The Phillies are historically bad... and getting worse
Happy Father’s Day, Phillies fans. Here’s a suggestion for all you dads out there about to receive a cool Phillies necktie from your son or daughter - store it away until 2017 or 2018, when the Phillies actually expect to compete again.
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Happy Father's Day, Phillies fans. Here's a suggestion for all you dads out there about to receive a cool Phillies necktie from your son or daughter - store it away until 2017 or 2018, when we've been told to expect the Phillies to be competitive again.
These days, it seems like it'll be 2028 until the Phillies are any good. It's hard to say a team most experts predicted would end up with close to 90 losses is worse that we thought, but this team just seems to keep finding ways to surprise us.
(Editors note: This was written prior to Sunday's game, so all stats are up-to-date through Saturday's 10-1 loss to the Cardinals)
Right now, the team is on pace to lose 108 games this season, which would make this the worst season for the franchise since 1945. In the month of June, the Phillies have been outscored 110-54, including 80-25 in their last 12 games. In that span, the team has somehow managed to win two games, while dropping 10 in increasingly embarrassing fashion.
The first culprit is the team's lack of offense. The Phillies as a squad are batting a putrid .237 overall, with just 40 home runs so far on the season. In fact, they're the only team in the league with less than 200 RBI (they have 199). They're either at or near the bottom of the league in every single offensive category.
Unfortunately, the team's pitching has been equally as bad. Phillies starting pitchers have gone 26 straight games without recording a win, and in that span starters have lost 16 games. As a squad, their 4.38 ERA is 3rd worst in the NL, and have less wins (23) and more losses (46) than any other team in baseball.
Even their defense is terrible. The Phillies rank dead last in the entire league with -46 defensive runs saved According to BaseballReference.com, the biggest reasons for the defensive discrepancy are Utley, youngster Maikel Franco and departed outfielder Grady Sizemore.
Then there's all the other happenings that signal a team in the middle of an implosion. In a scene perfectly emblematic of the Phillies lost season, Ryne Sandberg decided to have outfielder Jeff Francoeur take the mound with the team down 17-3 to the Baltimore Orioles Tuesday night.
Francoeur pitched a hitless seventh inning, but got into some trouble in the bottom of the eighth. Phillies pitching coach Bob McClure tired to call the bullpen to get someone warmed up, but the phone was off the hook and McClure couldn't reach anyone.
Eventualy, Francoeur recorded a second out, but when McClure came to visit the mount he was ripped by second baseman Chase Utley for leaving the outfielder in the game. Bob Ford thinks Utley's berating of McClure was "a death knell" for Sandberg's tenure with Phillies, and I can't say I disagree with his prediction for the end of the season:
The certainty is that two great second baseman will be leaving soon. One because the other stood on the mound and made his own symbolic call to the managerial bullpen; there is no recovering from that. And the other because the tide of the game does not shift once it begins to fall.
By the way, here's the cartoon I drew back in 2013 when McClure was hired:
Fans aren't dumb. There's a reason why the average paid attendanceis down to its lowest level since the Phillies moved into Citizens Bank Park - this team is unwatchable. And they appear to have given up.
"This is an all-time low for me visually watching," Mike Schmidt said following Saturday's loss. "I can't remember where I was involved in a stretch of games or a season that's gotten to this point."