How The Phillies Can Learn From the Dodgers Success
The Dodgers just won a World Series. After being labeled as chokers for spinning out in the playoffs 3 years in a row, they got over that hump and brought home some hardware by beating the Yankees. It goes to show just because you have the label of being a choker, it does not mean you can’t change the narrative. They also created a rubric that the Phillies should follow.
The Phillies are now in a similar spot to the Dodgers. 3 straight years of disappointing finishes. It has left fans in doubt that this core can ever win anything. Apathy with the team has set in around the city.
The Dodgers just showed you that you can shed that label. You can go from perennial chokers to champions. They didn’t blow it up and start over, they added to the core. They went out and had a busy offseason, added to the already great core, and it got them to the promised land.
After watching the Dodgers win, The Best Show Ever talked about what it could mean for the Phillies, and Tyrone Johnson had this to say.
“Get active this off-season. I’m not saying it’s come back the same. But you’re going to have Harper, you’re going to have Turner, you’re going to have Schwarber. You’re going to have Wheeler. You’re going to have Nola. You got a bunch of good players. So add another good player and go win. They won 95 games. When I think something had to do it, they try to talk themselves out of those players being good.”
The Phillies Can Take A Lesson From The Dodgers
Now you aren’t going to find another Shoehei Ohtani. He is a once-in-a-generation player. But it was not just Shoehei they added. Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman were also huge additions for them, Hernandez coming over in the off-season and Edman being a deadline acquisition.
The Phillies can break this funk. Their core is still one of the best in the league. There is a reason they won 95 games. Yes, they choked in the Divisional round. But the Dodgers had done that two years in a row, and lost in the NLCS in 2021. But what they did was keep adding pieces, and eventually, they broke through.
They don’t have to necessarily go out and add Juan Soto, who is the big ticket team this off-season. That would certainly be nice, but there are other options. Go add Jurickson Profar or Anthony Santander. get a big bullpen arm. Upgrade in Center field. Do something that makes you better. Add that piece that might just put you over the top.
The Phillies have an owner who is willing to spend money. Jayson Stark told us John Middleton will open up his checkbook if it means he gets a World Series. We are lucky in that way where the Owner truly cares about winning and will pay to get one.
They can make this already talented team better. Maybe with more talent, and hopefully better luck, things go better next year,
Winning is tough in sports. Only 1 team gets a trophy, but there is not just 1 good team every year. Luck always plays a part in it. Being hot at the right time plays a factor. But the more talent you have, the better the chance you will have players on a hot streak at the right time. Ohtani was 2 for 19 in the World Series. Guys like Freeman picked him up.
The point is, just because you have choked in the past does not mean you will choke again. The Dodgers just proved that. This Phillies team is still very talented, especially when it comes to starting pitching. But you can’t just run it back like they did last year. Go out, and become even more talented. The Dodgers aren’t going anywhere, and it is on the Phillies to catch up.
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