4 Phillies Who Cost Their Team the NLCS

4. Bryce Harper

If you wanna just go back and read what I wrote for Castellanos while replacing his name with Bryce Harper's, it'll be close enough.

Harper wasn't putting up the numbers Castellanos was coming into the series, but he too had played a big role in getting us up 2-0, with 3 hits, 2 walks, 1 home run and 2 RBI through those first two games. And like Castellanos, he’d been a key part of the Phillies’ postseason surge at the dish. Harper slashed .385/.543/.846 through the first eight games of the 2023 playoffs. 

Unlike Castellanos, he did have one good game late in the series, helping the Phils get within striking distance by going yard and scoring 3 runs in the Game 5 win.

But that really highlights just how much impact his play had in the losses. 

He did get on base in the four L’s (something Castellanos didn’t), but 4 walks, 5 strikeouts and no hits across 16 plate appearances is not what you need from one of your biggest stars when the series is on the line.

The Phillies' offense felt nearly unstoppable through most of the postseason, but that made Harper and company's collapse hurt even more.

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