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PHILADELPHIA -- "Well, we've struggled offensively."
Those were the words of Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski on Wednesday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. Now, his club has been winning plenty of baseball games of late -- but that doesn’t mean the offense hasn't been an issue.
“We know we need to get better. We're all working towards that," Dombrowski said. "But I think most important is we're winning games. Sometimes you win games with defense, sometimes you win games with doing the little things, and we've been doing that much better.”
To his point, the Phillies are 24-10 since interim manager Don Mattingly took over five weeks ago. That's the best record in the Majors during that span.
“But I think there's definitely room for improvement in our offense,” Dombrowski added. “And I think everybody feels that way.”
So, where will those improvements come from?
In a perfect world, they may have come from top prospect Aidan Miller. Instead, the soon-to-be-22-year-old is set to undergo a procedure on Friday that the Phillies hope will fix the recurring back issue that has sidelined him since the early days of Spring Training.
In the absence of any obvious reinforcements, the Phillies are going to need those improvements to come from guys already on the roster not named Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper and Brandon Marsh.
So let's rank the other six regulars in order of which players the Phils most need to step up in the coming months.
SS Trea Turner
Season stats: .228/.276/.348 (.624 OPS)
The outlook: There’s no question that Turner is the player the Phillies most need to turn things around. The reigning NL batting champion has provided such little production atop the lineup that the club recently dropped him out of the leadoff spot in favor of Schwarber.
Turner responded to that move by homering in each of his first two games out of the No. 2 spot, but he's gone just 6-for-24 (.250) with six K's and zero extra-base hits in his six games since. For the Phillies to get where they want to go this season, they need Turner to start getting on base -- and to preferably do so out of the leadoff spot in front of Schwarber and Harper.
It’s no secret that Turner is frustrated. He’s said so himself a few times -- and it was apparent when he flung his bat and smashed his helmet following a seventh-inning flyout on Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium. While Turner and the Phillies continue to search for answers, they are optimistic he will turn the corner soon.
RF Adolis García
Season stats: .196/.275/.316 (.591 OPS)
The outlook: García has been one of the least productive players offensively in Major League Baseball this season. Fortunately for the Phillies, he’s been arguably their best defensive player this season.
That’s significant for a team that has relied almost exclusively on winning close, low-scoring games over the past month. With runs so hard to come by offensively, any time García can potentially prevent one is vitally important.
Still, they need more from him offensively, and he knows it. That’s why he went to Citizens Bank Park on Monday’s off-day to take batting practice -- a rarity for big leaguers. It may have paid off as García doubled on Wednesday, then ripped his first homer since May 6 on Thursday.
“Well, I mean, you’d have to say it's helped him, right?" Mattingly said. "He went from struggling to swinging the bat good, so credit to him.”
3B Alec Bohm
Season stats: .212/.270/.330 (.600 OPS)
The outlook: Bohm appeared to be coming out of his funk after Mattingly gave him that two-game reset in early May. The third baseman responded with a two-homer game in his first game back in the lineup. That was the start of an 11-game hitting streak during which he hit .405 with four homers and a 1.230 OPS.
Bohm, though, is just 7-for-38 (.184) with one extra-base hit in 10 games since.
2B Bryson Stott
Season stats: .221/.268/.379 (.647 OPS)
The outlook: Stott and Bohm have had eerily similar seasons. The only reason Stott is lower on this list is because it's more important for the Phillies to start getting some production from a right-handed hitter.
Starting at the same exact time that Bohm went on his run, Stott hit .302 with seven extra-base hits (including two homers) over 15 games in mid-May. He's just 4-for-32 (.125) since.
C J.T. Realmuto
Season stats: .216/.289/.313 (.602 OPS)
The outlook: Yes, the Phillies want more offense out of Realmuto than the .595 OPS he’s provided after signing a three-year, $45 million deal this offseason. But the reality is you can’t put a value on what Realmuto brings to the pitching stuff. He also still has the best pop time among all catchers.
So while the Phillies could certainly benefit from an uptick in offense, the value Realmuto provides behind the plate helps offset some of that.
His clutch home run in Wednesday night's victory was a step in the right direction.
CF Justin Crawford
Season stats: .232/.295/.339 (.634 OPS)
The outlook: At just 22 years old, Crawford was never expected to carry a big load offensively this season. Still, he got off to an encouraging start by slashing .276/.343/.409 through his first 40 games, but he's slashed just .120/.170/.160 in 16 games since. There were always going to be some growing pains.