The times, they are bad.
The vibes, they are also bad.
Pretty much everything associated with the Phillies right now is bad. Nothing is going right and the product on the field is approaching (if it hasn’t already reached) unwatchable. Change has been demanded by many that follow the team, but realistically, what can they do? What are some of the change
Firing a member of the coaching staff/manager
The one that many seem to want now is for the manager to be fired. Rob Thomson’s seeming complacency with
all that is happening around him makes those on the outside feel as though he doesn’t care or is implicit in the team’s demise. To an extent, there is truth there. He has made some baffling decisions in his tenure, but so does any other manager. Ask the Dodgers fanbase what they thought of Dave Roberts prior to their opening up the checkbook even wider and started winning World Series titles.
However, Dave Dombrowski has already come out and said that firing Thomson is not going to happen. That makes sense since a lot of this early season struggle is on the players’ heads instead of the manager’s.
Now, firing a coach, particularly a hitting coach? That is something that may have to be considered. The team’s offense is the largest target of ire and has been for some time (even though they usually are in the top half of the league in runs scored). Yet this stretch that is currently happening, there are many players that just seem broken beyond repair, even for a coach as good as Kevin Long. Maybe a new voice should be heard in the batting cages under the stadium.
Release a player
Maybe the group needs a shakeup.
Maybe they need to see that no one is safe.
Maybe they need to see that when the performance doesn’t match the expectation level given, a change needs to be made.
Now, realistically, we know that a lot of the players will not be straight up released. The dead salary and importance to the roster construction as it currently is means they are sticking around no matter what.
But what exactly is going to happen with Taijuan Walker? Once Zack Wheeler returns, what purpose does he serve? Sure, he could be a long reliever in the bullpen, but wouldn’t simply rotating that roster spot be a better usage of it than whatever it is that Walker is giving them right now? They saw that in Nick Castellanos and did away with his tenure (even though these are way different circumstances outside of the actual performance on field). Does it solve all the problems the team has? No, but maybe simply showing anyone that might be frustrated within the clubhouse that the front office actually cares may be enough.
Alter the batting order
Wednesday night’s lineup, where Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner swapped spots was at least a “try something different” moment. Using Felix Reyes as a cleanup hitter is at least something they can try as well.
The lineup hasn’t been good enough that anyone on the team should be considered locked into a spot right now, so maybe a bit more experimentation needs to happen.
Make a permanent lineup change
Alec Bohm needs to be moved out of the lineup at this point. Regardless of what his outside issues are right now, he is unplayable in his current state. For a team that considers itself one able to chase down a World Series trophy, they have dug themselves such a hole that getting out of it is going to mean riding some hot hands whenever they arrive and moving out cold hands if a better option is available. For example, if Harper runs cold, there really isn’t anyone else that can do his job. But with Bohm, they at least have Edmundo Sosa willing and able to play the position and hit in the lineup.
That change should have already happened.
It could be a permanent thing for only a week, giving Bohm time to get his head straight before he returns. It could be something they leave until Sosa himself runs ice cold, something he has been prone to do in the past.
For a team that has lost eight games in a row, it’s something that needs to happen.
Promotion from the minor leagues
Seriously though, who else is left? Is there anyone else at Lehigh Valley that can come up and do a better job? Judging from some of the reports we’ve seen, Reyes was probably the best option and they pulled that lever. Had Aidan Miller been healthy and productive, we might have seen that happen by now, but he’s not.
For better or worse, they’re stuck.
What we’re seeing now is a roster that is ice cold and incredibly unlucky at the moment. That combination usually leads to bad results and it has to the tune of an eight-game losing streak that really doesn’t look like it will end any time soon.
But what else can they actually do that they haven’t already done?
