It was a miserable week for the Philadelphia Phillies. 

Between rain delays and two bad losses to the NL East leading Atlanta Braves, things really couldn’t have gone much worse this week in what was hopefully going to be a season-defining six game homestand after a 6-1 road trip out west put the ball club four games above .500 for the first time all season. 

The Curious Case of Rob Thomson

Honestly, out of everyone involved with the Phillies last two losses, I have a lot of questions for Rob Thomson and the decisions he made during the shortened 2-game set against the Braves. 

After having a day off on Monday, the Phillies sent Ranger Suarez to the mound and he handled business, allowing four hits, just one run, while striking out seven. 

With the game tied 1-1 in the seventh inning, Rob Thomson was forced to call upon his bullpen that only had two right handed relievers available in Jeff Hoffman and closer Craig Kimbrel.

Alvarado, Strahm, and Marte were all unavailable due to their “recent workloads” which left the Phillies in a chokehold against the first place Atlanta Braves in a tie ball game. 

Not great, right?

Why after a day off on Monday was Alvarado, Strahm, and Marte all unavailable?

The lack of planning was mind boggling. 

So yeah, Hoffman, who should have never been pitching in a 1-1 ball game in the seventh inning walked the first batter he faced before allowing a pinch-hit double to Eddie Rosario.

In a blink of an eye, the Braves had runs on second and third with nobody out. Hoffman coughed up an RBI single to Acuna and an RBI groundout to Albies. Matt Olson then added an insurance run in the top of the eighth inning with a homer off Andrew Vasquez. 

Game Over.

Last night, the Phillies took the Braves to extra innings after a pitching duel unfolded between Aaron Nola and Bryce Edler sent the game to extras tied 0-0. 

Nola tossed six scoreless innings allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out five. 

Edler countered with seven scoreless innings allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out six. 

At the plate, the Phillies struggled throughout the game with Bryson Stott, Alec Bohm, and Brandon Marsh the only batters to record a hit on the night. 

The Phillies Top 5 in the order were lifeless yesterday against the Braves

• Kyle Schwarber: 0-5, 3 K
• Trea Turner: 0-2, BB, K 
• Nick Castellanos: 0-4, 3 K
• Bryce Harper: 0-3, BB 
• JT Realmuto: 0-4, R, K 

With two outs in the 10th inning, Kyle Schwarber completely screwed up a routine fly ball to right field, allowing the Braves to score two runs and take a 3-0 lead.

Then of course, since Schwarber and the Phillies couldn’t get out of the inning, Marcell Ozuna demolished a two-run home run to put the game out of reach. The result was the Phillies falling 10 games behind the Braves in the NL East with 88 games left on the schedule. 

Kyle Schwarber did take responsibility for the drop after the game but really, who gives a shit.

Obviously he took responsibility but unfortunately, he’s just a lousy outfielder.

In fact, he’s literally the worst outfielder in Major League Baseball. 

Here’s a thread I posted yesterday on Twitter that runs through just how bad Schwarber has been in the outfield this season. Feel free to view the numbers for yourself. Viewer discretion is advised.

The Phillies know how bad Schwarber is in the outfield. Hell, everyone knows it. They are just stuck right now without Bryce Harper being able to play in the field. 

Ideally, Harper will return to the field at first base after the All-Star Break which will allow Schwarber to slide into the DH spot full time and leave right field duties to Cristian Pache. 

The Phillies do need to score some runs, obviously. That would cure the current frustrations. But just like everything else that happened this week with questionable decision-making, defensive blunders, lack of bullpen arms, and bad decision making, nothing really worked out in our favor.

I’ll be back with a Mets preview later today. Let’s hope the weather gets better.

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