Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies are in the market for a shortstop, and they're set to meet with some of the best available at the position before winter meetings begin on Monday in San Diego.

The Phillies have set meetings with Trea Turner, Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts and Dansby Swanson, per The Athletic's Jayson Stark. The team is expected to meet with Bogaerts and Correa this weekend, while meetings with Turner and Swanson may have already taken place.

The Phillies have emerged as the favorite to sign Turner, per MLB Network's Jon Morosi, and he is expected to land a deal worth at least $30 million per year, regardless of where he ends up.

Turner spent the last season-and-a-half with the Los Angeles Dodgers, earning an All-Star Game selection and a Silver Slugger award in 2022 after slashing .298/.343/.466 with 21 home runs, 100 RBI and 27 stolen bases in 160 games.

While the Phillies are viewed as the favorite to sign Turner, he has no shortage of suitors this winter. The Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants have been mentioned as potential destinations.

Bogaerts has an obvious connection to the Phillies as president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski served in the same role with the Boston Red Sox, the star shortstop's former club, from 2015 to '19.

Bogaerts had spent his entire 10-year career with the Red Sox before becoming a free agent this winter. Like Turner, he also earned an All-Star Game selection and a Silver Slugger award in 2022 after slashing .307/.377/.456 with 15 home runs, 73 RBI and eight stolen bases in 150 games.

Correa, meanwhile, spent the 2022 season the Minnesota Twins after beginning his career with the Houston Astros. He hit .291/.366/.467 with 22 home runs and 64 RBI in 136 games. He opted out of the remainder of his contract with the Twins in search of a more lucrative deal in free agency.

Swanson spent his entire seven-year career with the Atlanta Braves before becoming a free agent. He earned an All-Star Game selection and a Gold Glove award in 2022 after hitting .277/.329/.447 with 25 home runs, 96 RBI and 18 stolen bases in 162 games.

During the 2022 campaign, the Phillies relied on Jean Segura and Bryson Stott at shortstop. Segura is a free agent and Stott, 25, will be entering just his second major league season in 2023. Thus, the Phillies want someone more proven.

After reaching the World Series in 2022, the Phillies could be just one superstar piece away from winning it all in 2023.

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper will undergo elbow surgery Nov. 23, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters Wednesday.

Don’t let Tommy John freak you out. It doesn’t mean Harper would miss 2023. Shohei Ohtani had Tommy John surgery on Oct. 1, 2018. He returned to DH for the Angels on May 7, 2019.

— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) November 16, 2022

Harper, who also suffered a broken thumb that kept him out for a chunk of the Phillies' regular season, initially suffered a UCL tear in May. He was limited to designated hitting duties as the Phillies made an improbable push to the World Series.

In 99 regular-season games, Harper slashed .286/.364/.514 and posted 18 home runs and 65 RBI.

He was more prolific in the postseason, slashing .349/.414/.746 with six home runs and 13 RBI.

Should Harper miss time to start the season, Nick Castellanos would presumably slot back into right field, while Brandon Marsh holds down center and Kyle Schwarber plays left.

The Philadelphia Phillies are aiming high in their quest to find an upgrade at shortstop in free agency.

Per Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the reigning National League champions are believed to have "real interest" in four-time All-Star Xander Bogaerts.

Bogaerts could be a fallback plan because the Phillies have been heavily linked to Trea Turner. Bogaerts became a free agent by opting out of the final three years and $60 million remaining on his deal with the Boston Red Sox.

Appearing on 97.5 The Fanatic earlier this week (h/t John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia), The Athletic's Jayson Stark said there have been "some interesting rumblings" that Turner wants to be in Philadelphia.

While both players will carry expensive price tags this offseason, Bogaerts could be more appealing to the Phillies because he may not cost as much as Turner. He is eight months older and has seen his power decline in each of the past three seasons.

