NXT Orion Kerkering’s shocking blunder ends disappointing NLDS for Phillies: ‘Just a horses–t throw’
LOS ANGELES — Catcher J.T. Realmuto stood in the lefty batter’s box and extended his right arm toward first. With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 11th, reliever Orion Kerkering had plenty of time to toss a comebacker from Dodgers nine-hole hitter Andy Pages into Bryce Harper’s mitt and extend this tightrope walk of a Game 4 into another inning, even after the ball went under his glove and hit his foot.
But in the scramble of it all, Kerkering was overwhelmed. He rushed after fumbling the 69.5 mph tapper. He picked up the ball and fired it off-balance toward home in an attempt to get the final out at the plate. It sailed over Realmuto’s head and rolled to the backstop.
Just like that, another season, another National League Division Series, another postseason run cut off much sooner than the Phillies expected. This one stung after the 2-1, extra-inning loss to Los Angeles on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium.
“I wouldn’t say the pressure got to me,” an emotional Kerkering said from the visitors’ clubhouse. “Just thought it was a faster throw to J.T., a little quicker throw than trying to cross-body it to Bryce. Just a horseshit throw.”
After rising back up the trust rankings of manager Rob Thomson following an inconsistent season, Kerkering entered in the 11th with runners on first and third in a tie game. Max Muncy moved to second base, then Kerkering walked Enrique Hernández. The situation was tense, but the right-hander needed just one pitch to escape. On an 0-1 count against the righty-hitting Pages, Kerkering made it. Pages softly hit the 96.2 mph fastball back to the mound.
Kerkering just couldn’t complete the play. As the Dodgers celebrated a stunning walk-off victory, Kerkering hunched over with his hands on his knees. Thomson comforted him as he walked into the first-base dugout. Teammates hugged him and provided words of encouragement. The Phillies wanted to let Kerkering know they had his back.
“Just keep his head up,” Thomson said. “He just got caught up in the moment a little bit. Coming down the stretch there, he pitched so well for us. I feel for him because he’s putting it all on his shoulders. But we win as a team and we lose as a team.”
Nick Castellanos made sure to rush up to Kerkering and comfort him after the end of the game, because the right fielder remembered what it was like when he made the last out of the 2022 World Series, which now feels like a lifetime ago. First-base coach Paco Figueroa waited for Castellanos on the field and let him know it was going to be OK. Castellanos wanted to do the same for his younger teammate.
“I just told him to keep his head up and I wanted to be next to him while he walked off the field,” Castellanos said, “just so you know that he’s not alone in that moment.”
Kerkering botched the single play that will rerun the longest, but he was not solely responsible for Philadelphia’s loss. The team scratched across just one run on a Castellanos double in the top of the seventh. Phillies pitching had next to no wiggle room, and it delivered for 10-plus innings.
After the Phillies scored, starter Cristopher Sánchez allowed two baserunners in the bottom of the seventh, and he was pulled in favor of closer Jhoan Duran with one out. The hard-throwing righty went on to walk in a runner after the Phillies put Shohei Ohtani on first intentionally to load the bases for Mookie Betts.
Philadelphia’s pitchers battled from there. Left-hander Matt Strahm threw a scoreless ninth, and starter Jesús Luzardo, who had been lined up to start a potential Game 5, took over in extra innings in this do-or-die matchup. He came out of the bullpen firing with a scoreless 10th, but he let up hits to Tommy Edman, who was replaced by pinch runner Hyeseong Kim, and Muncy. It was Kerkering’s mess to clean up. He nearly got it done.
“Heart-breaking loss,” Luzardo said, “after a long season, that it comes down to that. But at the end of the day, Kerk’s a hell of a pitcher and a great kid as well. You can’t put the blame on him. And obviously my heart breaks for him because I know how much it hurts. I think the loss was the tough part. But the way we lost, you can’t put the blame on one specific guy. So it just sucks that this was the outcome.”
Kerkering, 24, had a 3.30 ERA in 69 appearances this regular season. Billed as a future closer when he rose from Single-A all the way to the major leagues in 2023, he’s been a productive reliever that hasn’t quite fulfilled all the promise. He hasn’t been great when inheriting runners. He hasn’t always seized the biggest spots. There’s not a better example of those struggles than what happened at the end of Game 4.
Like this 96-win Phillies club that just fell in the NLDS for the second year in a row, Kerkering will take a look in the mirror this offseason and try to figure out how to move past this disappointment. He said he’ll practice fielding on “a wall with a tennis ball, for sure.” It’s going to be a tough one to swallow.
“This really fucking sucks right now,” Kerkering said, “but hopefully keep pushing and get over this hump. Keep pushing.”
