This season has seen so many positive developments for the Philadelphia Phillies. They charged out of the gate, determined to dominate the division. Pitching was dominating in every direction, the bats were white hot and showed no signs of slowing down, and it never seemed to stop.
Then everything came to a stop. The Phillies are 20-21 in their previous 41 games after losing 14-4 to the New York Yankees to open the series on Monday night. Since returning from London, the bats haven’t hit, the pitchers haven’t gotten outs, and they can’t seem to get out of their own way.
Bryce Harper puts struggling Phillies superstars on notice.
On Sunday, the Phillies lost their fourth consecutive series, dating back to July 14. The Cleveland Guardians, the top team in the American League, arrived to town, took the Phillies’ best punches, and returned the kind.
“It just hasn’t been good,” first baseman Bryce Harper said following Sunday’s loss, according to MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. “Obviously, I haven’t done well at all. It’s simply part of the game. You will undoubtedly experience ups and downs throughout the season. We had chances to win games. We’ve held leads in games. We have not been able to finish the project.”
Harper understands that the core group must take it on as a whole and serve as the foundation for additional recruits. The struggle has been real, with Trea Turner going 1-for-17 in his previous 17 games and Bryce Harper going 1-for-20 in his last 20 — not the kind of stretch you want to see from your stars.
“Yeah, the superstars got to show up,” Harper said.
More Phillies stars discuss challenges following Monday’s loss.
Harper is not alone in this thought. The team’s stars understand that they must keep up the pace in order to maintain their position as division leaders. The clubhouse remains optimistic that they will recover and resume their winning ways.
Following Monday’s disheartening loss to the Yankees, losing starter Zack Wheeler discussed the team’s present condition.
“We’ll go through these stretches throughout the season,” Wheeler told Zolecki. “We do not like it. The fans dislike it. Nobody likes it. But that’s part of the game. It is a long season. “We’ll figure it out and get back to winning the series.”
Outfielder Nick Castellanos, one of the few Phillies players who has been hitting despite the team’s skid, shared his thoughts.
“Every team goes through ups and downs over the course of a season,” Castellanos told Zolecki. “I’m not sure, but I feel like the energy in the clubhouse has changed since the Dodgers series.” I’m not sure why, but it has felt different.
The MLB trade deadline is fast approaching: Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. ET. Dave Dombrowski, the Phillies’ president of baseball operations, may have another trick up his sleeve, but nothing is guaranteed.
Fans may run out of patience soon, but keep firm in thinking that this team still has the resilience to recover and ultimately kick it.
