4) Blame Phillies pitcher Bailey Falter for falling so far behind the Braves
Deserving of equal blame as Bailey Falter is everyone who thought the rotation would be okay with him in it. Falter is a decent enough sixth starter and maybe bullpen piece to turn to in the same way they’ve been using Jeff Hoffman. Beyond that, he doesn’t belong on a major league roster.
Falter managed to go 0-7 with a 5.13 ERA in his 7 starts and relief appearance. It was a brutal tenure this season for a guy who showed a lot of promise last season. The problems are obvious. The Phillies gave him too much responsibility.
For those curious, Falter has won each of his two starts in Triple-A with an even worse 5.40 ERA. Baseball can be cruel. If Falter was winning games, it wouldn’t have mattered what his ERA was. He’d still be in the majors instead of riding the bus on the farm again.
There is room for Falter to pitch his way back onto the Phillies. By then, will they be too far behind the Braves for it to matter much?
Compared to others on this list, Falter is a much lesser piece. It’s still hard to ignore the losing streak he imposed whenever he stepped on the mound. Partly bad luck but also equally due to his own shortcomings, we wag a finger in his direction.