Rob Thomson’s response to Phillies looming implosion isn’t close to good enough
Monday night’s series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers was just more of the same for the Philadelphia Phillies. They found another disheartening way to lose, blowing an early 2-0 lead and letting the bottom of the Dodgers’ order beat Aaron Nola in what turned out to be Philadelphia’s 12th loss in their 16 games since the All-Star break.
They once had a commanding lead in the NL East and held the best record in baseball, but at 66-46, their lead has shrunk to 5.5 games in the division, and three teams now have better records than them in the majors.
The Phillies are collapsing at the strangest time. Players like Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and J.T. Realmuto who all missed time in the first half of the season are now healthy. They added Carlos Estevez to fortify their bullpen. Their roster looks as good as any on paper, yet they’ve lost seven of their last eight games, and have found many different ways to lose.
“There’s a lot of weird stuff happening that wasn’t happening at the start of the year and you’ve just got to fight through it,” Thomson said.
Weird stuff? With all due respect, it sounds as if the “weird stuff” is just the team playing poorly.
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Rob Thomson’s response to Phillies struggles is nowhere near good enough
In Thomson’s defense, it’s certainly weird to see a team full of star power play poorly all at the same time, but that appears to be what’s happening.
Bryce Harper, a player who was in the thick of the NL MVP race in the first half, was recently in a 1-for-34 slump with 13 strikeouts. Trea Turner, arguably the best shortstop in the game, is in a 4-for-39 slump. J.T. Realmuto has just eight hits (all singles) in 38 at-bats since being activated off of the IL soon after the All-Star break. That’s just on the hitting side.
When it comes to pitching, things have been arguably just as bad. Jeff Hoffman, a reliever who had allowed five earned runs all season, allowed four runs in one inning on Saturday, allowing the Mariners to rally from what once was a five-run deficit. Jose Alvarado lost his hold on the closer role and has a 6.35 ERA in the second half. Aaron Nola and Cristopher Sanchez both had rough starts in their second half.
These are good to great players who are playing their worst baseball all at the same time. It’s weird that it’s happening all at the same time, but that’s why the Phillies have struggled so mightily.
