Has Trader Dave Dombrowski saved the Philadelphia Phillies?

After his performance at the recent trade deadline, Philadelphia Phillies president Dave Dombrowski suddenly found himself on the hot seat among Phillies fans. Oh, nobody really announced that as such, but his performance up to that point had been somewhat mixed, and his moves at the July 31 Stop Trading bell were being scrutinized.

If the Phillies aren’t able to run down the first-place Mets, after almost four straight years treading .500 waters, Dombrowski faces not only another possible winter of masking and stay-at-home fun, but also a stretch of intense criticism.

Have the Phillies actually been inspired by Dave Dombrowski’s moves?

After his first COVID winter, re-signing his star catcher and his shortstop, but also two starters who really hadn’t worked out, the 65-year-old trading specialist was left with watching younger men show him that they appreciated his acquisition of Kyle Gibson, Ian Kennedy, and the injured Freddy Galvis. And about a week had gone by since those moves.

So, how was it all going?

On Aug. 5, before a 4 p.m. game scheduled with the Nationals in Washington, Dombrowski may have been breathing a little easier. In the four games since July 31, the Phillies had gone 4-0 and were within actual, rather than mathematical striking distance of the Mets. They had outscored the trade-depleted Pirates and Nationals 36-18.

Not a great record in terms of pitching and defense for the Phillies, but an impressive, if not inspired offensive showing, and a mere game short of the Phillies’ best winning streak for the year.

Gibson or Kennedy had appeared in three of the four games, and Ranger Suarez, freed up from closing duties because of Kennedy’s presence, started one of the games and threw three no-hit innings.

Something like a season-closing plan was becoming evident, assuming Suarez could handle more than three innings as a starter moving forward. The left-hander, though, had spoken many times about wanting to start at the MLB level. For the year (mostly in relief) his ERA stood at 1.04.

One more game against the Nats, then the Phillies would face their division leaders at home no worse than 2½ games out of first, and possibly in a much better position.

On Thursday afternoon Aaron Nola would get the ball against Washington for the attempted sweep of a team re-tooling, and a win would put the Phillies three games over .500 for the first time since what felt like the Carter administration.

At the end of five innings, however, the Nationals led, 5-2, the principal problem a three-run homer surrendered by Nola in the bottom of that inning. But then, his teammates hid Nola’s continued, bafflingly average season with a ninth-inning rally and a 7-6 win. Neither Gibson nor Kennedy appeared in the game.

The pivotal hit for the Phillies was a game-tying, RBI double in the ninth by J.T. Realmuto, one of Dombrowski’s early ’21 signees. Something like inspiration seemed to continue, and the Mets were merely a half-game ahead despite three Phillies errors.

Months ago, Inquirer.com veteran Bob Brookover declared it was hard to believe that Dombrowski was interested in leading the Phillies “at age 64 without a strong financial commitment for the very near future.” The team president, though, has to be wondering now and then if the three guys he had permission (read, liquid assets) to acquire at the trade deadline will be enough, despite his unalloyed success in August.

If they aren’t enough, expect Phillies’ fan criticism to shift from the field manager, unexpectedly poor team defense, or the vague notion that the team lacks heart or cohesion to Dombrowski himself.