Phillies start road trip rough, dominated by Mariners 10-2
Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
It’s been an open secret that the Phillies have been very, very bad since sweeping the Dodgers and tonight was no different. What felt like an effortless blowout loss to an extremely beatable Seattle Mariners. Let’s go over what was one of the worst nights for the team this season
Tyler Phillips implosion
Phillips had been one of the few bright spots as of late, slotting into a starting role and being elite in his small sample size while pitching for his hometown team nonetheless.
Against a revamped Mariners lineup after their deadline, Phillips was completely shelled. Not even escaping the 2nd inning and allowing 8 ER, 3 of which from the long ball.
From there the bullpen put forward a valiant effort with the next 5.1 innings being split between Jose Ruiz, Yunior Marte, new addition Tanner Banks, and Jose Alvarado all of them allowing just 1ER. The 8th inning was pitched by Garrett Stubbs who managed to bring his ERA down all the way to 21.00
It would be unfair to too heavily criticize Phillips for his performance tonight as he has still been a great presence in a shorthanded rotation in his rookie year and hopefully will only build off this early success.
The bats have absolutely vanished
Since the All-Star break, the Phillies have had the 6th worst offense in MLB in terms of runs scored and we really should’ve seen this coming against such an elite rotation like Seattle’s.
Bryan Woo absolutely dominated Phillies hitters, pitching 7 scoreless innings and racking up 6 Ks in the process.
The only runs the Phillies would score would come in the top of the 9th off of Jhonathan Diaz whose ERA on the season is 7.11.
The stars have faded since the break
I hate to say it as well, but Bryce Harper has been a huge part of the offense’s struggles in the 2nd half. In the blink of an eye, he went from the NL MVP to a guy who’s been hitting a whopping .103 since the break.
Trea Turner hasn’t been much better he sits at just a .157 average since the break, along with Brandon Marsh at .158.
If the Phillies learned anything from the NLCS last year it was that Craig Kimbrel should be trusted in high-pressure moments and that this team will not succeed if Harper, Turner, Nick Castellanos, J.T. Realmuto, and Kyle Schwarber aren’t producing. Since the break only Realmuto and Schwarber have been at least serviceable but none of them have been their usual selves.
Use code PHILLYSPORTSREPORT for $20 off your first SeatGeek order
Click here to save 10% on any order at FOCO
