ATLANTA — It turns out you can’t win a World Series — or even a wild-card series — with a roster that includes more catchers (three) than trustworthy relievers (two).
Who knew?
Say this about the Phillies’ nightmare of a 6-2 drubbing by the pitching-strapped Braves in a winner-takes-all Game 3 here Thursday night: It was over quickly. Aaron Nola allowed a three-run homer in the first inning, and Zack Wheeler gave up a two-run shot in the fourth.
Oh, and the Phillies’ icy-cold bats turned the surname of a little-known lefty opener into a four-letter word ever more in the Delaware Valley: Kerr. Ray Kerr.
And that, as they say, was that.
“It’s always frustrating,” Kyle Schwarber said after the Phillies lost their fourth consecutive postseason series dating to the 2023 NLCS. “From every postseason that I’ve been in, it’s always going to hurt when you’re not the last team holding it up, if you’re knocked out in the first round, DS, CS, World Series.”
We’ll spend the next few days picking apart these three games against the Braves because, well, it’s what we do. It usually starts with the manager. Go ahead, then, and second-guess Don Mattingly for bringing in Jhoan Duran too early in Game 1, or starting Nola over Wheeler in Game 3, or whatever other gripe you may have. Then, hang up and listen.
Or you can skip all that and cut to the real issue: Dave Dombrowski built a Jenga tower of a roster for $322 million (calculated for the luxury tax) and will have limited time to begin fixing it before a work stoppage shuts down the sport from the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement on Dec. 1 until who knows when.
First, though, there’s the question of whether Mattingly returns as the manager.
“It’s not the time to talk about anything like that,” Mattingly said. “I’m not concerned about myself in this situation. I want the Phillies to do what they need to do to set themselves up for success. Yeah, it’s like, my stuff doesn’t really matter.”
Mattingly, 65, is a baseball icon, not to mention the father of Phillies GM Preston Mattingly, who works under Dombrowski. But he also knows this: He was elevated from bench coach to the manager’s office after Rob Thomson was fired on April 28 only because Alex Cora turned down the job.
Dombrowski hired Cora with the Red Sox. They won a World Series together in 2018 and became close friends. When the Sox fired Cora on April 25, Dombrowski offered him the Phillies’ job — even though Thomson hadn’t been let go yet.
Under Mattingly, the Phillies went 79-55, and despite a costly 9-14 stumble down the stretch, captured the last National League wild-card spot. But Dombrowski didn’t remove the interim tag from Mattingly, saying he would wait until after the season to make a decision and fueling speculation across the sport that he will try again to lure Cora.
Last Sunday, amid the Phillies’ wild-card-clinching celebration, owner John Middleton said Mattingly did a “pretty damn good” job but didn’t weigh in on whether he wants him to stay on.
“That’s Dave’s decision,” Middleton said.
Mattingly, who only joined Thomson’s staff this season and signed a two-year contract, had instant respect with the players, even though none are old enough to remember his Hall of Fame-worthy career. He’s also an honest and direct communicator.
“I just felt like he was just calm, man,” Trea Turner said. “He was easy to talk to. I could talk to him about anything hitting. He just seemed like a cool guy that wanted to be here, and then if he needed to let you know something was wrong, he’d let you know. I appreciate the honesty.”
Said J.T. Realmuto: “I like Donnie. Donnie’s great. He was a great for us.”
Great enough to stay on as manager?
“I don’t want to answer that question,” said Bryce Harper, who got along well with Mattingly but has had his ups and downs with Dombrowski over the last 12 months.
Said Realmuto: “I mean, it’s not for me to decide, obviously. But yeah, we love Donnie.”
Surely, the Phillies have heard the Cora whispers.
“That’s not for me to speculate,” Realmuto said. “I have the utmost respect for Donnie, and I would love to have him back.”
Like any manager, especially Thomson before him, Mattingly’s pitching moves will be scrutinized in the aftermath of another early Phillies exit. Since the Phillies went to the World Series in 2022, they lost in Game 7 of the NLCS in 2023, the divisional round in 2024 and 2025, and now, the wild-card round.
But given the bullpen Dombrowski gave him, he was bringing a knife to a gunfight.
Consider this: In the three games, the Braves brought 114 batters to the plate. All but 12 faced a Phillies starting pitcher (Jesús Luzardo in Game 1, Cristopher Sánchez and Andrew Painter in Game 2, Nola and Wheeler in Game 3), or Duran. Five of those 12 batters faced Jonathan Bowlan in the eighth inning of out-of-reach Game 3.
Mattingly also had a postseason bench that included two backup catchers. The season ended with infielder Otto Kemp, who hadn’t taken a major league at-bat since May 20, flailing at a hellacious slider from Chris Sale, a future Hall of Fame lefty.
The questions will persist about whether this Phillies core, which has been together since 2022, can ever get over the top, especially because Harper (34 in two weeks), Turner (33), Realmuto (35), Schwarber (33), Wheeler (36), and Nola (33) aren’t getting any younger.
“I don’t know,” Harper said. “I can’t really answer that question. … I’d imagine this team is going to look a lot different next year with the [free agents] that are kind of leaving this clubhouse, so we’ll see.
“Yeah, I don’t know. It’s going to be a long offseason, obviously. I have trust in the organization and the people that are in charge. We’ll see where we go.”
And whether Mattingly leads them.
