Dark Days of Phillies Baseball: Swept in New York with a much needed series sweep of the Washington Nationals on the horizon

The Philadelphia Phillies got swept in New York after losing their series finale against the Mets 4-2. 

With the loss, the Phillies fell to 25-31 on the season and sit in fourth place in the National League East standings, just a game above a rebuilding Washington Nationals team.

The Phillies are now 3-7 over their last 10 games and a miserable 11-21 on the road through the first 56 games. Here’s one more gut punch for you. They have only scored a total of NINE RUNS over their last FIVE GAMES and have struck out nearly 60 TIMES in that same timeframe. 

But wait…!

Even with what can only be described as a catastrophic start to the 2023 MLB season, they are still only 3.5 games out of the third NL Wild Card. 

So maybe. Just maybe. There’s still time to right the ship but doing that will require major changes over the next 3-4 months of the season. 

Welcome to the Month of June

After firing Joe Girardi on June 3rd of last year, the Phillies finished the season under Rob Thomson, posting a 65-46 (.586) record before steamrolling the Cardinals, Braves, and Padres on their way to the World Series against the Houston Astros. 

Philadelphia Phillies: 2022 vs 2023

2022	vs	2023
25-29	Record	25-29
56	Home Runs	55
208	RBI	218
.245	AVG	.254
6.3	WAR	7.0

While the numbers seem eerily similar to last season around this time, this team is faced with several new issues as they now hope to mirror what happened last season. 

• The Phillies do not have Rhys Hoskins. 
• Bryce Harper just returned to the lineup in early May. 
• Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber stumbled out of the gate to start the season. 
• Alec Bohm on 10-Day IL
• Starting pitching has been horrible. 
• The Phillies do not have a 5th starter. 

After signing a $72 million contract with the Phillies before the start of the 2023 season, Taijuan Walker has been everything but the middle-rotation stabilizer the Phillies expected him to be this year. Walker pitched just four innings yesterday, allowing two hits, three earned runs, and three walks while striking out two. 

With the loss, Walker is now 4-3 on the season with a 5.65 ERA. 

The Phillies will now head to D.C. to face the Washington Nationals in what should only be described as a “must-sweep” series. 

Zack Wheeler will take the mound in Game 1 tonight against Josiah Gray. Wheeler is just 4-4 on the season with a 3.60 ERA but has pitched better as of late.

As for Gray, he’s 4-5 with a 2.77 ERA on the season. 

Win the series for sure, but at this point, a sweep of the Nationals would really serve as the perfect launch point to restore order to the realm  before returning home Monday to face the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers. 

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