Phils went from flying to fading
PHILADELPHIA — A surprising first half to this season that was followed by a surge in early August had the Philadelphia Phillies in prime position to reach the playoffs. Then they fell apart. Since completing a four-game sweep of the Miami Marlins on Aug. 5, the Phillies (74-71) have gone 11-23, losing 10 of those series and tying in the other. They went from 1 1/2 games ahead of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East to 7 1/2 games behind with only 17 games to play, and the Washington Nationals were just a halfgame behind the Phillies going into Thursday’s play.
Philadelphia was only one game behind the Cubs for best record in the National League before the tailspin began, but now simply finishing with a winning mark will be a challenge.
First-year manager Gabe Kapler’s positive approach hasn’t wavered, but even he can’t find a way to sugarcoat this collapse.
“There’s no question that we can play better baseball,” Kapler said. “We are more talented and more prepared than the outcomes that we’re getting, the losses we’ve racked up recently.” What happened? “It’s not one thing,” Kapler said. “It’s a collection of many, many things. And to try to boil it down to one thing doesn’t appreciate all the variables.”
Here’s a start: The Phillies can’t hit, can’t protect leads and play poor defense. Entering Thursday’s play, they had the second-worst batting average (.237) in the majors,
were 21st in runs and had the third-most strikeouts.
The bullpen has blown four ninth-inning leads against the Washington Nationals alone, including a three-run lead in the second game of a doubleheader Tuesday night. The defense has committed 105 errors, tied for second-most in the majors.
Kapler, hitting coach John Mallee and assistant hitting coach Pedro Guerrero have preached patience at the plate. Based on their reliance on analytics, they’ve also placed more importance on hitting balls in the air, but most of their hitters are trending downward this season.
Odubel Herrera has a career-high 21 home runs this season but also a career-worst average (.257) and on-base percentage (.313). Cesar Hernandez also has a career high with 11 homers, but his .256 average is a career worst and his on-base percentage is down to .361
from .371 last season. Nick Williams also has more homers (17) than he did as a rookie last season, though in more at-bats, and his average is down from .288 to .256.
Rhys Hoskins (.252, 30 homers, 89 RBIs) has been streaky but overall is the team’s best hitter. Maikel Franco (.268, 22 homers, 67 RBIs) is the only player who has better overall numbers under the new coaching staff, and he’s a player Kapler has tried to bench several times.
Despite the hitting woes, Kapler stands by Mallee and Guerrero.
“Those two are an incredible tandem,” he said. “They have done a tremendous job. I understand why a correlation with recent struggles would bring up questions about all sorts of things, but in this particular case, I think you’re talking about one of the better hitting coaches in John Mallee and a guy who has supported him in Pedro Guerrero
that is off-the-charts good.”
Coming off five straight losing seasons, the Phillies weren’t expected to contend this season. The goal was to have Kapler instill a positive attitude, change the losing culture, develop young talent and find out which players will be part of the nucleus going forward.
The Phillies aren’t ready to start looking ahead to the offseason yet, though. They were seven games behind the Mets with 17 to play in 2007 and came back to win the first of five straight division titles.
This team doesn’t have the stars — such as Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley — that lineup did, but Philadelphia starting pitcher Jake Arrieta, who won the 2016 World Series with the Chicago Cubs, is keeping the white flag stowed.
“It’s not over,” he said, “until we’re eliminated.”