After the Philadelphia Phillies were swept by the New York Mets on Thursday afternoon the club’s record fell to 25-31. They have lost four straight games and have a -45-run differential. The Atlanta Braves now have an eight-game lead over the Phillies in the NL East.
Are the Phillies really as bad as they have looked through the first 56 games of the season? It is tough to say at this point, but things have certainly not been trending in the right direction.
Injury concerns
Injuries are not an excuse for the Phillies, but they have played a role in the dreadful start to the season. Losing starting first baseman Rhys Hoskins for the season before they even played a real game was a gut punch to a lineup that was already going to be without Bryce Harper for the first few months.
The pitching sustained some notable injuries as well as no. 1 prospect Andrew Painter was shut down after throwing just two innings in spring training. There is still no definitive timetable for his return. Ranger Suárez was also placed on the injured list prior to the season starting and he missed the first month and a half.
In-season injuries have occurred too. José Alvarado— who was having a fantastic start to the season— was sidelined and is nearing a return should his rehab appearances go well. On Thursday Alec Bohm was placed on the injured list with a hamstring injury.
While they are really only losing Hoskins for the season, the team has had to overcome a slew of injuries to start the campaign. It is tough to get on a roll while missing key pieces to a lineup, rotation, or bullpen.
There is a lack of starting pitching depth
It seems that every loss can either be blamed on the starting pitcher, or the lack of offense to support the starting pitcher. As of Thursday, the Phillies’ starting pitchers have a 5.01 ERA— good for 25th in baseball. No Major League team can be successful giving up that many runs.
The rotation has struggled. Aaron Nola has been inconsistent, Taijuan Walker is pitching much worse than the Phillies expected when they signed him to a four year $72 million deal, and Suárez had been shaking off the rust in his first three starts back from the injured list. Zack Wheeler is really the only starter who seems to have begun to turn around and pitch to expectations.
Notice that only four starters were mentioned? Well, that is because the Phillies are in the precarious position of having no idea who will be their fifth starter. Will they throw a bullpen game every fifth day? Will a minor league depth piece be called up to take the mound? No one knows! Not even the Phillies.
The issues in the rotation must be addressed if the Phillies want to start gaining ground in the standings. The problem is no one knows how to address the issues. It is too early for most teams to trade pitching depth— most teams do not have it anyway. The pitchers in the minors are either not ready and are developing prospects or have not looked good in Triple-A. As of now, unless Dave Dombrowski can work some magic, there is no real solution to this problem.
The offense has been lackluster
“Lackluster” may be putting it nicely. The offense has flat out stunk to begin the season. The Phillies had hot starts from Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh, and Bohm. Bryce Harper has been good since he returned from injury and Nick Castellanos has looked good for most of the season.
The Phillies have scored 230 runs this season. They are 24th in MLB in the category. To put that in perspective, the Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals, Chicago White Sox, and Colorado Rockies have all scored more than the Phillies. Yes, the Rockies play at Coors Field and the Pirates started the season hot, but they are not good teams. The Phillies have a $244 million payroll, they should be scoring more than these teams.
There is a distinct lack of energy from the offense. No one seems to care when they strike out on a pitch outside of the zone or when they pop up to the shortstop on the first pitch of an at-bat. The hitters likely have no confidence, and it is frustrating for them to be performing poorly. At some point, though, someone has to wake up. The lineup has to hit with runners on base. Someone other than Kyle Schwarber needs to hit home runs.
Can the season be salvaged?
Absolutely. This team has too many good players to perform this poorly all season. These players know they are good. They are in a bad spot right now, but a hot streak or two in June, July, or August can turn this whole ship around and give fans the summer that they had hoped for— maybe even the fall they had hoped for.
Urgency is key at this point though. The Phillies cannot go through June and perform like they did in May or else that mid-August hot streak will not matter because they will be too far out of the playoff race. The Phillies can be a good team, the question becomes will they show a sense of urgency and heat up before it is too late.
