In April and May, the Phillies ran up a 40-18 record in part because of a schedule that featured a number of teams that were either struggling at the time the Phils played them or teams that simply weren’t very good.
They did their job. They beat the pants off the also-rans and, when they did get a winning team, they crushed them, too. Out of their first 63 games this season, 36 of them were at home, with just 27 on the road.
Since the All Star break, the road got much, much tougher. Until last night, they have not faced a single team that didn’t have a winning record when the Phillies played them (series result in parentheses).
- 3 games @ the Pirates (1-2)
- 3 games @ the Twins (1-2)
- 3 home games vs the Guardians (1-2)
- 3 home games vs. the Yankees (0-3)
- 3 games @ the Mariners (1-2)
- 3 games @ the Dodgers (2-1)
- 4 games @ the Diamondbacks (1-3)
If the season ended today, only the Pirates would miss the postseason, and they’re still in the wild card hunt. That’s 22 games against teams with winning records, 16 of them on the road, six series losses and a 7-12 record.
Frankly, it doesn’t feel like the Phillies have won seven games over the last three weeks, but numbers don’t lie.
That’s about as brutal a string of games a team can face. Sure, the Phillies are playing awful baseball right now and there are a multitude of reasons why.
Zack Wheeler is the only starter with an ERA under 4.00 since July 1. Trea Turner, Brandon Marsh, Bryson Stott, and J.T. Realmuto, have all forgotten how to hit. Trade deadline acquisition Carlos Estevez is the only reliever you can really trust right now. Manager Rob Thomson has been slow to change things up, despite the mounting defeats.
But the schedule is absolutely a factor, too, although one should reasonably expect the so-called “best team in baseball” to at least go .500 during a grueling slog like that.
This week, the schedule lightens up on the Phillies. They welcome the last place 44-75 Miami Marlins to Citizens Bank Park for a quick two-game series (though, ugh, Miami won the opener, 5-0, last night), then host the 54-65 Washington Nationals for four games beginning Thursday. It’s also Alumni Weekend in Philadelphia, so hopefully the vibes will improve.
Does the team need more than just a softer schedule to turn things around? Absolutely, but nothing is automatic with this team right now.
Consider the last time Miami came to Philadelphia was June 27-30 when they split a four-game series with the Phils. They did not play well that weekend, blowing the first game by allowing seven runs in the final three innings.
When you’re playing this poorly, you can lose to anybody, but coming home after an excruciating 10-game West Coast trip has to be a welcome respite. Hopefully this is the week the team hits the reset button that everyone believes will get pressed at some point.
