Eight Straight Losses. Worst Record in the NL. Worst Run Differential in Baseball. The Phillies are in Freefall.

The longest losing streak in baseball belongs to the Philadelphia Phillies. Eight straight losses. Twelve losses in the last 14 games. An 8-16 record tied with the Mets for the worst in the National League. At minus-50, the Phillies have the worst run differential in all of Major League Baseball by 15 runs. The worst run differential in baseball. By 15 runs. Over every single team. In both leagues.

This is a $300 million roster. This is a team that was supposed to compete for the World Series. And right now they are statistically the worst team in baseball.

The Phillies limped out of Wrigley Field on Wednesday night with a 7-2 loss to the Cubs. The same Cubs who have now won eight straight, five of them against the Phillies. Chicago is as hot as the Phillies are cold and the Phillies were apparently determined to be the team that fueled their entire hot streak.

Taijuan Walker Is Still a Disaster in Any Role

Taijuan Walker is so fucking bad just cut this man. He’s worthless.

— Drew Smith (@drewmsmith) April 23, 2026

Rob Thomson tried something different Wednesday night. Kyle Backhus opened the game and Walker was supposed to come in and pitch in relief, hoping that removing the first inning from his night would fix whatever has been broken since day one.

It didn’t work because nothing works with Taijuan Walker.

In a span of five batters across the second and third innings, Walker gave up the cycle. An RBI double to Pete Crow-Armstrong. A triple to Alex Bregman. An RBI single to Ian Happ. A solo homer to Michael Busch.

Then Seiya Suzuki hit a two-run bomb off him in the fifth. Four innings of relief. Eight hits. Five runs. His ERA in 22 2/3 innings this season is 9.13.

There is no role on a baseball team where Taijuan Walker is useful.

Not as a starter. Not as a reliever. Not as a long man. Not as a mop-up guy. He cannot get Major League hitters out. Period. With Wheeler coming back Saturday, there are going to be loud public calls for Walker’s release and they will be justified but it’s not going to happen because the Phillies don’t have the pitching depth to cut him.

So he’ll get stashed in the bullpen where he’ll continue to eat innings that nobody wants him to eat. The last year of a $72 million contract that has been the worst investment this organization has made in a decade.

Phillies Lineup Changes Did NOTHING

Thomson moved Schwarber to leadoff and Turner to the two spot hoping to shake something loose. It produced nothing. The Phillies struck out 12 times for the 11th time in 24 games. They did not draw a single walk. Not one.

They scored 16 runs in eight games during this losing streak. The offense finally managed a hit with runners in scoring position when Sosa doubled home Bohm in the second inning, breaking an 0-for-26 drought over the previous six games. An 0-for-26 drought and one single broke it. Congratulations. The bar is underground right now.

The Defense Is Also Terrible

Justin Crawford dropped a fly ball in center field that would have been the third out of the second inning. The Cubs immediately followed with an RBI double.

The Phillies rank at or near the bottom in multiple defensive metrics. Pitching is bad. Hitting is bad. Defense is bad. There isn’t a single aspect of this team that is functioning at an acceptable level. 28th in batting average. 28th in ERA. Bottom of the league defensively. This is a bad baseball team.

The One Bright Spot (I Guess)

Alan Rangel, freshly called up from Triple-A, struck out four in his first two innings of work. He allowed two hits and a run in the eighth. In a game full of misery, the new guy was the only pitcher who looked competent. File that away because the Phillies are going to need arms from Lehigh Valley if this keeps up.

When Does This End?

Maybe Thursday afternoon when Cristopher Sanchez takes the mound in the series finale. Sanchez was the winning pitcher the last time the Phillies won a baseball game. That was April 13th. Before tax day. The Phillies haven’t won since before most of you filed your taxes. Let that sink in.

Wheeler comes back Saturday in Atlanta. The cavalry is coming. But the damage this team has done to itself over the last two weeks is staggering and one pitcher coming back from surgery isn’t going to fix an offense that can’t hit, a defense that can’t field, and a bullpen that can’t hold leads.

This team has real, systemic problems and until somebody in that clubhouse decides to give a damn, the losses are going to keep piling up.

8-16. Worst run differential in baseball. Tied for the worst record in the National League with the Mets. The Phillies and the Mets are in the same sentence for the same reasons right now. If that doesn’t wake this team up, nothing will.

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