Dave Dombrowski is ‘responsible’ for this reeling Phillies roster. And these decisions helped get them here.
From the cleanup hitter crisis to the miscalculation in left field, Dombrowski’s offseason decisions are being brought back into focus amid a wretched start.
ATLANTA — Amid all that’s going wrong for the Phillies, Dave Dombrowski is right about one thing.
“I’m responsible,” he said a few days ago, “for putting the club on the field.”
The buck — or 317 million bucks, as calculated for the luxury tax — stops with Dombrowski. And if you’re into placing blame for the Phillies’ longest losing streak in eight years (nine in a row through Thursday’s 10-inning, 8-7 gut punch at Wrigley Field) — and worst-in-the-majors 8-17 record, their lousiest 25-game start since the 99-loss 2015 season — go ahead and begin with the future Hall of Fame executive who chose continuity over change in assembling the roster in the offseason.
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There’s no shortage of other culprits. A partial list:
An offense that enters the weekend tied for 24th in the majors in slugging (.363) and ranked 27th in runs per game (3.56), 28th in on-base percentage (.296), and 29th in batting average (.219).
Right-handed hitters who have a combined .533 OPS against left-handed pitching. Overall, the Phillies are last in the majors with a .589 OPS against lefties and have an 0-9 record against non-opener lefty starters.
Alec Bohm, the veteran third baseman and initial choice to bat cleanup, who is embattled on the field (.436 OPS, next-to-last among 181 qualified hitters) and off (a pending lawsuit against his parents in Philadelphia court).
A starting rotation that yielded the highest batting average on balls in play (.383) and sixth-lowest hard-hit rate (38.5%) through Wednesday, a sign that Jesús Luzardo and others have been more unlucky than bad. But a starter has completed the sixth inning only once in the last nine games, taxing a depleted bullpen.
Catcher J.T. Realmuto (back spasms) and three relievers are on the injured list, including star closer Jhoan Duran, who has a strained oblique muscle in his left side.
Mercy?
“As a group, I don’t think any part of our team has excelled,” Dombrowski told reporters this week in Chicago, where the Phillies were swept by the Cubs. “Offensively, pitching-wise, starting pitching-wise, defensively, I don’t think there’s been any portion of our game that’s been very good. And I think we’re much better. I think we’ll be much better.”
They’ll be better because they can’t be much worse. The starting pitching, in particular, will get a boost when Zack Wheeler returns Saturday night in Atlanta.
But there are real concerns about an offense that hinges on homers, primarily from Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. Witness the Phillies’ recent 0-for-26 spell with runners in scoring position.
» READ MORE: Winning a World Series ‘changes everything.’ And the Phillies legacies for this veteran core are riding on it.
“I did not see this coming,” an evaluator from a National League team said this week. “How many big hits have they gotten? The guys that have the back of the baseball card that have been able to do things have to start getting a couple of big hits when it counts. Not always the three-run homer. Just a line drive with men on base to drive in some runs is going to make you a better team.”
The lowest-hanging fruit has taken the fall so far. The Phillies demoted platoon left fielder Otto Kemp to triple A after a 2-for-20 start and released No. 5 starter Taijuan Walker, eating $15.3 million to be rid of his 9.13 ERA rather than stashing him in the bullpen as a long man.
Other, bigger changes will most certainly come if the next 15 games aren’t better than the first 25.
But if the wretched start has warmed manager Rob Thomson’s seat, it most certainly has brought back into focus a few offseason decisions from the Dombrowski-led front office that raised eyebrows at the time, in this space and others. Such as:
The cleanup crisis
This isn’t about Bo Bichette per se. It’s about the idea of Bo Bichette.
Because with a $200 million pursuit of Bichette in free agency in January, the Phillies tacitly acknowledged that they needed a right-handed bat for the middle of the order. They were close to signing him, too, until he accepted the Mets’ shorter-term, higher-dollar offer.
Not much Dombrowski could do about that.
But rather than chasing after other options in free agency or trades, the Phillies swiftly pivoted back to Realmuto, Bohm, and the status quo.
» READ MORE: The Phillies have elite speed at the top and bottom of the order. And it could be key for an inconsistent offense.
And that’s how a nonroster invitee to spring training with five games of major league experience began batting cleanup behind Harper.
But we’ll come back to Felix Reyes.
Dombrowski appeared on the 94.1 WIP-FM radio pregame show this week and said, “You really don’t have a No. 4 hitter at this time.” He’s right. Phillies cleanup hitters have combined for a .545 OPS. Only the Royals are worse.
