NLCS: Seranthony Dominguez Leads a Rebuilt Phillies Bullpen
On a night where the Marlins won two and the Phillies won three the NL wild card standings are still up in the air. You know, because the National League wild-card game was suspended, the Braves won the season series against the Astros, and the Giants lost to the A’s.
On a night where the Phillies went from 10th place to third place, the bullpen was the difference between the two, and the only thing that kept this group from completely dissolving at the end of the game. The Marlins are now in a tie for the best bullpen in the National League, and so is their pen.
The Phillies lost Chris Coste (2-0, 7.86), who had five saves, but have received little help from their pen so far, which was a big reason why they lost this game. It’s not surprising to me that the Phillies are struggling with their bullpen. Last night, it looked like a good night for this group, but I don’t think it was.
You see, during the game, I felt like I really knew the reason this team is having these struggles. They’re struggling because they can’t pitch in the same game. The Phillies got their run last night, as their opponents walked more batters than they struck out. The Phillies had 13 base runners last night, which is four more than they had all last season. Every time the Phillies hit a batter, this team hits the batter, even though they weren’t really working together.
It’s like the team decided that one of their best hitters, Freddy Galvis, was going to be their leadoff hitter. Galvis was hitting.300, with three home runs and 19 RBIs. After giving up a leadoff man to the opposing team, the Phillies decided to hit Galvis leadoff to try and give him some runs, only to see Galvis put a strikeout on the pitcher and then a ground ball to an outfielder.
That isn’t who these guys play together. They can’t put a team on base. That is not how they are built, and that is why I’m not surprised anything
