The Phillies second half slump continued yesterday when they lost the decisive game of their series against the Cardinals. They have won just two of eight series since the All-Star break, sliding them out of a postseason spot as of this writing. Obviously, they have many problems at the moment.
Their offense continues to be a problem despite actually improving their overall numbers from the first half. Their on-base percentage of .303 that was 28th before the break is now eighth best (.331) since
play resumed. However, they have still struggled with driving in those runners who have gotten on base, as their 28 double plays in the second half was the most in baseball entering play yesterday when they hit into two more for an even 30.
On the pitching side, it appears as though their entire staff is gassed, especially the bullpen which is running on fumes. The relief pitching was already a question mark on this team, and now they have seen widespread velocity decreases as they are repeatedly called upon to pitch multiple innings. It’s gotten to the point where the team had to commit to using Andrew Painter and Alan Rangel almost exclusively in a game on Monday no matter what happened because they desperately needed to give their overworked bullpen a rest. They ended up winning that game, but just barely, and interim manager Don Mattingly declared that if it had gone to extra innings, Garrett Stubbs would have been the only one available to pitch.
Speaking of Mattingly, he too has emerged as an obstacle of sorts to the team’s October aspirations. He’s made numerous questionable decisions since taking over, with some latest examples being pulling a cruising Cristopher Sánchez at 86 pitches, allowing Zack Wheeler to throw 116 pitches in a start, and sticking with an on-the-ropes Orion Kerkering against a lefty hitter despite a lefty in Brooks Raley warming in the bullpen. Mattingly also shares some of the blame for the bullpen’s struggles, as he is the one who has failed to prevent such an over usage crisis. The Phillies roster has had its multiple holes exposed in recent weeks, but Mattingly has not yet shown that is capable of patching over those holes enough to keep the team afloat.
The Phillies are in the midst of a stretch of play where their pitchers are underperforming, their hitters are struggling in new ways, their lack of depth is being exposed, and their manager having multiple decisions backfire tremendously. There’s certainly no shortage of roadblocks in their path to a postseason berth. What do you think is the Phillies biggest hinderance to getting to the postseason?
