The Phillies got blown out on Monday, rallied their way to a win on Tuesday, got trounced again on Wednesday, then went on a five-run outburst to open up on Thursday to take a four-game series split with the Giants.
They're staying afloat at 11-8, and do have their positives, especially after Thursday's series finale, but it all doesn't quite add up yet. The energy doesn't feel fully right. The vibes are off, which is notable since it's been the club's whole MO since their breakout in 2022.
From the Braves series last week and on, the Phillies have been taking a step back, one forward (only after some sort of frustration), and then another back, and so on.
And that's an irritating cycle to be caught in.
It's still only April, sure, and this club has come far enough over the past few years to earn the benefit of the doubt that they'll figure it out – manager Rob Thomson insists that they will – but right now, they're a mixed bag.
Here are a few reasons why leaving the San Francisco series…
The rotation is shaky
Cristopher Sánchez remained stellar in Thursday's finale, throwing a career-high 12 strikeouts in seven innings against the Giants for the win.
Cristopher Sánchez has 12 strikeouts today – a new career-high! pic.twitter.com/HJwdXpPJaV
— MLB (@MLB) April 17, 2025
Jesús Luzardo didn't have his sharpest stuff on Tuesday night (relative to the excellent outings he put up prior), but still battled through 5.1 innings to keep the Phillies alive until their bats could rally.
But in between, Taijaun Walker fell back to earth as the rotation's back-end fill-in for Ranger Suárez, and Aaron Nola threw a bases-loaded walk in his second consecutive start to continue what he called afterward "the worst start I've ever had, by far" to a season. He dropped to 0-4.
And that's on top of Zack Wheeler looking solid as the No. 1, but not quite to his Cy Young caliber form yet going back to the Cardinals series last weekend.
Heading into the season, starting pitching looked to be the Phillies' greatest strength, but so far, only Luzardo and Sánchez as the lefties have truly lived up to the billing, while the others are still looking for their footing.
Maybe everyone warms up with the weather.
The bullpen is even shakier
Tanner Banks and José Ruiz got tagged for a couple of runs each on Monday in a 10-4 loss that the Phillies lost control of.
The same happened on Wednesday night, when Ruiz gave up another bases-loaded walk in relief of Nola, and then when Joe Ross got tagged for four runs (all earned).
In the win on Tuesday, Orion Kerkering, Jordan Romano, José Alvarado, and Matt Strahm shut the Giants down, but Alvarado needed 30 pitches just to do his part in the eighth, which rendered him unavailable for the next night – he was available to earn the save in Thursday's finale though.
The Phillies have their clear leverage arms in Alvarado, Strahm, Kerkering, and maybe Romano if Tuesday night's 1-2-3 seventh for him was any indication that he's turning a corner.
But past them, the options are looking thin if they have to reach any deeper into the pen.
They need an arm or two to step up, or an arm or two to come in from elsewhere (be it the minors or from the outside).
They're still bad with RISP
Aggravatingly so, because this problem goes back years.
Entering Thursday's finale, the Phillies were 5-30 for the series with runners in scoring position and stranded 24 runners on base in total.
Once their first turn came to hit, they jumped on Jordan Hicks right away with five runs and an immediate 3-for-6 with runners in scoring position clip, but they settled down pretty sharply after at 3-for-8 after six innings.
The Phillies don't have a problem setting up opportunity, it's cashing in on it once they have it, and since last year – longer than that even – it feels like they more often than not end up with a strikeout swinging, a groundout, or a weak fly ball.
Thomson said earlier in the series that he's confident the tide will turn there, that their team is to good for it not to.
"Those balls that are put in play, they're gonna fall at some point," he said. "They're gonna produce."
But they're not right now. Not consistently, that is, and the reality is: fans know that song and dance a little too well at this point.
But Harper's giving them some good at-bats, Schwarber, too
Bryce Harper crushed two homers in the series and drew five walks, slugging .909 for the four-game set by the time the bell rung in right-center on Thursday.
Kyle Schwarber was just as much of a pest at the plate, too, also walking five times and turning on a first-inning single that brought across the Phillies' first two runs on Thursday.
The Phillies' top star is heating up, and staying highly patient. So is his new protection behind him in Schwarber, which is hopefully a showing that, long-term, the 3 and 4 spots in the lineup are at least going to be some incredibly tough outs going forward.
Bryce Harper leaves the park in a hurry and ties things up in Philly! pic.twitter.com/zyrT6iuiHJ
— MLB (@MLB) April 17, 2025
Bohm is maybe trending up again
Alec Bohm's struggles to start the season have been well-documented, and they didn't go away with this series, but there were at least some flashes of the third baseman heading in the right direction.
He knocked in the go-ahead run with a looper base hit in Tuesday night's win, then got a massive break on Thursday when he sent a fly ball to the warning track in center that San Francisco's Luis Matos couldn't track down. The bounce let Bohm stretch all the way to third for the triple, a run driven in, and just his third extra-base hit of the year.
Run Raffy run! pic.twitter.com/TkEbo7zg7X
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 17, 2025
Bohm still went 4-for-15 for the series, and slid down the lineup, but as he said earlier in the week: "I can't let that get me out of what I'm doing and make that lead to another bad at-bat or chasing or whatever it may be…I think just staying as calm as possible, which is hard, and just putting one foot in front of the other. "
Easier said than done at times, but hey, one step at a time.
So long as he's the Phillies' best bet at third, they need whatever momentum from him they can get.
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