3 Phillies players that have been major disappointments this season
The Phillies have needed more from these players all season long
The Philadelphia Phillies have a 69-58 record on the season and hold sole posession of the first Wild Card spot. If you told me the Phillies would have the first Wild Card spot on August 24th I would've believed you, but if you told me they'd be 13.5 games back of first place with virtually no shot of catching Atlanta, I would've told you you're crazy.
The reigning NL Champs have been good for much of the 2023 season, but another slow start and some disappointing performances cemented themselves as a likely four-seed in the NL. They proved last year that they can still find a way to win as long as they get in, but we would've liked to see this team play more good baseball over the course of the season.
Had the Phillies gotten the performances they expected out of these four players, maybe the team wouldn't be out of the division race in August.
1) Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola has been a major disappointment this season
If you're thinking about disappointing Phillies, Aaron Nola has to be at the top of the list. This guy entered the season as one of the best pitchers in baseball, finishing in the top seven of the NL Cy Young race for the third time in five seasons. Nola had a 3.25 ERA in 32 starts and 205 innings pitched last year. That helped him earn fourth place in the NL Cy Young balloting. He's gone from being Zack Wheeler's co-ace to being a guy fans question should even be in the postseason rotation.
Through 26 starts this season, Nola has a 4.49 ERA in 160.1 innings pitched. Nola is still the innings eater he's always been, and him taking the ball every fifth day regardless of how he's performing is certainly helpful, but this kind of performance from a guy who was seen as one of the best pitchers in baseball entering the year has been so disappointing to witness.
Nola's numbers are down across the board. His walk rate has shot up from 3.6% to 6.1%. His strikeout rate is down to 25.2% from 29.1%. Most alarmingly, his home run rate has spiked from 2.4% to 4.4%. Nola allowed just 19 home runs all of last season and had never allowed more than 27 in a single season before. He's allowed a career-high and league-leading 29 this season and August isn't even over.
I don't really know how to explain the downfall of the 30-year-old. Is it the pitch clock? Is it the pressure of being a free agent this coming offseason? Is it the pressure of pitching for a team expected to win each time he takes the mound? Whatever it is, the Phillies hope he can kick it in gear for the final month of the season heading into October.
2) Phillies shortstop Trea Turner has been a major disappointment this season
Like Nola, it's been good to see Trea Turner take the field each and every day no matter how well or poorly he's playing. Turner has appeared in 125 of Philadelphia's 127 games and he leads the National League with 519 at-bats. Unfortunately, bragging about Turner's availability isn't what the team expected when they gave him a contract worth $300 million.
Turner has failed spectacularly to come close to living up to the massive deal he signed this past offseason. He's slashing .250/.303/.405 with 15 home runs and 49 RBI on the year. The power has been decent, and he's stolen 22 bags without being caught, but Trea Turner having a lower OPS than players like Edmundo Sosa and Jake Cave wasn't something anyone could've expected.
The 30-year-old is tied for tenth with 2.0 fWAR among all qualified shortstops and is 13th among the 20 qualified shortstops with an 89 WRC+ on the year. I know he's been better since getting the ovation, but it's been a disaster in year one.
Fortunately, Turner's hot streak of late and the fact that this is just year one of 11 for him in Philadelphia bring some sort of optimism that he will continue to inch closer to the player fans expected, but let's not sugarcoat anything. The signing looks awful right now.
3) Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto has been a major disappointment this season
Has J.T. Realmuto been bad this season? No. Has J.T. Realmuto lived up to the lofty expectations he had entering the year as one of, if not the best catcher in baseball? Absolutely not.
This season, Realmuto is slashing .250/.310/.454 with 15 home runs and 50 RBI. His .764 OPS isn't bad, especially for a catcher. He is, however, having his worst offensive season in a very long time.
Realmuto has a 101 WRC+ this season. He's been just a tick above average, and that's his worst mark since the 2015 season. It's been nearly a decade since he's hit at practically a league average level. He's striking out more than he ever has, he's walking less, and he's even getting a bit lucky thanks to a .312 BAbip.
Last season, Realmuto's absurd second half helped him finish seventh in the NL MVP balloting. He's gone from an MVP-caliber player to merely an average one.
When Realmuto's bat has struggled in the past, his defense has always been something he could hang his hat on. Even that's taken a step back this season. He's been worth -3 DRS (11 last season) and is in the 35th percentile in pitch framing (61st percentile last season). He went from winning the Gold Glove last season to a catcher who I'd argue has been below-average defensively.
Realmuto trails players like Freddy Fermin and Gary Sanchez with his 1.3 fWAR. He's behind Danny Jansen with his 101 WRC+. Again, this is a three-time all-star we're talking about here. He is 32 and always has a heavy workload which is tough for a catcher, but the Phillies have expected and need more from their backstop.
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