Since posting a career-high slugging percentage in 2019 (.555), Bogaerts' power output has dropped by nearly 100 points to .456 this past season. He remains one of the best pure hitters at shortstop, posting a .307 average and .377 on-base percentage in 2022.

Boston's key decision-makers, including chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and general manager Brian O'Halloran, told reporters this week their top priority is re-signing Bogaerts.

It's not a surprise the Phillies will likely want to get involved in the Bogaerts sweepstakes. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has built a career on signing marquee players in free agency.

The Phillies only have $140.2 million in guaranteed salary commitments on their books for next season.

Bryson Stott was Philadelphia's primary shortstop in 2022. The 25-year-old rookie was used primarily for his defense. He only hit .234/.295/.358 with 10 homers and 49 RBI in 127 games.

The Philadelphia Phillies fell short in the World Series, but they may have another superstar on their roster as they attempt to reach the sport's biggest stage again next season.

"There's some interesting rumblings that he wants to be here," Jayson Stark of The Athletic said of free-agent shortstop Trea Turner during an appearance on 97.5 The Fanatic.

Turner is part of a loaded free-agency class at shortstop that also features Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts and Dansby Swanson as the headliners.

Philadelphia potentially being interested in one of them doesn't come as much of a surprise considering it reached the World Series largely relying on Bryson Stott and utility man Edmundo Sosa at the position.

They can each be solid players but don't exactly inspire the same level of fear in opposing pitchers as Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, Rhys Hoskins and Nick Castellanos do as part of a powerful lineup.

Upgrading at shortstop by adding Turner to that group would be daunting to the rest of the National League East.

The 29-year-old's resume includes two All-Star selections, the 2019 World Series title when he was a member of the Washington Nationals and the 2021 batting title when he hit .328 across 148 games for the Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers.

He spent the 2022 campaign in Los Angeles and slashed .298/.343/.466 with 21 home runs, 100 RBI and 27 stolen bases as a multi-tool player who can impact the game a number of ways. Turner can also play a serviceable shortstop and has been responsible for a combined nine defensive runs saved above average throughout his career, per FanGraphs.

Turner will be a highly coveted free agent this offseason, but a desire to join the Phillies would surely help the reigning National League champions in their pursuit.

In an expected move, the Philadelphia Phillies declined Jean Segura's $17 million club option for the 2023 option Monday.

Segura, 32, had a tough 2022 season, as a fractured right index finger cost him two months. He was impressive when healthy, however, hitting .277 with 10 homers, 33 RBI, 45 runs and 13 stolen bases in 98 games, posting a .723 OPS.

He hit .214 during the postseason, recording two extra-base hits and seven RBI in 17 games during Philadelphia's run to the World Series. Ultimately, the Philles fell to the Houston Astros in six games in the Fall Classic.

The two-time All-Star has been solid during his time in Philadelphia and made the adjustment from shortstop to second base. That defensive versatility—he also spent time at third base in the 2020 season—has made him valuable for a team that isn't renowned for its defensive acumen.

With speculation that the Phillies might make a run at Xander Bogaerts were he to hit free agency this winter, however, it always seemed unlikely the Phillies would be willing to pay $17 million to keep Segura around and spend that much capital for the middle of the infield.

Plus, 25-year-old Bryson Stott showed flashes of upside in his first MLB season and gave the team another option at second base. Stott is a fine option to hold down second base.

But the Phillies are in win-now mode, led by a core of Bryce Harper, Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, J.T. Realmuto, Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos and Rhys Hoskins, among others, so adding to the middle of the infield with a quality player this winter is a must.

The Phillies aren't paying up for Segura. Don't be surprised if they are in the market for a bigger name, however.

The Philadelphia Phillies exercised Aaron Nola's $16 million option for the 2023 season on Monday.

The move doesn't come as a surprise. While Nola had his ups and downs in the 2022 season as the No. 2 option in the rotation behind Zack Wheeler, he still finished 11-13 with a 3.25 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 235 strikeouts in 205 innings.

