So much has gone right for the Philadelphia Phillies this season. They came out of the gate, ready to take a stranglehold on the division. Pitching was dominating every which way, the bats were white hot with no signs of slowing and it never seemed like it would stop.
Then everything came to a halt. With their series-opening 14-4 loss to the New York Yankees Monday night, the Phillies are 20-21 in their last 41 games. The bats can't hit, the pitchers can't get outs and they can't seem to get out of their own way since their return from London.
Bryce Harper puts slumping Phillies superstars on notice
On Sunday, the Phillies dropped their fourth straight series dating back to July 14. The American League-best Cleveland Guardians came to town, took the Phillies' best punches and punched right back.
“It just hasn’t been good,” first baseman Bryce Harper said after Sunday's loss, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. “Obviously, myself, I haven’t been good at all. ... It’s just part of the game. As the season goes, you’re going to have your ups and downs, obviously. We’ve had chances to win games. We’ve had leads in games. We haven’t been able to get the job done.”
Harper knows the core needs to pick it up as a collective and be the backbone for new additions. The struggle has been real, with Trea Turner going 1-for-his-last-17 and Bryce Harper going 1-for-his-last-20 — not the stretch you want to see your stars going through.
"Yeah, the superstars got to show up," Harper said.
"Just got to get better and turn the page."
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) July 28, 2024
Bryce Harper weighs in after the Phillies drop their fourth straight series. pic.twitter.com/d7siPD88h7
More Phillies stars weigh in on struggles after Monday's loss
Harper isn't alone in this thought either. The stars of the team know they need to pick up the pace to remain the division leader. The sentiment remains strong in the clubhouse that they'll snap out of it and get back to winning the way they were before.
After Monday's demoralizing loss to the Yankees, losing starter Zack Wheeler offered his thoughts on the team's current situation.
"We’ll go through these stretches throughout the season," Wheeler said, per Zolecki. "We don’t like it. The fans don’t like it. Nobody likes it. But it’s part of the game. It’s a long season. We’ll figure it out and we’ll get back to winning series.”
Outfielder Nick Castellanos, one of the few Phillies hitters who has actually been hitting over the team's slump, gave his take.
“Every team goes through ups and downs over the course of a season,” Castellanos said, per Zolecki. “I don’t know, I feel like the energy in the clubhouse has been different since the Dodgers series. I don’t know the rhyme or reason, but it has felt different.
The MLB trade deadline is fast approaching, on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. ET. Phillies president of baseball operation Dave Dombrowski may have another trick up his sleeve, but there are no certainties.
Fans may run out of patience soon but remain strong in believing this team still has the resilience to bounce back and finally kick it into another gear before they stall out.