PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - AUGUST 13: Trea Turner #7 of the Philadelphia Phillies looks on after striking out to end the bottom of the eighth inning against the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park on August 13, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Marlins defeated the Phillies 5-0.
For the half of the season, no team in baseball could touch the Phillies. Go back to July 11th. the Phillies just finished a sweep of the Dodgers. They were up 6.5 games in the NL, 9.5 in the NL East, and 3.5 over any team in the AL.
But then something switched. They went into that weekend and lost a series to the lowly Athletics. It was the finals series before The All-Star break, so we wrote it off. But out of the All-Star break, they continued to struggle. They are 12-18 since they came back, and have won only two series. They could make it 3 if they beat the Braves tonight.
They are still 7 games up on the Braves. But the Dodgers now have a 1 game lead over them, despite the Phillies being 5-1 in games vs the Dodgers. The Brewers were 7.5 games behind them on July 11th, and are now only 1 game behind them. And the 3.5-game lead over the best team in the AL is down to a .5-game lead.
It could be worse. They definitely got some help from around the league to soften the blow of this slump. But they took a dominating lead and made things incredibly tight.
What Went Wrong With The Phillies?
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
So what went wrong? Were they never that good to begin with? No, this is a very talented team. The way they were playing earlier in the season is way closer to what they should be than this. They have dealt with some injuries, but nothing so dire it should cause the team to fall apart.
When Jayson Stark joined The Best Show Ever on Wednesday, before they beat the Braves that night, he had an interesting reason for these struggles.
“When you think back on the edge that they played with for three months and how they look now, they clearly lost that edge. Did they lose it by sending a message to their players that this is under control? We’re just going to try to make it through the marathon. JT go have your knee surgery and come back and get healthy. Ranger, take your time hitting the reset button. We’ll see in a month and we’ll be fine when we get to October.
When you do that, you’re clearly taking your foot off that gas pedal that Rob Thompson was referring to. Maybe it sends a message. Maybe I’m overreacting to it. But they have not been the same team since they’ve done it that way.“
It is not the first time Jayson Stark said this. He suggested something very similar a week earlier.
“Did they stop approaching the season as if the games mattered, or were they just trying to navigate the marathon and get to October? Whatever it was, it just feels like again from afar that they lost their edge somewhere along the way.”
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
And it makes sense. When you are so far ahead, and everyone is constantly talking about how you have nothing to worry about, it is hard to keep up that same level of intensity.
Maybe they did pulled their foot off the gas a bit. Perhaps they got a bit too comfortable, and lost some of their edge. But if that is the case, they need to find a way to get it back. Even over this 5-1 stretch, they don’t look like quite the same team that built up that early lead.
This team is too talented to not go all the way. They have mostly survived through this horrible stretch. but its time to slam your foot back on that gas. Be the team that had Phillies fans planning out the World Series parade in June.
You wasted all of your room for error. The division is not in peril, but the bye week, and home field advantage is. Figure it out. If it really was that they got too comfortable, they can no longer be comfortable.
Dylan MacKinnon is The Digital Content Coordinator For 97.5 The Fanatic. he has been an Eagles, Flyers, Sixers, and Flyers fan his whole life. He graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelors in Journalism. Dylan has worked at the Fanatic since 2016, starting as an Intern, moving to the Street team, and eventually was hired as an Associate Producer before settling into his current role in the Digital Department. You may hear him referred to on-air as "The D-Train."
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