Sometimes sports aren’t fair.
Like sometimes you got hot at the exact right time, win your division, earn a first-round bye and your reward is a date with the reigning World Series champs.
Such was the fate of the 2025 Philadelphia Phillies. They did just about everything right while battling the Los Angeles Dodgers over four highly entertaining games.
Yet the reigning champs prevailed by the narrowest of margins on an 11th-inning, two-out throwing error by relief pitcher Orion Kerkering in their 2-1, season-ending loss at Dodger Stadium on Thursday.
The Phillies outscored the Dodgers 15-13 over the four-game series, and they led the majority of the series — and for most of Game 4 — yet are heading into their off-season after a four-game NLDS loss for the second straight year.
“They pitched great, we pitched great,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “It was a well-fought series. They came out on top, and that’s the way it is.”
Yet after all that there will be big changes afoot in the City of Brotherly Love.
Kyle Schwarber Is Likely To Leave; He May Not Be The Only Marquee Free Agent Departure
Kyle Schwarber may be the National League MVP, and if he isn’t he’ll finish in the top-three of voting.
But after four straight otherworldly seasons — where he averaged 47 home runs, 108.5 RBIs and 107 runs scored and was super-underpaid at $19.75 million per year — Schwarber seems destined to seek greener pastures.
Schwarber is the preeminent power hitter in the game, won the All-Star Game MVP, and even though he was 3 for 16 in the postseason — his average dropped to .156 over the past two seasons in the postseason — two of those hits were home runs in the Phils’ season-saving win in Game 3.
He may be joined by catcher J.T. Realmuto, whose seven-year tenure may be up as he hits free agency. Realmuto was a two-time Gold Glove winner in Philadelphia, and a two-time Silver Slugger, and he was about the Phillies’ only consistent hitter in the postseason this year.
Ranger Suarez, a postseason hero who breathed life back into the Phillies’ season in Game 3, is also a free agent and could command a huge contract after posting back-to-back 12-win seasons with sub-3.50 ERAs.
Despite the high-end talent that could potentially walk, Thomson spoke glowingly of the front office’s desire to bring a World Series to Philadelphia — notably, owner John Middleton, president Dave Dombrowski and GM Preston Mattingly — even with their prospect cupboard relatively bare.
“I don’t know what Dave and John and Preston are going to do in the off-season — we haven’t really talked about anything — but our farm system is being built up,” Thomson said. “I know John is going to spend money — he wants to win, he wants a world championship — there’s good years ahead.”
Rob Thomson’s Status Is Unclear
According to Cot’s contracts, Thomson is signed through next season. But the court of public opinion has varying opinions of the manager.
On the one hand, his sacrifice bunt call doomed the Phillies in their 4-3 loss in Game 2. On the other, he won 96 games again this year — with one of the worst bullpens in the league for half the year — and put the team in a position to unseat the Dodgers, if a break or two went the Phillies’ way.
Yet, when asked, Thomson wasn’t sure about whether he expected to manage next year.
“That’s out of my control; I’m not even thinking about it,” Thomson said. “I’ve got 60 people that are broken hearted right now, so I’m thinking about that. I’m not thinking about my job right now.”
Yet, if Thursday was the man they call Topper’s swansong as manager, he told his players how much he cared for them.
“I told them I appreciate what they’ve done all year,” Thomson said, seeming to hold back tears after the 2-1 loss. “They prepared, competed, picked each other up, true professionals the entire year. I’m extremely proud of how they went about their business, and I’m proud to be their manager.”
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