Key Takeaways from the Phillies’ Slow Start
The stage was set. John Middleton cozied up next to former President George W. Bush to take in the national anthem. The lights couldn’t have been any brighter, the crowd any bigger, or the expectations any higher than they already were. It was Major League Baseball’s Opening Day and the reigning National League champion Philadelphia Phillies were in town to take on the Texas Rangers.
The spectacle felt as if it was as much for the visiting team as it was for the Rangers – the Phillies, baseball’s biggest story since their Cinderella run to the World Series took the globe by storm just five months ago – were back on the field, led by longtime ace Aaron Nola. A veritable super team made up of might, muscle, and Middleton’s checkbook, just one question remained as they took the field last Thursday afternoon: just how good would they look?
The answer, for the first three innings, was great. The team stormed out to an early lead, tagging Ranger’s free-agent splash Jacob DeGrom for five runs on six extra-base hits, while Nola kept his cool on the mound. And then, in the bottom of the fourth, everything imploded.
Nola started to get hit – hard – and was yanked with two outs left in the inning after giving up five runs. What started as just a crooked number, however, spiraled into a 9 run rally for the Rangers, setting the tone for the rest of the weekend.
The Rangers won on Opening Day, surviving a late surge by the Phillies to win 11-7. They won again on Saturday, 16-3, and again on Sunday, 2-1. For the first time since 2016 and the fifth time this century, the Philadelphia Phillies are 0-3. Yes, your National League champion, $232 million Phillies. Baseball’s funny that way.
So what does this mean for the team? For their season? For their championship aspirations?
Not much, in the grand scheme of things. The Major League Season is an equal parts exercise in patience and time management: the Phillies have 159 more chances to prove worthy of the expectations ladled upon a roster as talented and expensive as they are. Three games could very well prove to be just a drop in the bucket on the team’s path to a championship – it was for the Atlanta Braves in 2021, after they were swept by the Phillies to start the season.
Even still, dropping three straight to open the season isn’t close to ideal and frankly, frustrating as hell. This was the team’s first chance to show what they had and they flubbed it. The magic, for whatever reason, just didn’t seem to be there. That’s not to say, however, that there wasn’t anything to take away from the Phillies’ first series – if we take the emotion away by disregarding the game results, there’s plenty to glean from the on-field action alone.
Starting Pitching
Yes, the bullpen was atrocious in both of the first two games against the Rangers, with key pieces such as Gregory Soto, Craig Kimbrel, and Seranthony Dominguez all letting up big innings to effectively take the Phillies out of the game on both days. However, early season flukiness from what is effectively a very talented and experienced bullpen doesn’t pose the same level of concern as a severe lack of depth in the starting rotation does. Both Nola and Zack Wheeler, the Phillies’ two best pitchers by a long shot, struggled in their debuts. It was only in Sunday’s 2-1 loss, that Bailey Falter, the team’s fifth best starter, kept the game close with a strong outing. Taijaun Walker, an important addition in free-agency, looks to give the team the same kind of chance in his debut against the New York Yankees.
The issue is that due to injuries to established lefty Ranger Suarez and top prospect Andrew Painter, the starting rotation is already paper thin. Falter, a player of admirable effort and adequate talent, should never be the third starter in a championship rotation – much less should reliever Matt Strahm be the “opener” in the fifth spot in lieu of Painter or Suarez. With Suarez out for at least two more weeks and Painter’s availability for the entire season already in question, the Phillies need, more than anything, for their starting rotation to step up early on in the year. The bullpen, as we’ve seen this past weekend, can only withstand so much work early on – especially with every fifth start now declared a “bullpen game”. The offense is strong, the defense reliably terrible, and the bullpen completely capable of being a shutdown unit – for the team to stay in games and have a competitive record in the first six weeks of the season, it’ll need its starting rotation to consistently pitch into the sixth inning and beyond.
Offensive Prowess
Despite opening the season with three straight losses, the Phillies did show promise in one key area: their offense. To no one’s surprise, this team will function through their offense – perhaps even more so than last year. No, they don’t appear to be especially deep without Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper and no, they didn’t hit well with runners in scoring position on Sunday, but even still, they showed the potential to be a truly dangerous and explosive lineup. With Trea Turner at the top of the order and Brandon Marsh at the bottom, the Phillies now have speed throughout the lineup, punctuated by big blasts of power throughout. A beefed-up Alec Bohm, who went 3-4 with a home run and double on Opening Day and a reinvigorated Nick Castellanos, who went 4-11 with two walks over the weekend could fill the gaps left by Hoskins and Harper. JT Realmuto also looked strong at the plate as did second baseman Bryson Stott, who went 5-11 with two hits against the left-handed Martin Perez on Sunday night.
Discover more from Philadelphia Sports Nation
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categorized:Phillies