He made five starts during the Phillies' run to the 2022 World Series, winning games in each of the first two rounds. He did take the loss in Game 4 of the World Series, in which the Houston Astros no-hit Philadelphia.

The Astros won the series in six games, putting an end to the Phillies' remarkable postseason run.

The 29-year-old hasn't emerged as the true ace he appeared on track to be after finishing third in the Cy Young Award voting in 2018 (2.37 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 224 strikeouts in 212.1 innings), his lone All-Star season, but he's also not a player the Phillies would want to lose come free agency.

Inconsistency was the difference between Nola having an excellent and simply good season in 2022. In six Junes games, for instance, he went 3-1 with a 2.51 ERA. But he struggled in August, going 2-3 in five starts with a 4.22 ERA.

Still, Nola misses bats, with 200 or more strikeouts in each of his last four non-COVID-shortened seasons. Keeping him at the $16 million price point and earning another year to work out an extension made total sense for the Phillies as they look to win a World Series around a core of Bryce Harper, Wheeler, Nola, J.T. Realmuto, Kyle Schwarber, Rhys Hoskins and Nick Castellanos.

Other moves will need to follow, namely in a bullpen that was the team's Achilles heel last season, but keeping Nola for at least one more season was a no-brainer.

The Houston Astros are World Series champions. For real this time. No ifs, ands or buts about it. And no asterisks, real or imagined.

So, let's call them what they deserve to be called: a dynasty.

Judging from all the boos and jeers that the Astros have heard away from Minute Maid Park over the last few seasons, this is bound to register as an Unpopular Opinion. And, to be fair, said boos and jeers were well-founded. Nobody likes a cheater, and that's what the Astros were when they won their first World Series in 2017.

But this time around? This time around they were simply the best team in Major League Baseball.

This seemed true enough as the Astros tallied 106 wins in the regular season, and then increasingly so as they won each of their first seven in the playoffs. The Philadelphia Phillies positioned themselves to upset the narrative by winning two of the first three games of the World Series, but three straight victories by Houston put the kibosh on that.

The Astros outscored the Phillies 12-3 in Games 4, 5 and 6. In other words, the victors got as many runs on Yordan Álvarez's epic go-ahead home run in Saturday's decisive game as the losers scored in the last three games combined.

450 FEET FOR THE LEAD 😱 #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/v5p1vWNkU0

— MLB (@MLB) November 6, 2022

That plus Christian Vázquez's run-scoring single later in the sixth inning pretty much put the game on ice. The last nine outs that Houston had to get felt like so many formalities, up to and including the one that nestled in Kyle Tucker's glove for the third out of the ninth inning.

Thus did the Astros secure the World Series ring that eluded Dusty Baker in his first 24 years as a manager, and at least open the door for a conversation about their dynasty credentials.

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What's In a Dynasty?

There's at least one obvious complication in attempting to slap the "dynasty" label on the Astros, and it's that the dictionary definition of the word doesn't exactly apply in this context.

Heck, even the Astros weren't sure of their dynasty status as of a couple of days ago.

When Sam Blum and Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic asked around on the eve of the World Series, they got yesses from Justin Verlander, Yuli Gurriel and Martín Maldonado but a no from Jose Altuve and what amounted to "not sures" from Lance McCullers Jr. and Alex Bregman, though both of them added the same caveat.

As summarized by Bregman: "I think we’ve got to win this series."

Well, now they've done that. And it does feel like a sort of exclamation mark on a list of organizational accomplishments that also include:

• An American League-high 541 wins since 2017
  
• An MLB-high 53 playoff wins since 2017  
  
• Six straight trips to the American League Championship Series
• World Series appearances in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022

That's a whole lot of winning over a sustained stretch of time. And if there was to be an officially recognized definition of "dynasty" in a sports context, that's our submission.

Of course, there is the elephant in the room. Or rather, the banging scheme in the dugout.

Yes, it happened. Specifically, in 2017 and into 2018 per MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's findings on the matter. The scheme might not have actually helped the Astros all that much, but suggesting as much is sort of beside the point. That they even had the gall do to it was crime enough.

