The Philadelphia Phillies suffered a 14-4 loss to the New York Yankees in the first game of a three-game set, and it was the fifth series in a row that Philadelphia lost the first game. It has been a struggle for the Phillies as of late, and former player and broadcaster John Kruk spoke on their recent play, saying that now is not the time to panic.
“Well yeah, and it's unlike them. They usually win that first game of the series and then move on from there, but it is frustrating. I get it,” John Kruk said on NBC Sports Philadelphia. “You know a lot of the fans are frustrated. You know they're calling for team meetings, and you know they need to get more disciplined with these guys.
“Everything's fine when you're winning, but then you start losing, all of a sudden changes need to be made. They just have to start playing baseball again! They're not playing winning baseball right now, but the defense has let them down recently. Some guys are struggling offensively. The starting pitching has been not what it was earlier in the year.
“But you know what, they still got the best record in all of baseball. And so there's no need to panic in this thing. You have to trust that these guys are gonna figure it out, and figure it out sooner than later, and get back to their winning ways.”
As Kruk said, the Phillies do still have the best record in MLB, and there is plenty of time to get things on the right track as they are 8.5 games up on the Atlanta Braves for first place in the National League East. There is still some time to add more help ahead of Tuesday's 6 p.m. trade deadline as well.
How can the Phillies fix their struggles?
Although the Phillies could use some more help at the trade deadline, the biggest factor for them fixing their losing ways, is simply their best players performing better and more to their career norms.
For instance, Zack Wheeler had a really rough outing against the Yankees on Monday, giving up seven earned runs on seven hits. Zack Wheeler is capable of performing like an ace, and his track record suggests that this is not the norm for him.
The pitching matchups could favor the Phillies in the remaining games in this series with Aaron Nola facing Gerrit Cole on Tuesday, and Cristopher Sanchez facing Nestor Cortes on Wednesday, barring a trade, as the Yankees consider trading Cortes.
It will be interesting to see who the Phillies add and how soon they can fix their struggles.
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