Rob Thomson and the Philadelphia Phillies remain confident that they will get the train back on the tracks. But there was a real sense of urgency from the manager and one of the clubhouse leaders postgame after a dismal 5-0 loss to a nondescript Miami Marlins team that punted on 2024 before Opening Day.
With Tuesday’s loss, the Phillies are now 7-16 since the All-Star Break. Going back even further, the Phillies are under .500 since the calendar flipped to July, as they now have a 14-21 record over that span.
So what makes the even-keeled manager so confident that after a prolonged stretch of bad baseball, the Phillies will be able to return to the form that made them look like the World Series favorites during the first three months of the season?
“Well, just because we’ve been through this before,” Thomson said. “Maybe not this prolonged, but you look at the numbers on the back of the baseball card, I always bring that up. I believe in this team. They’re resilient, they’re tough, they care. I think we’re — I know we’re gonna turn it around.”
Still, the club might need a spark to get hot again. Are the Phillies forcing Thomson to alter the lineup in some way?
“I’m getting close. I am,” Thomson acknowledged. “But we’ll see tomorrow.”
Exactly what that shake-up would be is unclear. Since playing in the All-Star Game, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper have both struggled. But with J.T. Realmuto, Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh all underwhelming, there isn’t an obvious candidate to take over at the No. 2 spot in the lineup if Turner is moved down and/or given some time off. Maybe Nick Castellanos, who is one of the few Phillies who seems to be hitting better in the second half than the first. As for Harper, it’s difficult to imagine him being moved out of the three hole.
Johan Rojas has put together some better at-bats since Austin Hays went on the injured list, so perhaps he’ll get some runway in center field and Marsh — who has struck out 29 times in 22 games since the All-Star Break — is sat down. Thomson acknowledged postgame that Marsh “needs to make more contact, for sure.” Maybe a few days of Weston Wilson and Cal Stevenson playing in left field will give the Phillies a spark and/or allow Marsh to reset mentally.
As for the clubhouse as a whole, Thomson did say he senses frustration when he speaks with his team leaders, which is to be expected given the slump the Phillies are mired in right now.
Probably the biggest clubhouse leader is DH Kyle Schwarber, who was asked postgame whether the mood of the team right now is more worried or frustrated.
“Not worry, frustration,” Schwarber said. “I think frustration just because we know what we can be and what kind of team we can be. I think worry is the wrong kind of word. If you’re worried about where you’re at, that’s not a good thing to be. And frustration, you can have frustration. That’s a natural thing to happen.
“You feel like you can be going through a skid and everyone will be frustrated,” Schwarber continued. “And that’s when it comes back to us, coming back together as a unit and digging right back into the hole, right? And fighting our way out of it. But that’s what it’s gonna take.”
If there is a lineup shake-up Wednesday, don’t expect it to be at the top. For all the bellyaching about Schwarber leading off, he’s having his best season as a Phillie yet. He’s continued to hit for power, as evidenced by his three-home run game in Los Angeles last week. On top of that, though, he’s hitting .254, a pretty massive spike over the .207 he hit between his first two seasons with the Phillies. Schwarber also leads the NL with 86 walks.
Make no mistake, though, the Phillies need to heat up again as an offense around Schwarber. Harper and Turner have struggled mightily since the All-Star Game. Castellanos disappointed in the first half. Bryson Stott has underwhelmed almost all season offensively. And Marsh has been a strikeout machine of late.
Unlike the last two seasons, the Phillies had a bit of a cushion to play with by virtue of their 55-29 start. But while neither the Atlanta Braves or New York Mets seem equipped right now to snatch the NL East lead from the Phillies, the Dodgers have usurped them for the No. 1 seed in the senior circuit, with the Brewers, Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres not far behind for the second spot.
Both to get a first-round bye and to have any sort of momentum heading into the postseason, the Phillies need to have a tear again prior to the playoffs. Schwarber is confident that hot streak isn’t far away based on how the Phillies overcame sluggish starts in each of the last two seasons.
“We’ve done this before,” Schwarber said. “I think that’s the thing to go back on is that we’ve gone through similar things in the past, and we found our way to come out on the other side. And that’s what we’re gonna have to be able to do is come together.”
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