"We obviously cheated baseball and cheated fans," was how ex-slugger Evan Gattis put it in 2020. "Fans felt duped. I feel bad for fans."

And yet, much has changed since then.

This goes for the environment around the Astros, as the threat of teams copy-catting their method of using video to steal and decode signs in real time has since been diminished through new protocols and the introduction of the PitchCom system.

It also goes for the Astros themselves. Banging scheme ringleaders Alex Cora and Carlos Beltran were already gone by the time the scandal burst into the open in 2020, an event which also cost general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch their jobs.

There's even shockingly little connective tissue between the 2017 team and the 2022 team roster-wise. Altuve, Bregman and Gurriel are the only surviving members of the former's ill-begotten historic offense, with only McCullers and Verlander remaining on the pitching side.

To hold the misdeeds of the 2017 Astros against the 2022 Astros is therefore beyond holding the sins of the father against the son. It's more like demanding a son pay for the sins of his great-grandfather.

Instead of holding that grudge, how about acknowledging the non-nefarious ways the Astros built their dynasty?

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The Astros Are a Machine

It's never easy to summarize any team's organizational philosophy, but the Astros' seems to be "look wherever and do whatever to find and develop good players."

Take Álvarez, for example.

The Astros acquired him from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for middle relliever Josh Fields in Aug. 2016. Baseball America tabbed his bat control as his calling card, noting that his power only showed up in workouts.

Cut to now, and Alvarez is a 6'5", 225-pounder with 98 home runs in 368 career regular-season games, plus another six in 47 playoff games. Each of the three he hit in this postseason were all go-ahead shots in the sixth inning or later, which MLB.com's Sarah Langs noted as a first for MLB history.

For another example, take Jeremy Peña.

The Astros drafted him out of the University of Maine, a place that, with all respect to Bill Swift, is not known as a prospect factory. Next thing anyone knows, Peña is Houston's heir to former No. 1 pick and AL Rookie of the Year Carlos Correa at shortstop. And now, he's a Gold Glover and the first AL player to ever claim MVP honors for both the LCS and World Series.

YOUR WS & ALCS MVP! pic.twitter.com/lS9XG0qVT7

— Houston Astros (@astros) November 6, 2022

But if anything has made the Astros the envy of MLB in recent years, it's surely the organization's ability to take seemingly any random pitcher and turn him into a military-grade weapon. And for a very simple yet nonetheless very good reason.

As Mike Fast, formerly Houston's research and development director, once put it: "The Astros have not, for a while now, had any hesitation about just, ‘Throw your best pitches.’”

To this, there's perhaps never been a more glowing testament than a moundstaff that featured some of MLB's best fastballs and breaking balls and, oh yeah, was generally just very, very good in 2022.

Though Verlander was already well decorated by the time he arrived in Houston, it was the Astros who fully unlocked his slider and, with it, arguably the best years of his Cooperstown career.

Albeit on a longer timeline, they also fully unlocked Framber Valdez as a stifler of hard contact and Cristian Javier and a misser of bats. Their six playoff starts yielded just four earned runs over 36.1 innings, with Javier working the tip of the spear for Houston's combined no-hitter in Game 4 of the World Series.

Ryan Pressly, meanwhile, is but one of many talented hurlers who can take credit for the MLB-best 2.80 ERA that the bullpen posted in the regular season and, well, all of the other-worldly numbers it put up in the postseason:

The Astros’ bullpen this postseason, with ranks among 94 teams with 35+ IP from bullpen in a single postseason:

0.83 ERA, lowest
.126 Opp BA, lowest
.215 Opp OBP, lowest
.208 Opp SLG, lowest
0.75 WHIP, lowest

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) November 6, 2022

The awkward part is who, specifically, should get the credit for the Astros approach and all its benefits. James Click is running the front office now as the team's GM, but every single one of the players mentioned by name in this piece was originally acquired by Luhnow, who's now out of baseball and into soccer.

