The Phillies are running out of answers.
There’s no other way to slice it. What they are going through is almost unprecedented.
That’s not a word that they used after a disappointing 3-2 loss the Atlanta Braves on Thursday, but maybe it’s better than the ones they are.
Instead, they used words like “weird” to describe their struggles – as if it doesn’t make sense that it keeps happening. But when something keeps happening for more than a month, it’s no longer just something weird, and you have to get past that notion that it’s the baseball universe playing some tricks.
They say it should be coming easier than it has, which is maybe an indicator of a bad approach – because if it’s not as easy as you think it should be, then you’re doing something wrong – either in your head or physically.
They say they have to keep willing themselves to the finish line, but those are words that sound like a team that is not enjoying its process right now and just wants everything to end – at least as far as the regular season is concerned.
Maybe when you are in the thick of it, you can’t see what the people on the outside see, and you offer up answers that don’t justify what everyone is seeing.
Because, the words keep coming, the notion that it’s not yet time to panic keeps getting intimated, but the wick is really, really short now.
How else do you explain the entire Braves series?
They scored a total of six runs in the three- game series. They hit .146 as a team. They struck out 32 times.
And what makes it even worse is that this is how they performed in a series that they earmarked as a huge one.
“It’s kind of weird that we’re all struggling at the same time,” Trea Turner told reporters after the game. “Normally, when you have a good lineup, some guys (struggle) here or there. It’s kind of weird that a lot of us are there.”
Is it though?
Other than Alec Bohm, there’s not a consistent hitter in the lineup this season. Guys have been either been prone to prolonged slumps and need big pushes to keep their numbers up (Read: The top three guys in the lineup), have endured incredibly long stretches of poor hitting and have had to methodically rebound to respectability (Nick Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto) or have been disappointing altogether (Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh).
Against the Braves alone, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper were a combined 2-for-33 (.061) and struck out 14 times.
This series was evidence that it’s really hard to win games without those guys hitting.
Marsh struck out in all three of his at bats Thursday. Since the All-Star break he has struck out 37 times in 84 at bats. That’s 44% of the time.
Bohm had the game off, but Castellanos, Realmuto, and Weston Wilson, all of whom have been hitting well recently, went a combined 1-for-10 Thursday.
The numbers are uglier and uglier the more you look at them.
Something’s got to change, and soon. Hitting coach Kevin Long has a reputation for being one of the best in the game at his job. This is proving to be his most difficult challenge yet – as a team of high-priced sluggers has basically gone in the tank.
The Phillies head to Kansas City to play a Royals team who plays a lot like the Arizona Diamondbacks – and they are going to be relying on Taijuan Walker, Ranger Suarez’s first start in a month, and possibly a spot start or bullpen game.
That doesn’t spew confidence.
That said, the one thing the Phillies could take out of Thursday’s game that was a positive was some more good pitching, which has started to present itself with more regularity - minus the exploits of Jose Alvarado on Tuesday.
Cristopher Sanchez (9-9) wasn’t great, but he kept the Phillies in the game, allowing just three runs in six innings. It should be reiterated that pitching with the pressure of not being able to afford any mistakes because the offense looks like it’s trying to separate grains of salt from a pile while wearing boxing gloves is a difficult thing to do. Their starters have been facing a lot of high stress innings because of that – so the fact that they have been able to keep them in games is a feather in their cap.
Then, the bullpen was solid again. Tanner Banks and Jose Ruiz combined for two shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out three.
Ruiz has been especially solid for the Phillies and is becoming a guy who could see more of a role in the final month. In his last 11 appearances, Ruiz has not allowed a run has yielded just three hits and has 15 strikeouts in 9 2/3 innings.
These are important positives for a team that is bereft of them at the moment, because when it comes down to October, it’s all about pitching.
Still, the Phillies won’t last long in the postseason if they don’t find some new answers on offense.
ON DECK
RHP Taijuan Walker (3-4, 5.69) takes the hill for the Phillies in the start of a three-game series in Kansas City. RHP Michael Wacha (10-6, 3.33) throws for the Royals.
