Their team OPS of .706 is 12th in the National League and their .234 batting average is second to last. They are 11th in runs scored and second in strikeouts, even though they have played 4 fewer games than strikeout leader San Diego. They have just 40 hits over the last 7 games. They have 200 more strikeouts than hits.
Pitching has led them all season. Last night, the inconsistent Nick Pivetta was terrific against the Red Sox, allowing just 1 run to MLB's best team in 6 innings. But the much-maligned Tommy Hunter gave up a go-ahead pinch homer in the 8th and that was that.
There could be help on the way. Newly acquired Wilson Ramos appears ready to make his Phillies debut, and he would replace strikeout machine Jorge Alfaro in the lineup. Unless the offense can find a way to start scoring some runs, the slide in the standings will continue.
But here's the thing–nobody expected the Phillies to spend as much time in first place as they have this season. And we got caught up in the hype. We saw the standings and began thinking about meaningful games in September and even playoff baseball in October. Should we be grateful they've played as well as they have? Or should we be pissed off over the events of the last week, which includes dropping 2 of 3 the Padres, the worst team in the NL?
Before the season, I thought this team had a shot to make it to .500. I expected a lot more from Rhys Hoskins, Carlos Santana, Scott Kingery, and Odubel Herrera. Santana and Kingery have been massive disappointments.
The Phils need just 1 more win to equal last year's win total. The fact that it will come in mid August is nothing short of miraculous. But the early season success led to greater, perhaps unreasonable, expectations. And that makes this current stretch of awful baseball really hard to take.
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