And yet, this really only matters if you're going to insist on personnel consistency as a stipulation for a proper dynasty. And if we must, well, dare we ask that people give it time?

It's not as if a breaking of the band is upon the Astros. They could sustain some losses this winter, including Baker from the manager's chair, Verlander from the rotation, Gurriel from first base and Rafael Montero from the bullpen. Everyone else, though, is in for 2023. And beyond, in many cases.

Whether the Astros will ever be able to outlast the boos and jeers is one question. Whether they'll keep contending for championships, however, is not a question at all.

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Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.

The Philadelphia Phillies embarked on an incredible run after entering the playoffs as the National League's sixth and final postseason team, but they fell just short of their ultimate goal after losing four games to two to the Houston Astros.

The Phils swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Wild Card Round after notably scoring six ninth-inning runs in Game 1 to overcome a late 2-0 deficit.

Philadelphia then broke out the bats to defeat the 2021 World Series champion Atlanta Braves in the division series, scoring a total of 24 runs in its three wins.

The Phils then defeated a fellow underdog team in the San Diego Padres four games to one in the Championship Series, with Bryce Harper delivering a dramatic two-run homer in the eighth inning of a 4-3 pennant-clinching win.

The World Series started with a tremendous amount of promise after the Phillies overcame a 5-0 Game 1 deficit to win the opener in Houston 6-5. The Phils dropped Game 2 but won Game 3 after hitting five home runs.

However, the bats went silent for Games 4-6, with the team combining for just three runs during that stretch.

Despite the tough ending, the Phillies have a lot to be proud of, especially considering a 22-29 start that led to the firing of manager Joe Girardi.

Interim manager Rob Thomson took over and guided the 87-win team to the playoffs, where the Phils entered as major underdogs in a National League that had three teams with 101 or more wins.

But the Phillies rolled through the NL playoffs to create a magical season.

Ultimately, the Phillies' excellent playoff run is the biggest takeaway post-World Series, and Twitter gave Philadelphia credit for its efforts.

https://twitter.com/DisgruntledPhan/status/1589088436316966914

Astros 4, Phillies 1. Houston has won the World Series, and the Phillies' enchanted run through the postseason is over. They took a 2-1 series lead, then scored four runs in the next three games -- all losses. Hell of a run.

— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) November 6, 2022

Anyone. Any #Phillies fans. Tell me that on June 5, September 5, you thought we’d still be watching this team on November 5th. What a ride. pic.twitter.com/KMQYmADrA3

— PHILLIES BELL (@PhilliesBell) November 6, 2022

Thank you #Phillies. It has been an incredible month!!! You've given a whole new generation of fans memories that will last forever. We will see you in Clearwooder! #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/9ULBfVxxMW

— Chris Manero (@CoachManero) November 6, 2022

https://twitter.com/PhilSportsVoice/status/1589094690095501313

Disappointing ending, but I'll alway remember this Phillies run. What an incredible journey. These #Phillies brought us so much joy for the last month, and the way that they just kept fighting and finding ways to win despite being perpetual underdogs was perfectly Philadelphia.

— Paul Rakszawski (@Paul_Rakszawski) November 6, 2022

Damn, it sucks that the run is over. The 2022 Phillies were a lot of fun in the postseason. Good job boys. #Phillies

— Laaaaaaarry (@lwrncjones) November 6, 2022

This ride has been wild and fun! We stunned the cardinals, eliminated the braves, and sent the Padres crying. It’s going to take me weeks to stop missing them, win or lose! I love this team and the magic they’ve shown this post season 🥹❤️⚾️ #Phillies #WorldSeries @Phillies pic.twitter.com/4dRsZdQ9FC

— Dani (@dAnconA822) November 6, 2022

Thank you, #Phillies for an unforgettable playoff run. Came out of nowhere and provided some epic and incredible moments. Sucks not to win it all and it hurts, but man, that was fun

— Chase Senior (@Chase_Senior) November 6, 2022

Philadelphia won its first pennant since 2009 and eighth overall this season. The two-time World Series champions hadn't made the playoffs since 2011.

