 9th inning of Game 2. 

The Phillies’ manager, Rob Thompson, who is in charge of making decisions during the game, made many questionable decisions that had a big impact on the series. Probably the most infamous decision happened in the bottom of the 9th inning in game 2. In essentially a must-win game for the Phillies, they entered the 9th and final inning down 4-1. A string of hits capped off by a Nick Castellanos two-run double to cut the lead to 4-3 with 0 outs put the Phillies within reach of tying this game and even winning it. As the Dodgers took out veteran pitcher Blake Treinen, many Phillies fans wondered if Thompson would pinch-run for the slow Castellanos. For those who don’t watch baseball, Pinch Running is when one team replaces the player who is baserunning with a faster player, and the other one comes out of the game permanently. The Phillies had the opportunity to do that, and they did not. 

After this, the second and probably most questionable decision that Thompson made occurred. Second baseman Bryson Stott came up to bat with a chance to tie the game. Thompson signaled Stott to bunt and attempt to move the runner to 3rd. Stott bunts and the Dodgers read it perfectly, getting Castellanos out at 3rd and putting the Phillies’ backs against the wall. 

3: Orion Kerkering’s season-ending error.

The Phillies managed to cap off this collapse in the most gut-wrenching way possible. It was game 4, the Dodgers were up 2-1 in the series, and the game was tied 1-1 going into the 11th inning. Jesus Luzardo, who is typically a starting pitcher, was coming out of the bullpen to try and give the Phillies another chance. The Dodgers strung together a couple of base hits, and eventually the Phillies took him out and put in 24-year-old right-hander Orion Kerkering. He proceeds to walk Enrique Hernandez and load the bases. For people who aren’t as familiar with baseball, bases loaded is when there is a runner occupying each base, and with either a base hit, walk, or a wild pitch, the Dodgers would win the game and end the Phillies’ season. 

In this situation, for the Phillies, they need to either strike out Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages or have him get out in a variety of ways. The count is 1 ball and 1 strike, and Pages hits a little grounder back to the pitcher’s mound. Kerkering bobbles the ball, and picks it back up, and instead of throwing it to first(something you are taught to do in Little League, and he would have had Pages out by a decent amount), he panics and throws the ball over catcher J.T. Realmuto’s head and into the stratosphere, and the Phillies’ season ends in devastating fashion. The worst part about this is that Realmuto was pointing down to first base, signaling Kerkering to throw it there. In Kerkering’s defense, he is only 24, and he got absorbed in the moment and panicked. Most Phillies fans, and I included, aren’t blaming the whole season on Kerkering, but his error most certainly played a huge part in their collapse.

4: Dodgers Pitching: Especially Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, and Tyler Glasnow, keeping the Phillies bats silent.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have had problems with their pitching all season long, and their having to go up against an extremely talented Phillies offense would be a challenge, or so we thought. Even after a rough second inning in game 1, 2 way phenom Shohei Ohtani settled in and gave the Dodgers 6 solid innings. This was followed by typical starter Tyler Glasnow, coming out of the bullpen to give the Dodgers 2 quality innings, and setting Japanese rookie Roki Sasaki up for a save opportunity. Some more info about Sasaki, he was signed by the Dodgers this past offseason from the Chiba Lotte Marines of the NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball, aka Japan’s top baseball league). Sasaki struggled early on this year, posting a 4.46 ERA in 8 games started. ERA ( earned run average) is the average number of runs that a pitcher allows in a full 9-inning game. Typically, the lower the pitcher’s ERA is, the better the pitcher is. 

The Dodgers decided to pull a 180, and due to a lack of reliable bullpen arms, they would use Sasaki as their closer. Manager Dave Roberts said in a press conference earlier this postseason that “Sasaki is definitely the primary option now” in the ninth inning, but that is also contingent on his workload.” Roberts was not going to use Sasaki 100% of the time in save opportunities, and this decision almost backfired drastically in game 2 of the NLDS vs the Phillies. 

The Dodgers, holding a 4-1 lead after pitcher Blake Snell shut down the Phillies’ lineup, turned to right-hander Blake Treinen to get the final 3 outs. Trienen, who posted a lackluster 5.40 ERA in 2025, allowed 3 straight hits to the Phillies, and a Nick Castellanos double made it 4-3, and just like that, Treinen was out of the game. Then came in lefty Alex Vesia, who, due to intelligent managing decisions by the Phillies, was able to get 2 big outs and put the Dodgers 1 out away from taking a 2-0 series lead over Philly. Due to right-handed batter Trea Turner due up, Dave Roberts put the ball in Sasaki’s hand with the intent that he would seal the deal. He did just that, and Trea Turner grounded out to end the game. This sealed Sasaki as the Dodgers’ primary closer, and he has been excellent this postseason. The Dodgers’ pitching staff quieted the Phillies’ offense and was a crucial part of the Dodgers’ series victory.

5: Not having ace Zack Wheeler from August onward.

The Phillies’ starting rotation was one of the best in the MLB(aka major league baseball), highlighted by ace Zack Wheeler. Wheeler, who was coming off one of his best career seasons, posting a 2.57 ERA and finishing second in the NL CY Young race (named after legendary pitcher CY Young, which is the award for best pitcher ), was posting an equally dominant season and in the race for the NL CY Young. However, Wheeler’s last couple of starts started to concern Phillies fans, as his velocity was going down and he seemed to be battling injury problems. The team later announced that Wheeler suffered a blood clot in his throwing shoulder, an injury that would most definitely keep him out of action for the rest of the season and potentially some of next season. 

Wheeler was the most crucial part of the Phillies’ pitching staff, posting a 2.71 ERA this season, and has proven that he could perform in big moments such as playoff games. Losing Wheeler left a big hole in the pitching staff, but luckily for them, Christopher Sanchez settled into the ace role. Even with the rest of the rotation stepping up, the Phillies clearly missed the flexibility that came with Wheeler and only having a 3-4 man rotation for the playoffs due to a struggling Aaron Nola. 

Ultimately, these key factors led to the Phillies’ agonizing collapse.