That's one indicator, I gave another. One that is an actual comparison between the two teams. I'd love to hang banner #9, but the NCAA is a small sample size. The Phillies have beaten the Braves in the playoffs the past two years, but you'd be hard pressed to find many people who would say the Phillies are killing the Braves. As much as people want to think you can time when a team gets hot, there is a degree of luck involved, be it play itself, status of injuries, any number of factors. Not having Sanderson available in 2022 or Pyke this year wasn't a bad coaching decision, just a reality of the game. You can talk about "next man up" all you want, but subtracting key players is going to hurt, just the way things are.