Call to the pen
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Phillies, Padres, and more: Lessons from the 2022 postseason

By Jack McKenney

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 23: Josh Bell #24 of the San Diego Padres celebrates after hittin a double in the seventh inning of Game Five of the National League Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on October 23, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Matt Thomas/San Diego Padres/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 23: Josh Bell #24 of the San Diego Padres celebrates after hittin a double in the seventh inning of Game Five of the National League Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on October 23, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Matt Thomas/San Diego Padres/Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – NOVEMBER 01: Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies reacts after hitting a home run against the Houston Astros during the first inning in Game Three of the 2022 World Series at Citizens Bank Park on November 01, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – NOVEMBER 01: Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies reacts after hitting a home run against the Houston Astros during the first inning in Game Three of the 2022 World Series at Citizens Bank Park on November 01, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images) /

As for the Phillies, well, it’s an incredible story. The Phillies were the last National League team to make the postseason, playing in the last Wild Card spot against the St. Louis Cardinals. After trailing 2-0 in the ninth inning of Game 1, the Phillies put together a six-run inning against Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley, one of the best closers in the regular season.

The Phillies went on to defeat the Cardinals in Game 2, earning them an NLDS matchup against the NL East Champion Atlanta Braves. Everyone liked Atlanta, who was surging coming off a huge regular-season series win against the Mets, helping them clinch the NL East pennant.

In Game 1, the Phillies jumped on Max Fried, something they had failed to do all year, and forced him out of the game early, which eventually helped them earn a huge win. After dropping Game 2, the Phillies had an offensive onslaught in Game 3, forcing five earned runs off Atlanta’s NL Rookie of the Year candidate, Spencer Strider. After Bryson Stott’s RBI double, the Phillies were able to deteriorate Strider’s confidence, with Strider throwing his lowest fastball velocity of the season in Game 3. Rhys Hoskins put the nail in the coffin with a signature bat flip on a three-run homer.

The Phillies continued this offensive momentum under their home crowd in Game 4, with Brandon Marsh starting the offense with a three-run homer in the second. The Phillies wound up scoring eight runs in Game 4, and shocked the baseball world beating a team that was superior to them practically the entire regular season.

The underdog story continued after that, of course. The Phillies were slight underdogs in their NLCS matchup with the Padres, but it didn’t faze them. A 4-2 series win booked them a trip to their first World Series since 2009.  The magical run came in the World Series, where the Phillies ran into a Houston Astros team with arguably one of the best pitching staffs in playoff history. The Astros lost two games in the entire postseason, with both losses coming from Philadelphia.

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