What a way to end the 2024 season! The Phillies hold on to pick up their 95th win of the season, most since 2011, in the final game of the regular season.
Dave Dombrowski has been in charge of five teams that went to the World Series: 1997 Marlins, 2006 and 2012 Tigers, 2018 Red Sox and the 2022 Phillies.
With the Phils heading into the postseason for the third straight beginning with Game 1 of the NLDS Saturday at Citizens Bank Park, the president of baseball operations conducted a 25-minute press conference in the dugout before Tuesday’s workout.
These remarks have been edited for length and clarity.
Q. Is there one aspect of your team’s performance down the stretch that’s concerned you?
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A. “Even when we come back after an All-Star break, I’m always more concerned about our offense getting going. Guys have days off. We’re routine-oriented.
“Of course, during an All-Star break you don’t have control of the players. That’s different. Now we’re in a position where we can work on high-level, high-volume velocity machines. Work on the curveball machine. We’re going to throw batting practice. But I always worry more about the offensive perspective because days off can normally cause you concern.”
Q. If five days off can be a challenge for hitters, conversely, can it be an advantage for pitchers?
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A. “I think it is. The staff has talked a lot about it with the pitchers themselves. That’s why this week is so important. Prepping them so they don’t have too much rest.
“Zack (Wheeler), traditionally, likes to go on five to six days. He’s going to go on his seventh day. But there’s things he can do. And the postseason automatically sort of livens you up in that regard. Gets you more prepared. But he might throw an extra light side one day.
“(Cristopher) Sanchez and (Aaron) Nola, it’s going to be quite awhile since they’ve pitched. But they’re going to throw this week. Same thing with (Ranger) Suarez. And we’ll juggle the rest with keeping them ready. And I do think that one area that will benefit will be the bullpen guys. Because they’ll be fresh. And they can use the extra rest at this time of year. I don’t think we’ve overused them at all. But at this time of year everybody can use a little rest. And they’ll get enough throwing during this time frame.”
Q. This is your third straight year in the playoffs. Do you feel any sense of urgency knowing that you only get so many chances at this?
A. “No, I don’t. First of all, I don’t feel like our window’s closing. I keep hearing that. But I think what happens is, sometimes it closes with the current players you have. But that doesn’t mean it closes overall.
“We have young players coming we really like. We also have ownership that’s very kind to us with our expenditures on payroll. So what you’re ideally trying to do, as some players age, some of their skills diminish. That’s just a fact. Some at different paces, but what you need to do is have young players come in in the meantime. And we think we have some really good young players coming in.
“Some of them are here. When you see guys like (Bryson) Stott and (Alec) Bohm and (Brandon) Marsh and (Cristopher) Sanchez, who’s going to be around for awhile. (Orion) Kerkering and (Johan) Rojas. And we have another group of people behind that.
“So I don’t think the window for the Phillies is closing but you always have some limitation on the current team you have.”
Q. What’s the difference between coming in as a wild card team, as you did for the last two years, and this season when you come in as the division winner with a bye?
A. “I don’t think our guys are going to let off the pedal at all in that regard. These guys are driven to win. They know that, for us, success comes with trying to win a world championship. A lot of them believe that, too. A lot of them haven’t won a world championship. If anything, I think we’re now in a position to set our club up better in that regard.”
Q. How difficult is it not knowing whether you’ll play the Brewers or Mets?
A. “Of course, you’re prepared for anybody. We’ve had our advance scouts out scouting all the clubs in the National League for an extended period. But I think one of the advantages for us, in the first round at least, we’ve played the Mets so much at the end of the season. Seven times in the last couple weeks. We played the Brewers recently. And, of course, if the Braves (make it to the NLCS) we’ve played them a bunch.
The only clubs we haven’t played for an extended time would be the Padres and perhaps the Dodgers. But we’ve been thoroughly scouting those clubs. We’ll be prepared no matter what.”
Q. How difficult is it to have come all this way knowing that it could all end because of one bad hop, one bad pitch, one circumstance beyond your control?
A. “Unfortunately, that’s just the way it is. You prepare. You do everything you possibly can. I feel totally confident our guys will be as prepared as they can possibly be. Fundamentally. Pitching-wise. Hitting-wise. But you never know what you’re going to run into. That’s just how the game goes.
“I’ve been a part of a lot of postseasons. Sometimes you win games you don’t think there’s any way you’re going to win that matchup. And there are other times you think, ‘Well, I feel really good about this. I like our edge here.’ And you lose that game.
“I was part of the World Series in 1997. Cleveland Indians vs. Florida Marlins. Two of the games that we lost, we had Kevin Brown, who was basically the best pitcher in the National League that year, versus Chad Ogea, who was the fourth, fifth starter for the Indians. And we lost both games. At home. And we still won the World Series. So you just don’t know.
“It’s unsettling. Your stomach gurgles a little bit more, because you realize any time a bloop base hit falls in there against you that it could cost you. It’s so unpredictable. And from a fan’s perspective, I think that’s part of the fun of the postseason atmosphere.
“Look at last year. You never would have thought coming back home for Games 6 and 7 (of the NLCS) that we would have lost. I thought we were going to win at that point. But Arizona beat us, and they deserved it.”
Q. Do those losses linger?
A. “They’ll linger for the rest of my life.”
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