Phillies

Another Night of Bad Baseball Raises Some Big Picture Questions

By Bob Wankel

Published: May 22nd, 2021 · 12:00 AM EDT

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If you came here for a game recap, sorry. We need not waste more time beyond the roughly 3.5 hours it took to complete the Phillies’ latest loss, a dreadful 11-3 setback to the Red Sox.

Aaron Nola wasn’t sharp again. They didn’t hit much again. They sure as hell didn’t catch the ball again. They lost again.

See, I got you home in 22 words, and there’s absolutely no need to go beyond that.

After this latest loss, my guess is that anyone paying attention has both some concerns and questions.

I know I do, so let’s compare notes:

Question 1: Who is the leader of this team?

The Phillies are an absolutely lifeless team right now, one that has often demonstrated poor body language on the field in recent days.

Clearly, they have defensive deficiencies. Those deficiencies aren’t likely to be fixed barring personnel changes. The idea that a few extra grounders two hours before the game will fundamentally change things is naive. The Phillies were never going to be a good defensive team because they simply don’t have plus defenders. They knew this.

"We knew we weren’t going to be a real good defensive club. But you hope that you can play well and catch the balls that you can catch," Dave Dombrowski said before tonight's Phillies game. Not happening tonight.

— Matt Breen (@matt_breen) May 22, 2021

That being said, many of the mistakes the Phillies make have nothing to do with skill limitations. Instead, many of the mistakes are rooted in a lack of focus, concentration, and communication. The Phillies need to “control the controllables,” and it certainly feels like a lack of accountability, at least in part, is preventing that from happening.

We tend to romanticize leadership in sports. You know, someone has to close the clubhouse door and flip a table, throw something, or deliver some rousing speech. I’m not a big believer that one meeting, one speech, or one tirade will change things, but someone in that locker room needs to emerge as a guy who takes charge and says enough is enough.

Frankly, I don’t know who that is, or if the Phillies even have that player currently on the roster.

Losing streaks happen. Stretches of bad baseball happen. But what we’ve seen through 45 games goes far, far beyond small samples sizes or the natural ebb and flow of a 162-game season.

I suspect as Dave Dombrowski does his homework on the organization’s recent failings and currently sloppy product that he’s coming to the realization he will have to fundamentally alter the core of this group to move things forward.

Question 2: How much longer can the Phillies continue to play Alec Bohm at third base?

Questions about leadership are a bit abstract, so let’s turn to this more practical question.

Yes, the Phillies desperately need Bohm’s bat in the lineup, but they just as desperately need a third baseman who doesn’t turn every two-hopper and/or throw into a roller coaster ride.

Bohm had two of the Phillies’ six hits on Friday night and some bad luck on a liner stole a potential third knock, but he also committed two more errors. His gaffe in the fifth was particularly egregious, one that broke the game open for Boston:

https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1395904293266468872?s=20

From this perspective, there was a play at the plate that could have prevented Boston’s fourth run from scoring — an important run, particularly given the way the Phillies are struggling to plate runs right now.

But with J.D. Martinez dead to rites off the second base bag, Bohm decided to take the easy out. The sure thing. The guarantee.

So much for that.

After the game, Phillies starter Aaron Nola said he thought Bohm made the correct decision to go to second, but their manager disagreed.

“I think there’s a play at the plate,” Joe Girardi said.

When asked about what Bohm saw on the play, Girardi simply said, “It’s something that we will take care of.”

On a separate note, Girardi said he wasn’t sure why second baseman Jean Segura didn’t move after Bohm’s poor throw trickled into center, so things are also going well on that front.

Two innings later, Bohm would commit his seventh error of the season (tied for the most among third baseman) on an errant throw that pulled Rhys Hoskins off the first base bag. That mistake helped lead to Boston’s sixth and seventh runs of the evening.

“I mean, he works his butt off, he really does,” Girardi said. “But sometimes things can snowball a little bit before they get better, but we have to get him to come out of it.”

Indeed, the Phillies have to figure something out here. Does Bohm get a few days to clear his head? That’s tough to do with a depleted roster. Do they give him extra pregame work and pray? Long term, do they consider a move to first base or perhaps left field?

We’ll see, but they have to do something.

Question 3: What’s the deal with Aaron Nola?

Through 10 starts, Nola has a 3.94 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. Those numbers aren’t exactly Cy Young material, but his overall performance this season hasn’t been dreadful.

The same can’t be said about his four turns through the rotation this month.

Nola has averaged less than five innings per start on his way to accumulating a 5.40 ERA in May. In particular, the first inning has been problematic. After quickly putting the Phillies in a 2-0 hole on Friday night, Nola has now allowed a total of eight runs in the first over his last four starts.

Of course, there’s the idea that if you don’t get to certain pitches early, then you’re not going to get them at all. That’s all fine and well, but he didn’t exactly slam the door shut against the Braves in Atlanta two weeks ago or tonight against the Red Sox.