Teams in MLB have their peaks and valleys, ups and downs, whatever variation of explaining the long baseball season you use. What comes with a long season is the schedule's ability to humble a club at any point. The Philadelphia Phillies are not only being humbled, they're being dominated and left looking clueless as to what is happening to them.
With Saturday night's extra-innings 6-5 loss to the Seattle Mariners, the Phillies now sit at 65-45. The loss also marks their sixth straight loss and sixth consecutive series loss dating back to July 12. After the Phillies took an 18-3 thrashing at the hands of the Oakland A's, fans believed they dodged a bullet by going into the All-Star break. It was a chance for the Phillies to reset, or so everyone thought.
Is it time to hit the panic button on the Phillies season?
No, of course being 20-25 in their last 45 games isn't going to flip a franchise upside down. And yes, there is still plenty of time to right the ship and return to the beast of the NL East. It's entirely possible they start winning in a hurry again, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. But how and when will it happen?
Has the time come to hit the panic button? 🚨
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) August 3, 2024
Phillies Postgame Live crew breaks down the Phillies' major reasons for concern. pic.twitter.com/S4Zu5xh9oN
Since their infamous trip to London, the Phillies have been outscored 197-211 in 45 games. The small moments of offensive outbursts and competent pitching have been followed up by games where they're down five-plus runs in only a few innings, and the bats disappear.
The pitchers have gone through a tumultuous stretch, including most recently Ranger Suárez hitting the IL, which leaves concern about his health down the stretch, per NBC Sports' Corey Seidman. On top of getting outscored recently, Garrett Stubbs has had three pitching appearances just in the last 15 games — not the kind of stats that Stubbs wants to accumulate.
This team took the NL East by storm all the way through June and then went on to have a 10-14 month of July. Of course they deserve time to recoup and regain their footing and get back to playing the way this team was constructed. The lineup is healthy and will hopefully snap out of this team-wide slump soon.
Despite the Phillies falling on their face over and over again against MLB's best, maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We'd much rather see this in July, than in October, right?