PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — It has been only two days, but it is hard to accept that the Phillies season is over. And the fans who now hang up their jerseys and gear after the team’s devastating NLCS Game 7 loss against the Diamondbacks will probably feel the sting for a while. Team leadership convened an end-of-season press conference to talk about the future of the team.
The atmosphere at Citizens Bank Park, empty and silent, was 180 degrees different from the scene just 48 hours prior, when tens of thousands dreamed out loud of a World Series run for the Phillies.
The Phils lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-2 on Tuesday, officially ending their season after a strong start to the NLCS.
Addressing the media, Manager Rob Thomson said he didn’t expect the Phillies to be where they are now, and he admitted it’s been difficult.
“At some point, we have to turn the page and get going on to next year, and we’ve done a little bit of that so far. But it’s disappointing.”
Thomson says the loss will be a motivator. A lot can happen between now and spring training.
“The one thing we are now that we weren’t last year … now we are the hunted. Last year we were the hunter. So now we have to take that mindset that nobody is going to lay down for us.”
When asked about pinpointing what happened, President of Baseball Operations David Dombrowski said he thinks it became a different series after the Phillies played on Arizona's home turf.
Thomson said he’s proud of the team for getting this far two years in a row. To the team, he said, he offered this message: “Basically it was just that they have nothing to be ashamed of — because they played hard. You can point out all of the mistakes that people made, but they played hard.”
Pitcher Aaron Nola’s future is still a bit unclear now that he’s reached the end of his contract with the Phil’s.
Dombrowski told reporters they want to pursue Nola: “We would like to sign him, and we’ll be aggressive in trying to make that happen. But if not, hey, I respect the players’ ability to test free agency and get whatever dollars they possibly can.”
On the subject of contracts, when asked if he’d want to manage the team beyond the end of the 2024 season, Thomson said absolutely: “Believe me, I love this city and this organization and this team. I have never had as much fun in my life as I have in the last couple of years.”