The Philadelphia Phillies are the top team in baseball, but they haven’t been playing like it. The Phillies dropped their fourth straight series going back to before the All-Star break after Sunday’s 4-3 loss to the Cleveland Guardians. The NL East leaders have lost eight of their last 12 games.
Rob Thomson gets real about Phillies’ problems after dropping fourth straight series
Everyone is frustrated with the recent play of the team, including Phillies manager Rob Thomson.
Thomson said that the Phillies need to get back to winning series, especially the first game of each series to be able to set the tone for the games to follow. If you’re winning series, then you’re going to be one of the best teams in the league. That’s exactly why the Phillies are where they’re at in the standings because of how they were able to win one series after another for the majority of the season. At one point this year, the Phillies went 14 consecutive series without losing one.
Thomson also stressed the importance of playing clean baseball. The Phillies have made four physical errors in this 12-game stretch, but the most concerning thing is the mental errors. Physical errors are going to happen; however, it’s the mental errors that are unacceptable for a major league player.
“Well we’ve got to straighten some things out for sure," Thomson said after Sunday's loss, per Phillies Tailgate on X. "And it seems like it’s the days we hit, we don’t pitch and when we pitch, we don’t hit. But we gotta play clean games on all three sides of the ball and get back to winning series. And get back to winning the first game of the series, which is critical.”
The Phillies have been playing sloppy baseball which needs to be cleaned up if they want to make another deep run in the playoffs come October. The players know that they need to play better, and that the stars on the roster need to step up.
Phillies’ star Bryce Harper acknowledged that the team, including himself, needs to pick things up quickly.
“Yeah, the superstars got to show up,” Harper said following Sunday’s loss, per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com.
The MLB season is long, so players and teams are bound to fall into slumps. The good teams find ways to get out of slumps quickly or even find ways to keep winning while not playing their best baseball.
The schedule doesn't get any easier for the Phillies, with matchups against the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks all coming up. This could be a make-or-break point of the season.
The July 30 trade deadline is tomorrow, and it remains to be seen if the Phillies will make more additions. Dave Dombrowski already acquired outfielder Austin Hays from the Baltimore Orioles and closer Carlos Estévez from the Los Angeles Angels.
Realistically, the Phillies have everything they need on the 26-man roster. It’s time for the stars to step up and earn their money.