August was not a good month for the Philadelphia Phillies. The Fightin’ Phils entered the month clinging to a half-game lead over their National League East rivals, the Atlanta Braves. The slate of opponents included games against several teams who are well out of the playoff race, including the Mets, Blue Jays, Marlins and Padres. Philadelphia hasn’t won a series since the four-game sweep of the Miami Marlins on Aug. 5. Now with 29 games to go, the Phillies sit 3.5 games behind the Braves in the National League East and three games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the final NL Wild Card spot.
Many of the Phillies’ losses throughout the month were devastating heartbreakers, in which the squad was winning for most of the game but blew the lead late in the ballgame. The media and players alike frequently turned to phrases like “worst loss of the season” to express their frustration.
In what should have been an easy sweep against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Phillies jumped to an early 5-0 lead during the Aug. 25 match-up. The Phils lead for seven innings and eventually lost 8-6 after poor relief performances by Seranthony Dominguez and Victor Arano. Kapler and his men left Toronto with just one win out of three games, in what was the fourth straight series loss for the club. The bullpen has been struggling throughout the last two months and the blown leads have become unbearable, especially in light of strong performances from the starting rotation.
Last week, the Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies in what was the team’s ninth loss that occurred after having the lead going into the seventh inning. Starting pitcher Aaron Nola allowed two runs in the seventh to turn a 3-0 lead into a close 3-2 contest. Kapler first went to righty Tommy Hunter to stop the bleeding, but after he walked Bryce Harper, the Phils’ manager called for the unconventional arm of Pat Neshek, who could not deliver as he gave up a two run homer to third baseman Anthony Rendon. Philadelphia would go on to lose 5-4.
Maybe the bullpen is to blame, maybe it’s the countless errors on both sides of the ball, or maybe we should point the finger at low attendances and a lack of enthusiasm. Whatever the case may be, the Phillies are in trouble. Although September will bring plenty of opportunities for the Phils to get back into the mix and make a push for postseason baseball.
Seven of the Phillies’ final 11 games are against the division leading Atlanta Braves, with a tough match-up against the Colorado Rockies in between the two series against the Braves. Odds are that the National League East could come down to the final weekend, and Philadelphia is going to have to start winning games against tough opponents. Squads like the Rockies, Nationals and Cubs will challenge the team down the stretch.
Relievers like Dominguez will have to return to his pre-summer form when the closer went through his first 12 appearances with 16 strikeouts while only giving up two hits. New acquisitions like Wilson Ramos and Jose Bautista will have to pick up the slack in the batter’s box. The homegrown mainstays like Rhys Hoskins, Odubel Herrera and Maikel Franco need to continue to prove their worth by getting on base and playing error-free baseball.
Most importantly, Kapler needs to be more critical of the mistakes his team makes in order to push them to be better. The Phillies are running out of time and eventually, if they don’t turn the skid around soon, the perpetually optimistic Kapler is going to start running out of things to be positive about.
Andrew Heller is a second-year graduate student majoring in English. ✉ AH804286@wcupa.edu.