Philadelphia Phillies Players Discuss 'Sickening' End to Season

The Philadelphia Phillies are in the same situation that they were last year when they lost. Another frustrating end to their season has the players reflecting on what took place.

It feels like Groundhogs Day for the Philadelphia Phillies.

The players were once again sitting around the locker room discussing a devastating end to their season.

This time, the loss took place before making it to the World Series.

The harsh reality of a long year suddenly coming to an end is difficult to process. Losing in the NLCS with this caliber of roster is not something that the Phillies thought they would have to deal with.

"It felt just as sickening last year as it does this year. We were two wins away last year. This year, we were five wins away. It will never feel right. It never does. It never will," slugger Kyle Schwarber said after the loss.

Ultimately, much of the issues that ended Philadelphia's season was by their own doing.

After being up 2-0 and then 3-2, they couldn't close things out.

"It's pretty jarring. It's never fun to lose, ever, especially when I feel like we were playing a really good brand of baseball at the start of the series. Things just took a turn," J.T. Realmuto said.

Things definitely took a turn.

Nick Castellanos was 0-23 after his Game 1 home run. Bryce Harper went 2-16 over the final five games. Trea Turner was 2-19 in Games 3-7.

That's not good enough to get things done and they know it.

"Just not being able to come through in that moment just devastates me personally. I feel like I let my team down and let the city of Philadelphia down as well. That’s a moment I feel like I need to come through," Harper said after the loss.

After dominating the NLDS round, Castellanos once again came up small in the postseason when it mattered most.

"I think that I felt great until going to Arizona, and then I felt like I was grinding to see the ball and see pitches," he said. "It's terrible. It's a terrible feeling to just be locked in and in a zone then have it fade away at the wrong time."

It's the same conversations from the locker room that lost in the same frustrating fashion the year prior.

Winning in baseball is hard.

It's even harder getting back to situations year after year that puts them in positions to win a World Series.

That's why this loss is so hard to deal with.

It feels like they squandered two chances at a championship that might never come again.