It wasn't another no-hitter. Or even all that pretty, really. But what mattered by the end of Thursday's game was that Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros both got a World Series win.

For the pitcher, it's a long-awaited first. For the team, it means they now need just one more to secure the Commissioner's Trophy for the second time in six years.

After ending up on the wrong side of the second no-no in World Series history in Game 4 on Wednesday, the Philadelphia Phillies at least managed to get on the board for six hits and two runs in Game 5. But the Astros did them one better in the latter category to win 3-2.

It was a "there goes that man again" affair for the Astros offense. Still fresh off winning the MVP for the American League Championship Series, Jeremy Peña became the first rookie shortstop to hit a World Series home run in the process of going 3-for-4 with two RBI.

Thor: Love and Thunder 🫶⛈ pic.twitter.com/1WZwZl1fxQ

— Houston Astros (@astros) November 4, 2022

Verlander had to work hard to limit the Phillies to a lone run through five innings, and Houston's vaunted bullpen even had some trials of its own in the final four frames. To wit, Jean Segura's run-scoring single off Rafael Montero in the eighth was the first hit off an Astros reliever with a runner in scoring position all postseason.

Yet with help from clutch defensive plays by Trey Mancini and especially a Superman-like Chas McCormick, the Astros were able to escape Philadelphia with a 3-2 series lead.

“It’s symbolic for me that my first [World Series] win was such a great team win," Verlander said afterward, via Ryan Fagan of the Sporting News.

According to MLB.com's Sarah Langs, 19 of the 24 teams that have ever been in the same position Houston is in now held on to win the series.

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Verlander's Leash Was Just Long Enough

Who's to say exactly how many people were wondering about what kind of leash Dusty Baker was going to have on Verlander in Game 5, but their numbers were apparently great enough for the veteran manager to feel compelled to answer the question.

“Everyone is wondering if he has a short leash," Baker said, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. "He doesn’t have a leash at all. He’s Justin Verlander.”

Verlander's reputation obviously demanded as such. He is, after all, a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer who's in line to win his third Cy Young Award after leading the majors with a 1.75 ERA in the regular season.

Reality, however, had been painting a different sort of picture for the 39-year-old in the playoffs.

Verlander got lit up for five-plus runs in two of his three postseason starts, including the one he made in Game 1 of the this World Series last Friday. That performance pushed his career World Series ERA to a record-high 6.07, and likewise extended what was already the longest Fall Classic winless streak to eight starts.

It took all of two pitches for Verlander to achieve still more World Series infamy on Thursday, as Kyle Schwarber made it a record 10 home runs off the right-hander in the World Series when he connected on a high fastball leading off the first inning.

GREAT JOB, KYLE pic.twitter.com/VeFn9BFJPM

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) November 4, 2022

The tone set by that blast didn't really let up through the first three innings. Verlander was able to keep further runs off the board, but barely as he issued four walks and got tagged for four hard-hit balls.

The leash, it seemed, needed shortening.

Baker nonetheless went with his heart and stuck with his ace, even letting him begin a third trip through the Phillies order after he retired the eighth and ninth hitters to lead off the fourth. The gambit worked, as Verlander struck out Schwarber, Rhys Hoskins and J.T. Realmuto in succession and then retired Nick Castellanos after a hard double by Bryce Harper.

One could posit that the baseball gods did Baker a solid by covering a bad decision with good results, but that would be to deny Verlander the credit for adjusting as needed.

He was leaning heavily on his fastball through the first three innings, going to it for 39 of his first 55 pitches. He shifted away from it to get the next six outs in the fourth and fifth, throwing it just 15 times out of 39 total offerings. Effectively, his slider and curveball saved the day.

