Philadelphia Phillies Concerns on Full Display During NL East Road Trip

The Philadelphia Phillies are entering the last leg of their National League East road trip which has highlighted some pressing concerns with the team.

The 2023 Major League Baseball season is roughly a third of the way through its 162-game schedule and for the Philadelphia Phillies, the start feels all too familiar. 

Currently, Philadelphia is 25-31, sitting fourth in the National League East. They're one game out of last place and eight games out of first in the division. Currently, they're on a road trip against three of their NL East rivals. 

It's not going as planned.

The Phils just managed to escape with a split against the Atlanta Braves, then couldn't figure out how to hit the New York Mets' pitching at all and got swept in Queens.

They now have a three-game series against the Washington Nationals over the weekend before returning home.

Philadelphia doesn't play well away from Citizens Bank Park as they're 11-21 on the road.

If the current slump feels familiar, Philadelphia was in a similar position in May 2022. Back then, the Phillies were 22-29 and fired manager Joe Girardi on June 2. Girardi had a team with a sagging bullpen, defensive deficiencies and slumbering starts from a few high-priced veterans.

This road trip for manager Rob Thomson is highlighting similar concerns.

Their pitching ranks 24th across the league with a 4.59 ERA. This is below all their fellow NL East teams. The team is also 24th overall in runs allowed per game with 4.91. Between right-handers Aaron Nola, Taijuan Walker, Zack Wheeler, and left-hander Ranger Suárez, they're averaging a 5.27 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. 

Teams can get away with poor performances at the very back of the rotation if the middle is performing. For Philadelphia, it's faltering. Suárez and Walker have an average 6.39 ERA and 1.545 WHIP in 16 starts. They've allowed 50 runs between them.

The Phillies have taxed their bullpen because of how short their pitching starts have been. Including some starts that were made by openers, Phillies starting pitchers are only throwing 5.1 innings per start on average through 56 games.

Can problems at first base be rectified?

Infielder Alec Bohm is on the 10-day injured list after an MRI on his ailing hamstring. Following first baseman Rhys Hoskins' season-ending ACL tear in spring training and later Darick Hall's thumb surgery in April, Bohm has taken the lion’s share of playing time at first base for the injury-riddled Phillies.

The Phils will likely turn to utilityman Kody Clemens at first base. Clemens, 27, came over from the Detroit Tigers in the Gregory Soto trade this offseason and has batted .268/.333/.479 with four homers in 78 plate appearances.

Taking advantage of base running has been a concern for Philadelphia and it was on display in New York.

Tuesday night, the Phillies had three base-runners in total and none of them reached second base. Wednesday, they went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Thursday, even though they generated two early runs off a throwing error and sacrifice fly, the bats went silent.

After Thursday's loss, they're scoring 4.11 runs per game and are 24th in the league entering their series against Washington.

A potential silver lining is that the Phillies have played only 10 of their 52 NL East games. While it's not early season anymore, there are still plenty of head-to-head chances to allow them to rise in the division.

The Phillies' push late last season shows there's no need to worry if a team doesn't hit its stride in the first two months in order to make a deep playoff run. As of now, they're on pace for 76 wins. 

But this divisional road trip is showing that despite it being a new year and a retooled team, there are still familiar inconsistencies. 

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