Breaking: Phillies blame three of their star players for July slump.
To say that the Philadelphia Phillies have had a difficult time lately would be an understatement. To be honest, ever since they blew Los Angeles Dodgers out of town prior to the All-Star break, they have been in complete collapse.
The Phillies have looked like a shadow of their former self since opening the month of July 6-3, which includes that spectacular three-game demolition of the NL West leaders. They lost the series against the Oakland Athletics, of all teams, after losing the Dodgers set, losing 18-3 in the first-half finale.
We all assumed that they would have a good breather over the All-Star break and bounce back, but we couldn’t have been more mistaken. They lost two out of three games against the Pittsburgh Pirates and suffered the same fate against the Minnesota Twins. That was simply a horrible road trip, right?
They came home and dropped a series against the Cleveland Guardians and then got swept by the New York Yankees. If you’re counting, that’s five straight series losses. While the Phillies have lost a number of nasty, heartbreaking games, they have also missed out on a great deal of winnable games. Choosing which is worst is difficult.
Despite losing their lead in the MLB standings—they are now 3-9 since the All-Star break and 10-14 in July—they still lead the NL East by 6.5 games.
Don’t get us wrong, we’re not hitting the panic button. This team is too talented and has too many seasoned stars to play like this for the next two months — at least we hope. Manager Rob Thomson agrees, per MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki.
Thomson stated on Monday, “We’re a really talented club that is going through a tough time right now.” “I firmly think we’ll overcome it because we’re too skilled.”
So who is responsible for this current meltdown? There’s a lot of people to blame, yet it seems impossible to focus on just one or two of them. On the mound, in the batter’s box, in the field, out of the bullpen, and on both sides of the ball, there have been subpar performances.
