The Philadelphia Phillies saw their season come to a heartbreaking end in Game 4 of the NLDS, Francisco Lindor’s dramatic grand slam sending the rival New York Mets on to the next round — and Philly into an offseason full of tough questions. Most of the baseball world’s attention after the game has, understandably, been directed toward the Mets, who might just keep stacking improbable wins all the way to the World Series. At least one Phillies star, however, didn’t sound so impressed by what New York is doing.
Trea Turner thinks NLDS was more about the Phillies than the Mets
Trea Turner didn’t exactly cover himself in glory in this NLDS, with another 0-for-4 in Game 4 dropping his OPS for the series to a measly .494. Really, you could extend that to this entire Phillies lineup, which scored two or fewer runs in all three losses a year after disappearing toward the end of the 2023 NLCS loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
You’d think the Mets pitching had something to do with that, with Sean Manaea, Luis Severino and Jose Quintana all putting up strong starts. Turner, however, thinks that this series had more to do with the Phillies beating themselves than anything New York was doing.
"I personally think we get ourselves out."
Trea Turner believes it didn't matter who was on the opposing mound, the Phillies were just having trouble at the plate. pic.twitter.com/hz4kVGfUjV
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) October 10, 2024
Mets fans will likely hear the above quote as a sign of disrespect, of Turner diminishing how good New York’s pitching staff is as a means of coping with a tough postseason loss. Really, though: If you polled every hitter in the Majors, especially ones of Turner’s caliber and track record, how many of them would tell you differently? This is how Turner, Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Co. are supposed to feel; this is why Philly paid them the big bucks, after all, in the hopes that once October rolled around they’d be able to put up numbers no matter who was on the mound.
Obviously things didn’t work out that way, and it’s two straight years now that this ostensibly star-studded lineup has gone quiet at the worst possible time. So maybe Turner’s right after all: Philly’s players are the common denominator between two consecutive postseason flameouts.
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