There is no more helpless a feeling as a sports fan than to watch your team struggle, especially when your team had been so unbelievably good for so much of the previous three months. The Phils’ recent string of futility simply doesn’t compute with what we saw before the All Star Break, which culminated in a sweep of the Dodgers in a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park.
And yet, here we are.
After another disappointing loss last night, this time a 5-4 defeat at the hands of the Dodgers in L.A., the Phils are now just a ½-game up on Los Angeles for the best record in the National League, which is important because overall record will determine home field advantage in the postseason.
Not only that, their lead over Atlanta in the division is just 5½ games, and just 7 over the hard-charging Mets. If the Phillies can’t figure things out quickly, they could be in for a real struggle down the stretch.
Watching the Phillies right now is a special kind of sports torture. Despite their struggles, no team is in a better position than the Phils and because each game matters so much, you have to keep watching. It’s not like being a White Sox fan, a team that has lost 21 games in a row heading into Tuesday, where you can tune them out and forget the team exists.
There is no earthly reason why the team should be struggling like this, but they are, and there’s nothing we can do but watch each and every agonizing late-night defeat, hoping and praying the Phillies will remember what it’s like to pitch and hit consistently at the same time once again.
Here are five stats that tell the tale of this recent string of losing by this team that, on paper, remains MLB’s best.
7 straight series-opening losses
Going back to the Oakland A’s series June 12, the Phillies have lost the first game of every series since, seven in a row.
- 6-2 to Oakland
- 8-7 to Pittsburgh
- 7-2 to Minnesota
- 3-1 to Cleveland
- 14-4 to the Yankees
- 10-2 to Seattle
- 5-3 to the Dodgers
They’ve been outscored 53-21 in these opening games. It is very difficult to win a three-game series when you have to rally and win the final two games every single time.
1.39
That’s the gap between the ERA of the Phillies pitching staff from the first half, when it was 3.42, second-lowest in baseball, to 4.81 here in the second half, eighth-worst.
Much of this difference is due to the bullpen, which has struggled mightily since the All Star Game, with a 5.37 ERA that is 25th out of 30 teams. They are walking 4.39 batters per nine innings in the second half, way more than the 3.03 from the first, which was fifth-best. They’ve also been way worse at stranding runners in the second half, stranding just 65.8% of runners, tied for 24th, as compared to a 71.2% strand rate in the first, 13th-best.
In short, more walks, more homers allowed and fewer runners stranded means a higher ERA. And more losses.
10-for-64
That is how many hits and at-bats Trea Turner has had over his last 15 games, dating back to July 19. In 64 at-bats, just 10 hits, good for a batting average of .156, an on-base percentage of .217 and a slugging percentage of .266.
Those numbers are all super bad, and it’s staggering to see after Turner had put up a .349 batting average, .395 on-base percentage and .546 slugging percentage through the first half.
He has struck out 17 times in 15 games after whiffing just 47 times in his first 57 games. Bryce Harper’s slump got most of the attention, and with good reason, but Turner’s slump has been just as bad and shows no signs of ending anytime soon.
Maybe we need another ovation.
4-5 when scoring first
When you score first in a game, you give yourself a great chance to win. In the first half of the season, the Phillies went 45-15 when they scored the first run of the game. After taking a 2-0 lead last night in the second inning, Aaron Nola gave up four runs in the third on the way to a 5-3 defeat. On Saturday night in Seattle, the Phils jumped on top 5-0 early but watched Jeff Hoffman give up four runs in the sixth inning in a 6-5 loss.
Since the All Star Game, the Phillies are 4-5 when scoring first. The starting pitching in April, May and June did a much better job protecting leads, and the bullpen had far fewer meltdowns as well. Momentum remains elusive.
Shutouts
Here’s the craziest one of all. The Phillies are 4-12 in the second half. Here are their four wins.
- 6-0 over the Pirates on July 21
- 3-0 over the Twins on July 23
- 8-0 over the Guardians on July 27
- 6-0 over the Mariners on Sunday
Notice that? In games in which their opponent scores a single run or more, the Phillies are 0-12. Their only four wins have come when their opponent has been shut out.
I don’t know what to do with this information other than to present it to you as perhaps proof that the baseball angels are angry with the Phillies for some reason.