Justin Verlander, Bowel Locking 80mph Curveball. 💩 pic.twitter.com/Kl1LydxAGM

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) November 4, 2022

The final line on Verlander: five innings, four hits, one run, four walks and six strikeouts.

That's not going to join, say, any one of his three career no-hitters as one of his best performances. Heck, it's not even his best World Series performance by the numbers.

The sheer grit of it, though, makes it worthy of a place in the general lore of Justin Verlander. He's pushing 40 and he's up over 190 innings after Tommy John surgery cost him basically all of 2020 and 2021. It's therefore hard to fault him for looking gassed throughout the playoffs, up to and including in Game 5.

Yet he got the job done anyway, and it only took everything he had.

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Whither the Phillies Offense?

Let's wind the clock back to Tuesday, at which time the Phillies offense couldn't have been any hotter.

Said offense produced five or more runs in eight of the 14 games that the club had played to that point in the postseason. That day's performance was a culmination of sorts, as the Phillies won a 7-0 rout in Game 3 with the help of a World Series record-tying five home runs.

Since the fifth inning of that game, however, the Phillies have all of seven hits and two runs.

The Phillies largely have themselves to blame for this. After striking out 33 times in the first three games of the series, they've fanned 26 times in the last two. And by the time Segura finally broke through in Game 5, they had gone 20 straight at-bats without a hit with a runner in scoring position:

Phillies are 0 for their last 20 with RISP. Haven't had a hit with runners in scoring position since Game 1.

— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) November 4, 2022

There's more than one Phillies hitter who's just not hitting right now, but much of the blame has to come down on Hoskins and Realmuto.

They haven't been much of a bridge between Schwarber in the leadoff spot and Harper in the cleanup spot, as they're a combined 6-for-42 in the series. Though it should be noted that he was the victim of McCormick's brilliant catch in the ninth inning on Thursday, Realmuto has just one hit in 17 at-bats since he almost single-handedly won Game 1.

The Astros have had to work harder to keep Harper in check, but what they're doing is largely working on the two-time MVP. He has two hits in 12 at-bats since the start of Game 2, largely in the face of a diet of inside heat that was especially pronounced in Game 5:

How the Astros attacked Bryce Harper tonight 😮 pic.twitter.com/cPahxBonhN

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) November 4, 2022

Of course, this approach hints that two things can be true at once: that the Phillies' sudden offensive slump is as much a case of brilliant pitching as bad hitting.

"They have great starting pitching and every guy they bring in out of the 'pen is nasty and has been outstanding throughout the whole postseason," said Hoskins, per Paul Casella of MLB.com. "We're missing some pitches, I'm sure we are. But I think, for the most part, they are making their pitches. It's tough to hit when they are."

Even if he didn't quite follow up the six no-hit innings that Cristian Javier provided for the Astros in Game 4, Verlander obviously did what he had to do to get through five innings in Game 5. And as for Houston's bullpen, its 0.88 ERA for the postseason is very much on-brand with the MLB-best 2.80 ERA it had in the regular season.

To boot, there's a reason that the music that Astros pitchers are playing right now might sound familiar.

You might recall last year's American League Championship Series, in which the Astros fell into a 2-1 hole to a Boston Red Sox squad that outscored them 21-8 in Games 2 and 3. But as hot as Boston's bats were then, they suddenly became ice-cold as Houston's arms permitted just three more runs in the last three games of the series.

It's now the Phillies who seem to be under this same spell, and it's hard to imagine them so much as forcing a Game 7 if they can't find ways to break it.

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What's Next for the Astros and Phillies?

Following an off day for travel on Friday, the World Series will resume for Game 6 at Minute Maid Park on Saturday.

Zack Wheeler will take the ball for Philadelphia, opposing Framber Valdez for Houston. The same two hurlers first squared off in Game 2, wherein Wheeler struggled with his velocity in giving up five runs in five innings while Valdez permitted one run over 6.1 innings.

First pitch is scheduled for 8:03 p.m. ET.

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Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.