The numbers, they are ugly.
- Trea Turner: 5-for-26, .192 AVG, one extra-base hit
- Kyle Schwarber: 4-for-22, .182 AVG, 2 HRs and 1 double
- Bryce Harper: 3-for-25, .120 AVG, -0.4 fWAR (199th out of 202 MLB players)
- Alec Bohm: 2-for-21, .095 AVG, 1 HR
- J.T. Realmuto: 3-for-15, .200 AVG, 1 HR
Yep, it’s fair to say that, one week into the 2026 season, the “run-it-back gang” is misfiring on all cylinders.
It has been frustrating to watch. As a team, the Phils are batting .220 with a .314 on-base percentage and a .360 slugging percentage. Those numbers are… not great. Turner’s swing is currently a disaster, Harper’s bat speed looks like a 40-year-old’s, Schwarber has hit a couple tank shots but little else, Bohm’s Opening Day homer is his lone bright spot, and Realmuto’s
solo homer on Wednesday is his only contribution, six games in.
But would you believe the team’s .220 average is 19th in MLB? Would you believe their .314 OBP is 13th? And that their .360 SLG is 18th? Ordinarily, numbers that low would be in the bottom-five of baseball.
So no, those are not good numbers, and certainly expectations for this group of established stars should be much, much higher. But in our ongoing effort to zoom out and make you aware of what is happening around the rest of Major League Baseball, Phils fans should know what I hope will be a comforting fact.
You’re not alone.
Some of baseball’s best players and, best teams, are also struggling.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are hitting .237 as a team. The Yankees and Cubs are hitting .227. The Tigers are at .215. The Red Sox are hitting .208. The Mariners are batting .205. The Padres? A .202 average. And while their pitching staff was expected to be pathetic, the Oakland A’s vaunted offense has the worst average in baseball, at .177.
Check out these numbers from some of baseball’s biggest stars (AVG/OBP/SLG):
- Mookie Betts (Dodgers): .136/.240/.318
- Shohei Ohtani (Dodgers): .167/.423/.167
- Kyle Tucker (Dodgers): .174/.240/.217
- Will Smith (Dodgers): .200/.200/.500
- Freddie Freeman (Dodgers): .208/.240/.375
- Teoscar Hernandez (Dodgers): .238/.238/.238
- Ronald Acuna Jr. (Braves): .167/.323/.208
- Bo Bichette (Mets): .129/.159/.161
- Marcus Simien (Mets): .130/.250/.174
- Francisco Lindor (Mets): .130/.394/.304
- Xander Bogaerts (Padres): .167/.200/.208
- Fernando Tatis Jr. (Padres): .238/.360/.286
- Jackson Merrill (Padres): .217/.280/.391
- Bobby Witt Jr. (Royals): .273/.292/.273
- Aaron Judge (Yankees): .125/.160/.375
- Jazz Chisolm Jr. (Yankees): .174/.208/.174
- Julio Rodriguez (Mariners): .077/.200/.077
- Cal Raleigh (Mariners): .160/.250/.200
- James Wood (Nationals): .111/.200/.296
- Ketel Marte (Diamondbacks): .154/.267/.269
- George Springer (Blue Jays): .154/.241/.423
- Jarren Duran (Red Sox): .167/.348/.167
- Roman Anthony (Red Sox): .227/.320/.364
- Brent Rooker (A’s): .167/.167/.167
- Byron Buxton (Twins): .174/.200/.304
The American League MVP (Judge) and runner-up (Raleigh) are in there. So is the NL MVP (Ohtani) and runner-up (Schwarber). That list of ugly slash lines belongs to All Stars and MVP candidates, all of whom have struggled mightily in the first week of the season.
It is true that, for the Phillies, the issues with the offense have existed longer than just one week. They stretch back to last season, and the season before, and the season before that, specifically in the postseason. Despite an outstanding offensive season last year, the perception of this group is an underachieving collection of players who shrink when it matters most.
And hey, that might all prove itself to be true once again this October. But with just one week of big league baseball under our belts, this is most definitely not a time when things matter most. In fact, things couldn’t matter less at this point in the six-month-long season.
I get it. Watching a bad offense flail despite numerous opportunities with runners on base is maddening, and it has the affect of making the team look uninterested and/or lethargic. A .229 average with runners in scoring position is awful, ranking 22nd in baseball. That has to improve.
I’m not going to sit here and tell you not to be worried about the Phillies’ offense. It’s ugly right now. They should be better.
But in our efforts to zoom out every once in a while and take in what the rest of the baseball world is up to, understand that two-thirds of fans around the league are saying the same thing about their struggling superstars with a single week of the season under their belts.
On my latest Hittin’ Season podcast, I broke down the Phils’ comeback win against the Nationals on Sunday and the production of the two rookies who saved the series. Also, check out my conversation with Rob Friedman, the man behind @PitchingNinja, talk about the explosion of pitching in his new book, “Unhittable.”
