Harper, who is struggling, provides perspective as the trade deadline draws near: “Superstars got to show up.”
The Phillies have encountered an obstacle.
The Phillies are 4-8 and have lost four straight series against the Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twins, and Cleveland Guardians after sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Against a pitcher making his Major League Baseball debut on Sunday, the Phillies had a chance to end that run. Although the Phillies faced a potent bullpen and Steven Kwan, the front-runner for the American League batting title, became the first lefty to homer against José Alvarado in the regular season in almost two years, Kyle Schwarber hit two home runs in his first two at-bats.
They are not yet hurt by the slump. They led the Atlanta Braves by nineteen games going into the A’s series. The Phillies have only dropped one game in the standings while the Braves went 5-7 during the same time period.
But I’m getting more and more frustrated. In six of the eight losses, the Phillies led. In three of those defeats, the Phillies led by three runs at one time during the contest. In both the series finale versus Minnesota and the first game following the break in Pittsburgh, the bullpen made mistakes. It has been expensive to make defensive errors, like Marsh’s misplayed fly ball against the Twins and his carelessness in the opening game of the Guardians series.
