The Philadelphia Phillies are a mess. A 13-20 record to begin the year has given the team an enormous hole to dig out of. Fans have tasted blood with the firing of manager Rob Thomson and are eager for more. It’s hard to appease a fanbase that holds World Series-or-bust expectations, but one thing that never fails to make people feel better is seeing someone else in an even worse state. Phillies fans saw just that in a three-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants.
The Phils pummeled the Giants 7-0 on Tuesday, riding seven brilliant innings from the embattled Jesús Luzardo to their first easy win in weeks. After a Wednesday rainout, they took home a pair of walk-off wins behind unheralded reliever Chase Shugart.
The unexpected sweep gave Phillies fans their first glimmer of hope for a playoff spot since early April, while simultaneously sending San Francisco plummeting down to the National League West basement. Interestingly enough, it exposed the Giants as a team flawed in ways quite similar to the Phillies.
The Phillies have been bad, but the Giants have been even worse
The Giants boast a feast-or-famine offense headlined by perennial All-Star Rafael Devers and augmented with Matt Chapman, Willy Adames, Jung Hoo Lee and Luis Arraez. When everything is going right, they’re a club that can spray the ball all over the field and work solid at bats. When things are going poorly (as is the case now), they lack enough pop to drive in the few runners they do get on base, and strike out far too much. Sound familiar?
Also like the Phillies, San Francisco has a rotation that has greatly underperformed to begin the year, as staff ace Logan Webb has an ERA north of 4.00, and back-end types Adrian Houser and Tyler Mahle are looking like free agent flops. Add in a bullpen with no established arms behind closer Ryan Walker, and you have all the makings of a thoroughly unimpressive roster.
The one great difference between the Phillies and Giants is upside. The Giants are underperforming, but not to such a degree that the entire world is shocked. Even with everything clicking they’re a threat for a Wild Card spot, not to challenge 100 wins. On the other hand, the Phillies were a popular pick to win a third straight division title this season and were largely expected to win 90-plus games.
The Phillies share many flaws with the Giants: a lineup that falls asleep at the drop of a hat, a starting staff that has failed to live up to expectations thus far, and a bullpen that has been largely porous aside from Jhoan Duran. And yet, the Phillies’ recipe for a comeback is plain to see. If their stars can play like stars, they'll make some noise.
Luzardo and Cristopher Sánchez should be able to anchor a rotation that just got Cy Young candidate Zack Wheeler back from injury. Trea Turner has started to show signs of life at the plate. As have Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm who were two of the worst hitters in the sport for the first month. Duran should return soon and solidify a bullpen that brought in multiple high-upside arms this winter.
The Phillies have played like crap, but it is reasonable to assume that they can pull out of this tailspin, at least to some degree. The Giants have been equally terrible, but there are far fewer reasons to assume they’ll suddenly turn around their losing ways. Add to that a first-year manager who has looked completely out of his depth at the major league level and the odds of the season going to pot continue to skyrocket.
The Phillies still have a lot of work ahead of them to get their fans to fully buy back in. However, it’s a lot easier to dream on a team that is capable of playing well and hasn’t yet, than one that doesn’t even seem to have it in them.
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