Dave Dombrowski admits Phillies are “not happy”
On paper, the Philadelphia Phillies are a team built to win.
On the field, they’re a second-place team with a below-.500 record, once again displaying some of the highest highs and lowest lows, depending on which game you’re watching.
Not even two months into the season, the Phillies have already been the victims of a (combined) no-hitter and five shutouts. In classic middle-of-the-road fashion, their longest winning and losing streaks have each been four games. The last time they had a winning record was April 12, when they were 3-2; their last day with an even record was May 14, when they were 17-17.
Unsurprisingly, the mood within the organization isn’t overwhelmingly positive. It must be frustrating to assemble a super-lineup and then watch them repeat the same old mediocrity, knowing that the team should be better than it is.
Ahead of the series against their division-rival Atlanta Braves, Dave Dombrowski, their president of baseball operations who convinced ownership to exceed the luxury tax threshold to build said super-lineup, made his feelings clear:
"“We need to play better.We’re not happy with our record at this point. That can get better. But I think we have a good ballclub. I think we realize that. There’s a lot of good things, but we also need to play better.“You don’t want to fall too far behind. We’re already eight games behind. That’s not good. It’s not insurmountable by any means. But I do think we have to go out there and play consistently well.We have to play better. We need to have a better record. We’re not a below .500 team. We should not be a below .500 team.”"
There’s nothing particularly bold or surprising in Dombrowski’s comments. After years of Phillies teams that should be better than they are, saying so is par for the course.
The question is, how to not be a below-.500 team? In theory, the roster Dombrowski constructed during the offseason and spring training should have been a resounding answer, and yet here they are, inconsistent and underperforming once again.
What will finally be the difference-maker for this club?