Here’s the thing: It isn’t like this is a new problem.
The Phillies were 20th in the majors last season with a .720 OPS out of the cleanup spot. Harper, who typically bats third, highlighted the need for more production from the No. 4 hitter when he arrived in spring training in February.
“I think the numbers in the four-spot weren’t very good last year for our whole team,” he said. “So, whoever’s in that four-spot is going to have a big job to do.”
Most of those at-bats went to Bohm, who reprised the cleanup role for the first 11 games, went 8-for-43 (.186), and slugged .279. Thomson turned to Adolis García, among the few lineup newcomers. But Nick Castellanos’ replacement in right field went 5-for-27 (.185) and slugged .259 in seven games.
The Phillies reasonably expect more from Bohm and García, both former All-Stars. But how much more? The Rangers let García go in November after back-to-back disappointing seasons. Bohm was dogged by injuries last year after being dangled in trade talks the previous winter.
It’s no wonder Dombrowski went hard after Bichette, a move that would’ve had several offshoots, including a trade of Bohm, according to multiple sources.
But although they recognized the need for another right-handed hitter in the middle of the order, they reacted to Bichette’s agreement with the Mets by moving quickly to re-sign Realmuto to a three-year, $45 million deal rather than pursuing another right-handed power option.
(Two weeks later, Eugenio Suárez signed with the Reds for one year and $15 million.)
“I think we’re content with where we are at this point,” Dombrowski said in January, and he may already be haunted by those words.
Neither Bichette nor Suárez is off to a good start, but that isn’t the point. Bohm has verged on unplayable. He had two hits Wednesday night and doubled and scored Thursday, his first extra-base hit since April 6. Maybe it’s a start.
For now, though, Reyes is the cleanup hitter. A 25-year-old who wasn’t on the radar until late last week, he homered in his first major league at-bat last Saturday night and moved into the cleanup spot three nights later in his second major league game.
Raise your hand if you saw that coming.
“Reyes is going to hit,” said an NL scout who saw him in the minors. “He’s not a very good outfielder at all. But I do think he’s going to hit.”
The Phillies don’t have much choice but to find out.
Out of left field
Upon getting called back up from triple A in September, Kemp hit four homers and slugged .558 in 52 at-bats despite playing through knee and shoulder injuries that necessitated offseason surgery.
All winter, Dombrowski lavished the 26-year-old with praise, often without provocation.
“He’s a tough son of a gun,” Dombrowski said in December. “He’s a championship-type player.”
Say this for Kemp: He’s a feel-good story, reaching the majors last season after going undrafted from a small Division II college. But he came into the season with a total of 218 major league plate appearances and five starts in left field.
» READ MORE: J.T. Realmuto ‘never felt like a Plan B’ for Phillies while continuing fight to boost pay scale for catchers
There were few appealing options in free agency. (Avert your eyes if you click on Harrison Bader’s numbers with the Giants.) But given Kemp’s inexperience and the need for right-handed hitting, could the Phillies have gotten creative about finding a left field platoon partner for Brandon Marsh?
Maybe Reyes proves to be the answer, both in left field against lefties and in the cleanup spot. Maybe Edmundo Sosa gets more starts at third base, although he’s at his best in a supersub role.
It’s a lot to ask.
More likely, it’s going to take more from the supporting cast of veterans, notably Bohm, Bryson Stott, and García. For a few days in January, it seemed Dombrowski realized the Phillies needed more. The search ended when Bichette’s free agency did.
“I thought they had a chance to be great if everything clicked,” an NL scout said. “My biggest concern was surviving until Wheeler got back, and then the guys offensively doing what they’ve done in their careers. Those other guys just have underperformed.”
And not adding another right-handed bat now seems like a major miscalculation.
In Trea Turner and Justin Crawford, the Phillies have two of baseball's fastest players at the top and bottom of their batting order. It's a baserunning coach's dream. Paco Figueroa sat down with "Phillies Extra" to discuss his philosophy on baserunning and how the Phillies might be able to leverage the elite speed of Turner and Crawford to boost an offense that has struggled to score runs early in the season. Watch here.
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Previous episodes: Gage Wood | Scott Boras | Brian Barber | Aaron Nola | Justin Crawford | Garrett Stubbs | Kyle Schwarber | Brad Keller | J.T.Realmuto | Orion Kerkering
