August 12, 2024
Rick Scuteri/USA TODAY Sports
Brandon Marsh and the Phillies can get little to go right for them of late.
The Phillies lost three of four to the Diamondbacks to close out the week and feel right back to square one again.
July was brutal, and one West Coast road trip into August, minus a brief reprieve against the Dodgers, is making it seem like there's no light at the end of the tunnel right now.
The pitching just isn't as sharp as it was in the first half, a number of key bats are struggling, and the club that was clearly the best in baseball heading into the All-Star break has looked like anything but since.
There was always going to be some kind of rut or downswing. That was inevitable. But what the Phillies are in now? It's concerning.
Here's a bit of what they're saying about it...
The Phillies returned to Chase Field in Arizona, where their World Series ambitions hit a wall last postseason, while an upstart Diamondbacks club was just playing with house money and turned that into a Fall Classic ticket.
It was a stunner of an NLCS, and in the worst way imaginable for the Phils, with many of those same issues that suddenly plagued them in October coming back to haunt them this past week.
But the Phillies have to figure it out, not just for the rest of the season and the push back to the playoffs, but in the very possible scenario that they could see the Diamondbacks in October again.
Wrote Corey Seidman after the Arizona series wrapped:
There's a decent chance the Phillies see the Diamondbacks again in October after losing to them in the 2023 NLCS. Arizona occupies the 5-seed in the National League, and since the playoffs do not reseed, the team with the top record is locked into playing the winner of the 4 vs. 5 matchup in the NLDS.
The D-backs are the hottest team in baseball, having won 15 of 18 with an average of 7.2 runs per game.
"They ain't scared," [Bryce Harper] said. "They go about it the right way, they play the game hard. They've got guys that walk, guys that hit, good pitching, good bullpen. They're a good team. They're gonna show up and play the game the right way and they're gonna win a lot of games because of that." [NBCSP]
But back here in Philly, the reasons to be scared suddenly feel like they're piling up.
And those reasons piling up might be a point to start re-adjusting expectations toward the 2024 Phillies, writes John Stolnis.
They tore through the early half of the schedule, which was expected of them, and had the benefit of a whole lot of chips falling their way – so much so that they looked flooded with All-Stars and Cy Young candidates.
But now the schedule has gotten tougher and the luck hasn't been as favorable, and with that, many problems that have plagued the team for the past two years have suddenly reared their ugly heads again.
The 2024 Phillies are the same ones as the 2023 Phillies, and the 2022 Phillies. They have just gotten here a different way.
That isn’t to say the ‘24 Phils won’t finish with a better record that the previous two iterations. They certainly will and, hey, maybe they are a bit better. On paper, they seem like a more complete team, if everyone plays to their capabilities. Neither the ‘22 or ‘23 teams were ever as hot as this year’s group was early on, and neither of those two playoff teams sustained success for as long. But as we’ve seen with this recent slump by the offense and the regression from the pitching staff, they are still just as flawed.
This isn’t a juggernaut. They’re just a good team that is struggling mightily and will have to claw their way to the World Series, just like everyone else. [The Good Phight]
There are a lot of slumps and struggles on the Phillies to go around right now. Tim Kelly over at Phillies Nation covered five in particular after the series loss to Arizona.
We'll highlight Brandon Marsh here, because while he's still a valuable glove in the outfield, at the plate, he's always been protected from left-handed pitching while being put in a spot to feast on righties. But right now that's not even a saving grace.
So much has been made of Marsh’s struggles against left-handed pitching, but since the All-Star Break he hasn’t really hit well against anyone. Getting even more consistent at-bats than he did in the first half of the season, Marsh is hitting just .149 with a .485 OPS in the start of the second half. In 74 plate appearances, Marsh has struck out a staggering 27 times.
Like with [Bryson Stott], there’s still some really good value from Marsh in the field. He sometimes struggles to take charge in center field, but generally does a very good job in the outfield overall. In fact, Marsh has six outfield assists and 12 defensive runs saved this year, the bulk of which have come in left field, where he’s played at a Gold Glove caliber.
But whether Marsh ever hits against lefties or not, the Phillies need him to begin mashing righties again. At the very least, he has to put the ball in play more often, because the clip he’s striking out at is unsustainable for someone that isn’t an elite power hitter. [Phillies Nation]
Just...what happened here?
Comparing the Phillies Starting Rotation from March-June and July-August. pic.twitter.com/JtBwwnIx4j
— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) August 12, 2024
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