Phillies

Phillies Deadline Moves Send Clear Front Office Message: The Team is Championship Caliber, Now the Stars Need to Play Like it

By Anthony SanFilippo

Published: Jul 31st, 2024 · 11:41 AM EDT

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The fog machine, positioned next to Zack Wheeler’s locker, sat there, dormant.

It had been getting overworked earlier this season, but recently, it’s only been asked to contribute to the Phillies vibes a few times.

In fact, walking into the Phillies clubhouse after their 7-6 extra inning loss to the New York Yankees, their third straight, and fifth in the last six games, there was also something very different – nobody was there.

Well, not nobody. New guy Carlos Estevez was there. The happy-go-lucky reliever made his Phillies debut Tuesday and pitched a clean inning. He was talking to two injured Phillies pitchers – Taijuan Walker and Ranger Suarez.

But that’s it.

After a few minutes, Estevez went up to a Phillies media relations representative and asked if he was needed – nice of the new guy to offer his services – but this was a game that required comments from veteran leaders who have been here all season. Estevez was told he wasn’t needed and he grabbed his stuff and headed out.

Eventually a few other guys meandered through. Garrett Stubbs was seen, but he didn’t play in the game. Matt Strahm had a rough inning, and didn’t seem to want to talk about it. He politely took questions from one reporter but gave a series of short answers before shaking hands and walking off.

Brandon Marsh, who had a heck of a game defensively but was 0-for-6 at the plate, made his way over to his locker after showering, but he too avoided questions.

Finally, after a long delay, it was Trea Turner who took up the mantle of being the lone spokesperson for the team – a team that is obviously frustrated with the way things have gone lately.

He was asked what’s not working for the team right now he had a simple answer:

“Everything,” he said.

Turner was on fire before the All-Star break. Since, he’s been ice cold.

He’s 8-for-48 (.167) since the All-Star break. His cohort right behind him in the lineup, Bryce Harper, has been even worse since the break (6-for-47; .128avg).

In fact, Harper is 10-for-62 (.161) since coming of his brief I.L. stint on July 9th after missing 10 days with a mild hamstring strain.

Bryce Harper in his last 6 games 1-25
Trea Turner in his last 6 games 4-28
Alec bohm in his last 6 games 6-21 pic.twitter.com/FUegEX9CAS

— Phillies fan. (@PhilliesGuy44) July 31, 2024

The brunt of the offensive malaise for the Phillies in the past couple weeks has been because of their lack of production. Sure, other guys are going through it as well. Prior to Tuesday, J.T. Realmuto was 3-for-21 (.143) since coming of the I.L. He did have three singles Tuesday though, which the Phillies hope is a positive sign as the team heads west for a lengthy road trip after Wednesday’s series finale with the Yankees.

Marsh was 0-for-6 Tuesday but at least he was making contact. Prior to hitting a home run on Monday he had struck out 44 times in his previous 98 at bats.

Stott is slowly starting to come around, but the Phillies absolutely refuse to play him against lefties all of the sudden.

(Update: He’s not in the lineup Wednesday, again. Nor is Turner, who is getting the day off.)

Trea Turner, Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh, JT Realmuto not in the lineup today as the Phillies try and avoid being swept for the first time this year

Schwarber DH
Hays 7
Harper 3
Bohm 5
Castellanos 9
Sosa 6
Wilson 4
Stubbs 2
Rojas 8

Sánchez LHP pic.twitter.com/Wpn3YOw6mh

— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) July 31, 2024

It’s not just Turner and Harper, but they’re the first guys everyone is going to look to or look at when the team is struggling, and for a good reason. They’re the two faces of the franchise. They’re linked not just by their superstar status, but by the length of their contracts and the $300 million-plus they each are receiving.

So it’s good that Harper came out to speak after Sunday’s loss to Cleveland. Kyle Schwarber, who is next on the totem poll behind those two, took his turn to explain the losing after Monday’s blowout. Turner had to answer the questions Tuesday.

“It comes down to the guys in the clubhouse,” Turner said. “We have the right group. We have a lot of guys who have played a lot of baseball. Everyone wants to write a story about this and that and look for certain things, but we know it’s a long season. We knew that this was probably going to happen at some point – whether it’s early, in the middle (of the season), or late – you go through these rough patches. I’ve been through plenty of them in my career and the good teams pull themselves out of it and learn from it, so I know we have the right group for that.”

He’s not wrong, but this funk is ill-timed for the Phillies because it has come at the same time as the trade deadline. Fans see a team scuffling and get it in their head that they need major upgrades. Many big names were discussed in the previous weeks. What prospects should they be willing to trade? Everyone had an opinion.

In the end, the Phillies brought in Austin Hays, Carlos Estevez, and Tanner Banks.

All three are upgrades over who they replaced – Cristian Pache, Seranthony Dominguez, and Gregory Soto, so it’s hard to argue that the team didn’t get better, because they did.

But was it enough?

The Phillies held on to the top prospects in the organization. They didn’t deplete the farm to chase after bigger fish. Internally, they are content with that because they believe in their team that they have and that marginal upgrades were all that were needed to win a championship.

They might be right, but this season, they better be.

Just when you didn’t think it was possible for the path to be clearer to win a championship than it was last October, the Phillies find themselves the favorite in the National League to get to the World Series.

Why not throw down the gauntlet and fill whatever remaining holes you had with the best available players?

Maybe they did that with Estevez. Maybe.

But as Jazz Chisholm launched two homers Tuesday – for the second consecutive game no less – many people are going to wonder why Hays was the target to upgrade the outfield and not Chisholm.

(To be clear, I believe Chisholm is vastly overrated and this honeymoon will eventually subside in New York, but for a fanbase that lives in the moment, they are right to question the decisions made by Dave Dombrowski and his staff).

Never mind that Hays had a very good game. Two hits, including his first homer as a Phillie. Four RBI, a stolen base. Solid defensive play in left field. It was noticeable.

But it was overshadowed by Chisholm – again, in the moment.

Time will tell if Dombrowski got this right, and it was smart to trust the team you have in place who, despite losing 10-of-14 STILL has the best record in the sport. But if he didn’t, and this team falters because he missed an opportunity to make the Phillies a juggernaut, well, then the criticisms will be 100 percent warranted.

In the meantime, the Phillies need to get themselves straightened out. They need to get the clubhouse bustling again, and not have a “weird” feeling, as Nick Castellanos put it after Monday’s loss.

They need to get that fog machine juiced up and cranking out that haze that is so thick you can’t see more than a few inches in front of your face when you walk in there.

They need to get back to being the Phillies. Whatever it takes. Just not a closed-door, players-only meeting.

Trea Turner says it’s not about work ethic or culture with the Phillies, they’re just “playing bad.”

“We work our asses off.”

(via @MrUram)

pic.twitter.com/pvDsxlVztu

— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) July 31, 2024

“So you guys can write about it and tell everyone we talked,” Turner asked. “No. Those things are for when guys are being lazy, or you have a bad culture and you’re not putting in the work. We don’t do those things. We work our asses off.”

There’s no doubt about that. Now, they just have to prove it by starting to win again.