Struggling Phillies Must Look Back to Another Midseason Turnaround Long Before 2022
The Philadelphia Phillies sunk 7 games below .500 with a brutal loss in Washington D.C. on June 2, sending the city into a frenzy.
A logical line of positive thinking suggests that the fan base shouldn’t panic one season after the Phillies bounced back from a 21-29 start to win the National League pennant.
The parallel has understandably become a major talking point in Philadelphia. However, Rob Thomson won’t lose his job like Joe Girardi did in June 2022.
The dependence on an objectively valid example doesn’t fully account for the fact that fans shouldn’t set expectations for a terrible stretch of the season to change instantly just because it happened last year.
Instead, another example in the organization’s history provides a better parallel because it proves the way momentum can carry a talented MLB team to reach its full potential.
The 2010 Phillies went on absolute tear after acquiring Roy Oswalt ahead of the MLB Trade Deadline on their way to finishing with the best record in baseball.
The 2010 Phillies
The Phillies advanced to the World Series for the second consecutive season in 2009. They followed the trip to the Fall Classic with a hot start after the offseason acquisition of Roy Halladay.
The golden era of Phillies baseball stumbled, however. The 2010 team surrendered the NL East lead on May 31 in the first loss of a concerning three-game sweep against the Atlanta Braves.
Atlanta rolled to a 56-39 record by July 21 on the backs of veterans Chipper Jones and Tim Hudson, prime-age Brian McCann, and a short flash early in the season from rookie reliever Craig Kimbrel.
Meanwhile, the Phillies started reeling. They hit a losing streak in mid-July that dropped them to 7 games out of the division lead. The New York Mets even snuck into second place.
The sky was falling in Philadelphia. The conversation shifted to the possibility of trading impending free agent Jayson Werth. A World Series contender had to seriously consider moving the best right-handed power bat in the lineup.
The situation would’ve seemed unimaginable on Opening Day in 2010, and the Phillies needed a reminder of their potential as one of the most loaded rosters in the majors.
GM Ruben Amaro Jr. stayed the course, and the Phillies answered with a seven-game winning streak of their own. Then, he acted with a blockbuster trade.
Roy Oswalt Trade
Amaro called up former Philadelphia GM Ed Wade, who had already handed over Brad Lidge in 2007 in one of the best trades in Phillies history.
J.A. Happ and Class-A prospects Anthony Gose and Jonathan Villar went to the Houston Astros in exchange for Oswalt.
A new ace joined Halladay and Cole Hamels on a starting staff that looked downright scary. The Braves and the Mets suddenly looked over their shoulders in fear of the back-to-back National League champs.
Oswalt hit the ground running with a 7-1 record, a 1.74 ERA, and a WHIP under 1 (a better mark than he ever sustained for a full season in his 13-year career) for the remainder of the regular season.
July 29, 2010: Philadelphia #Phillies acquired SP Roy Oswalt from the Houston #Astros for SP JA Happ, SS Jonathan Villar, and OF Anthony Gose
— Pro Sports Outlook (@PSO_Sports) July 29, 2022
pic.twitter.com/Fd7wP7DokU
The Phillies instantly caught fire with an outrageous 42-19 record to finish the regular season after the trade.
They gave a clear indicator of swagger and an intimidation factor in mid-September. Charlie Manuel used spot starter Vance Worley on Sunday, Sept. 19 to set up his three aces for a huge late-season series against a team in contention for the NL East.
Hamels and Halladay shoved the helpless Braves right out of the way for two victories, and Roy Oswalt sealed the sweep with seven shutout innings and only one hit surrendered.
The division was at hand, and the powerhouse was back.
The 2023 Phillies
The Phillies have regrouped for four consecutive victories (as of before their game on 6/8/23) following their worst loss of the season in Washington on June 2.
Tim Kurkjian spoke as a guest on The John Kincade Show on June 5 about Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and the Phillies trying to bust out of their offensive funk.
“This is what you do when the game beats you, and it beats you on a daily basis when you’re going poorly. It’s not a Philly thing. It’s a baseball thing, and all these guys are going to come out of these slumps eventually. It’s just going to be a question (of) when and how.” -Kurkjian
He also talked about how the weaknesses of National League playoff contenders have helped the Phillies stay in the race. They’re sitting 8.5 games behind the Braves in a comparable situation to the crossroad they faced much later in the season back in 2010.
Dave Dombrowski can look 13 years in the past to see the “when and how” that woke up a talented roster not playing up to its full potential.
He could shop for a top available starting pitcher like Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, or Shane Beiber. Dombrowski told Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic that the Phillies won’t be sellers, and trade talks will unquestionably heat up as we inch toward the MLB Trade Deadline on August 1.
The struggling Phillies need to find their way of regaining their swagger to prove that the run to the World Series in 2022 wasn’t a fluke. Dombrowski is on the clock.
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