Phillies setting a new MLB record for opponent panic

The Philadelphia Phillies are currently 33-14 (.702) and off to one of the best starts in franchise history as we move past the halfway point of May. With the Phillies holding a 4.0-game lead over the rival Atlanta Braves in the NL East, it's a fantastic time to be a Phillies fan. This recent stretch of games has been a whole lot of fun to watch.

But the good times don't extend to some of the most recent victims of the Phillies' dominant stretch of success. While it's hard to debate that the team has been playing the best teams MLB has to offer, the Phillies are doing what good teams do best: beat the teams they are supposed to and take every series possible.

The Phillies took three of four during the recent four-game home-and-home series versus the rival New York Mets. After sweeping both games on the road in Queens, the Phillies once again got the best of the underperforming $374 million dollar Mets in Wednesday night's 10-5 morale crusher at Citizens Bank Park.

It could have been a four-game sweep if not for wild pitches from the usually reliable Jeff Hoffman and José Alvarado on Thursday. But we're starting to get greedy with the Phillies' play this season. The Mets limped out of Philadelphia with a record of 20-23 (4-6 in the last 10 games).

With lopsided losses like this one becoming a common occurrence for the Mets in 2024, it might be time for the Mets to cue up that Bobby Bonilla Piggy Bank giveaway they've been sitting on for 30 years. Circle July 1 on your calendar, Mets fans.

Phillies setting a new MLB record for opponent panic

Following Monday's 10-5 loss to the Phillies, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza thought it was necessary to motivate his embarrassed team with an uplifting meeting coming off a three-game losing streak at the hands of a hated rival.

While not quite a "Win just one for the Gipper" moment, Mendoza was tasked with trying to motivate his team to "keep their heads up" following the loss. According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, Mendoza hadn't held a team meeting all season — until Wednesday night.

“It was just to make sure they know that it’s 162 [games]," said Mendoza per Puma. "We just have to continue to keep going and making sure that we all believe we are a good team,”

Whatever Mendoza said must have worked. The Mets were able to climb back and defeat the Phillies in 11 innings in Thursday night's finale. The Mets' skipper will surely have to play the role of motivator again when the Phillies face New York again in the London Series on June 8 and June 9.

Mets are just the latest team to call a meeting after facing the Phillies

According to Matt Gelb of The Athletic, the Mets are not the only team to have to call a team meeting after being on the wrong side of victory against the Phillies this year. Gelb claims three, maybe four, teams have held post-game discussions behind closed doors. Is there even a metric for that yet?

The identity of one of those four teams is the Toronto Blue Jays. Following a 10-1 spanking at the hands of the Phillies on May 7, our neighbors from the North found themselves a little down on themselves after Cristopher Sánchez made easy work of Jays hitters over seven innings of one-run, six-hit brilliance.

Meanwhile, Phillies hitters torched Blue Jays ace José Berríos for eight earned runs in only 3 2/3 innings of work. That was enough for Jays manager John Schneider to have a closed-door chat with his squad.

It's obviously a fun time to be a Phillies fan, but seeing that the terror of facing them extends to opposing teams' clubhouses is an entirely different phenomenon. How many more teams will the Phillies cause to shut the door and talk it out this season? We'll see.