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A Lifeless Phillies Offense… Sound Familiar?
By Luke Arcaini
Published:
The Phillies have lost five straight games, nine out of their last 10, and were swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates over the weekend, a bottom five team in all of baseball.
The offense has been outscored 60-30 over the last nine. They’ve scored four or more runs once in their last seven games. They’re sputtering, and it’s concerning. They look like a lifeless baseball team that is just going through the motions and thinks they can sleepwalk their way to the playoffs.
They can’t, and if they don’t realize that soon, they’ll be golfing in October.
The Phillies lost 7.5 games in the NL East standings since the last game of the Braves series at Citizens Bank Park on May 29th. A lot of that is because of the offense.
Trea Turner is the only hitter that’s giving the team any production in the month of June. He’s slashing .300/.323/.633 with a .956 OPS in 7 games this month. The next-highest OPS on the team in June is Nick Castellanos, who is nearly 200 points lower than Turner.
June OPS
- Nick Castellanos: .766
- Brandon Marsh: .650
- Alec Bohm: .629
- Johan Rojas: .583
- JT Realmuto: .572
- Kyle Schwarber: .422
- Edmundo Sosa: .282
- Bryson Stott: .237
- Max Kepler: .170
- Weston Wilson: .111
The Phillies bet on their players this offseason over any true marginal improvements to the lineup. That hasn’t worked out for them so far. Their only outside addition to the lineup, Max Kepler, is hitting .208 this season with a .660 OPS. Brandon Marsh is hitting .216 with a .639 OPS and a -0.4 WAR. Johan Rojas is hitting .245 with a .629 OPS. Alec Bohm is up to .270 on the year, but just a .685 OPS. He’s turned into a slap-hitter, not the doubles machine he was last year. Bryson Stott has a .641 OPS.
It’s a team filled with lifeless players whenever they hit any sort of block in the road. Luckily for the Phillies, Stott plays unbelievable defense, so it’s a bit easier to pass his struggles more at the plate than others, but not when he’s in the leadoff spot. If he’s the first guy to bat for the Phillies, you can’t have a sub-650 OPS.
Marsh is hitting just .225 against right-handed pitching this season, compared to .262 with a .792 OPS in 2024. His defense has been below average. JRojas has range like I’ve never seen in centerfield, and the glove is awesome, but he’s proven that he really struggles at the plate off of the bench and not playing everyday.
The Phillies have more duds than stars in their lineup right now. You won’t win that way. I’d love to know this team’s record this year if they didn’t have Turner or Kyle Schwarber.
It’s time to shake something up. Is it a team meeting? Is it a lineup change? Is it a demotion? Honestly, I hope it’s all of it. Send a message. This team has gotten complacent with hot and cold baseball, and show absolutely no heart whenever they get kicked in the chest. Maybe a kick to their chest will make them kick a team in the chest, because whatever they’re doing right now sure isn’t working.
You’ve gotten an insane amount of production out of your starting pitching this year, and you continue to let them down. Cristopher Sanchez held his own against Paul Skenes on Sunday afternoon and his offense gave him nothing. Can you imagine how that feels for him?
It won’t get any easier Monday night. The Chicago Cubs come to town, an offense that can rake. I’d be shocked if a major change doesn’t happen over the next few days. Turner or Schwarber back to the leadoff spot would be my first guess/move. Could a demotion or promotion be on the horizon? It’s not out of the question. Justin Crawford hasn’t played the last few days due to a minor hamstring injury. When he’s healthy, do the Phillies give him a shot? It can’t be worse than the production you’re getting out of Kepler, Marsh, and Rojas right now.
Luke Arcaini writes about the Phillies for Crossing Broad, covers the Phillies for FOX Sports The Gambler, and co-hosts "Phillies Digest" on YouTube. The wave is the worst thing in all of sports. Contact: lukearcaini8@gmail.com