Just when it looked like the Philadelphia Phillies were coming out of their slump last week, they slipped right back into their losing ways with three straight losses to the Arizona Diamondbacks. It's been a sight all too common recently, and things are starting to get dicey at the top of the National League standings.
After their thankfully concluded 4-6 West Coast road trip, the Phillies have a 69-49 record. They still have a commanding lead in the NL East, at 7.0 games over the just-as-horrid Atlanta Braves, but things aren't as rosy in Phillie-land as the division standings would have you think.
Since sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers before the All-Star break, the Phillies are 8-17. On that date, July 11, they held a 6.5-game lead over the Dodgers for the best record in the NL. The NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers sat 7.5 games behind the Phillies.
Now, after a month of mostly dreadful baseball, they have seen their lead evaporate. The Dodgers have overtaken them by 0.5 games for the best record in the NL, while the Brewers are 2.0 games behind.
3 glaring problems the Phillies need to fix before it’s too late
The season isn't over by any means. The division is still theirs to lose, and they're in a great position to make the playoffs for the third straight year. But if the Phillies want the bye through the Wild Card rounds when the postseason rolls around, there are some areas they need to clean up before it's too late.
“We’re not playing our best baseball right now,” Bryce Harper said after Sunday's 12-5 loss, per MLB.com's Patrick Brown. “We just have to keep going, understand we have a long season to go, and we just have to keep playing our game.”
No joke they're not playing their best baseball.
From hitting to pitching, the Phillies have shown some glaring weaknesses over the last month, compared to the first three and half months of the season. Here are some of the biggest problems they've been having that they will need to address in order to pull themselves out of their slump.