Hot and cold Phillies in midst of ugly slump
After getting swept by the lowly Diamondbacks, the team is looking to fix the offense’s poor timing.
The Phillies concluded an embarrassing three-game series against the lowly Arizona Diamondbacks with a 6-2 loss Thursday. It was their fourth straight defeat, including three in a row to the second-worst team in baseball.
One week ago Thursday, the Phillies (61-60) salvaged a sweep to the Dodgers with a 2-1 win. They were five games over the .500 mark and held a half-game lead in the National League East. Although they struggled to produce runs against the defending World Series champs, they had been coming off their best stretch of the season, an eight-game winning streak, and all was still OK in the world.
Those good vibes were ruined following a 1-5 stretch against a playoff contender (Cincinnati) and a bottom feeder (Arizona).
“This is a team you don’t want to get swept by,” said Phils ace Zack Wheeler, who was terrific for six innings but ended up allowing six earned runs in the series finale. “We need to take that personally, go out there and finish off strong.”
The Phillies are in the midst of a season-defining slump and have fallen four games back of the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves, who were idle Thursday. While lack of starting pitching depth combined with a bad bullpen are typically the main sources of accountability when play is lousy, the Phillies’ putrid starting lineup deserves the entire blame for their most recent woes.
It’s evident that manager Joe
Girardi hasn’t found the right balance in his starting nine, which is desperately missing one key piece in first baseman Rhys Hoskins, who is on the 10day injured list with a groin strain. He hasn’t played since Aug. 5 when the Phillies completed a sweep over the Washington Nationals. Since Hoskins’ last game, the offense has collapsed.
Girardi said the team’s offensive woes can be attributed to poor timing.
“I just see a lot of guys who are off,” he said. “I guess if you would say the common theme, it might be a little bit timing … because we’re not squaring balls up. Sometimes it can be that you’re swinging out of the zone a lot, but I don’t necessarily see us doing that a ton. Our timing is off, for whatever reason. It’s hard to figure out, but we’ll keep working at it.”
Prior to Thursday, the Phillies ranked among the worst offenses in MLB during an 11-game stretch without Hoskins. The numbers tell the story: 30th in average. (.192), 29th in runs scored (31), 28th in on-base percentage (.271), 28th in wRC+ (weighted runs created plus, 54) and 24th in slugging percentage (.361). In three games against the 41-81 Diamondbacks, the Phils produced just six runs on 14 hits in 27 innings.
While Bryce Harper was limited to one hit in the series (his 22nd home run Tuesday), he hasn’t been the problem. The finger-pointing should be directed toward Andrew McCutchen, slashing .115/.179/.231 since coming off the injured list Aug. 11, and J.T. Realmuto (.152/.222/.333 since Aug. 6), who have failed to carry their weight after Hoskins landed on the IL.
“As a group we’re just trying to do too much up there and are putting ourselves in holes and not getting the job done. When that happens, it’s kind of like a domino effect and spreads to your teammates,” Realmuto said. “I’m not feeling very good, obviously. Just not seeing the ball as well as I usually do. Mechanically, I’m not sure if there’s something going on or not, but I’ve just got to keep working in the cage, keep doing the things to try to figure it out and get better.”
Regarding the potential of Hoskins’ return Friday night in San Diego, all Girardi said was, “we’ll see.”
Right hander Zach Eflin is set to begin a minor league rehab assignment Saturday with Double-A Reading. He has been on the 10-day injured list since July 20 (retroactive to July 17) with tendinitis in his right knee.
Newly acquired Freddy Galvis hasn’t played since he was with the Baltimore Orioles in late-June, but could be nearing his anticipated return to Philly. The infielder is eligible to be activated Aug. 24. Galvis homered Thursday for Lehigh Valley.
The Phillies are off to San Diego for a three-game set with the Padres (67-56), who hold the second wild card spot in the National League. The Friars hold a 1.5-game lead over Cincinnati and a five-game advantage over the Phillies.