Phillies fans felt nearly every emotion possible at one point or another throughout the course of the 2021 season, but they ended on the most familiar one throughout the last decade —  disappointment. 

In one of the biggest roller coaster seasons imaginable, this squad managed to provide Philadelphia fans with one of the most entertaining teams in recent history as well as one of the most frustrating. All season, Philly remained in the playoff hunt, battling it out to win the NL East. Originally, they were competing with the Mets for the top spot, however, it would be the Braves who ultimately punched their ticket to the postseason after a late season 3-0 series sweep against the Phillies. 

Going into the season, there was not too much expectation for this team: while the offense looked solid, it appeared the bullpen would likely hold them back another year until they filled that gap in the roster. Their starting pitchers were not a problem, as the rotation going into the year–headlined by ace Aaron Nola–looked solid. Throughout the course of the year, the rotation would change a couple of times, but one thing remained constant–the domination of Zack Wheeler. While Nola was solid, it was Wheeler who stole the spotlight this year, finishing as a NL Cy Young candidate while leading the league in innings pitched. He also finished second in the league in strikeouts with 247 on the year, trailing only Toronto’s Robbie Ray, who tallied 248. 

Continuing with the theme of surprises in the pitching staff, perhaps the biggest one came from 26-year-old Ranger Suarez, who made his way up the ranks and finished the year as a dominant starting pitcher.

Needing help in their bullpen (as per usual), the Phils called up Ranger on May 6, and he made an instant impact. When longtime closer Hector Neris began to struggle, Suarez was moved to the position, where he continued to flourish. Finally, the Phillies made him a starting pitcher, where his dominance carried over. He finished the year with a ridiculous 1.36 ERA and accumulated 107 strikeouts over 106 innings. This rising star from Venezuela was definitely one of the brightest spots from this season, and he should be a very important piece of this team’s future. 

While the team saw much improvement in members of the pitching rotation as well as the bullpen, another storyline from this year came from a very unlikely source: 5’8 shortstop Ronald Torreyes. With Alec Bohm being a massive disappointment this season as well as injuries plaguing much of the infield all year, the Phillies appeared very short handed. With nowhere else to turn, they plugged Torreyes into the lineup, and his performance straight out of the gate was very impressive.

While he never had an official starting spot, he filled in whenever he was needed and played in 111 games. In that time, he hit .242 and racked up 77 hits along with 41 RBIs. While the stats don’t necessarily jump off the page at you, his ability to come through in big situations helped keep the Phillies alive in the playoff hunt, especially in the months of July and August. Toe instantly became a fan favorite and while he may not be an instrumental part of the team moving forward, he was a highlight of this 2021 Phillies team for sure. 

All of these stories of breakout players and unexpected heroes are great, but there is only one name that comes to mind when the Phillies are mentioned in 2021, and that, of course, is Bryce Harper. What is there to say about the projected NL MVP that has not already been said?

This year, Bryce had one of the best seasons of any player to ever put on a Philadelphia uniform–regardless of their sport. Finishing the year with 35 HRs and 84 RBIs while hitting .309, Harper was nearly perfect in all aspects of the game and made the Phillies a must-watch every night. When the team was at their lowest, Bryce kept hope alive and allowed Philly fans to partially maintain their sanity. While you could rattle off his video game-like numbers for hours, perhaps the most prominent statistic is his league-leading 1.044 OPS (On base + Slugging %). Bryce had a relatively disappointing season last year in what were obviously strange circumstances, but I think it’s safe to say he bounced back alright and reassured Phillies fans that his 13-year, $330 million deal was worth it. 

The season may have just ended, but it’s never a bad time to do something Philadelphia sports fans are great at: looking ahead to next year. While obviously they did not accomplish their goal of making the postseason, the Phils made a very valiant effort, especially when considering all of the obstacles and injuries faced all year. Key players like Zach Eflin, Rhys Hoskins and Didi Gregorious all missed significant time this year, so one aspect of next season that would have to change would be health. Obviously, there is no way to control this, but the team needs as many key players available as possible, especially when it comes to making a late season playoff push. Players like Ronald Torreyes and utility man Brad Miller did step up this year and had solid seasons, but at the end of the day, they aren’t as good as the guys they would be replacing. 

Another very important aspect of this offseason will be improving the bullpen. Every fan reading that just let out a sigh, and that is because it was yet another year of pain late in games, mostly due to the lack of solid relievers and an elite closer. While the Phillies traded for closer Ian Kennedy and had guys like Hector Neris step up late in the year, this aspect of the team is still the clear weak spot, and needs to be improved in order to get over the hump. 

Finally, it wouldn’t hurt if the Phils were to make a splash of some sort this offseason. There were several names floating around the rumor mill this year, but one name that comes to mind is Twins OF Byron Buxton. While his season was cut short due to injury, Buxton is an all star caliber player who appears to be able to be acquired, so if the Phils could put together a solid package, acquiring the speedy Buxton would be a key addition to a potential playoff team next year. 

Right now, it is probably hard for Phillies fans to appreciate the season that was just turned in due to its heartbreaking conclusion, but overall this team showed a lot of heart, resilience and promise for the future. Harper kept the season afloat, but it took a full team effort to even give them a chance at the playoffs this year, and I personally really enjoyed the season for the most part and found it very entertaining. While there are places that could use improvement, this organization has a solid core group of players who could turn in a surprising season next year, and fans should be looking forward to it. For now, fans can enjoy the rest of the playoffs, root against Atlanta and gear up for some more emotional trauma as the Sixers get ready to tip off their season. It can be a rough life as a Philly sports fan, but sometimes you have to look for the positives–even if it takes a microscope sometimes.