Time is a matter of perspective, even a third of the way through a 162-game baseball schedule.
The Phillies find themselves thinking about time as they finished their May slate on Monday afternoon with an 11-1 loss to the Reds in Cincinnati. They are 25-29, making this their worst 54-game start since a 19-35 run in 2017. The Phils are 4 1/2 games behind the Mets in the National League East. They need to start playing better quickly, because if they continue like this, it will make no sense for president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski to trade prospects for reinforcements before the end of July, an expectation that provided Bryce Harper some comfort just a couple weeks ago.
But the Phillies cannot panic, either. They have 108 games to play. This is not a 60-game season, like last year.
Sometimes, though, it still feels like it is.
“There are times when it’s obvious that we're frustrated, right?” Rhys Hoskins said. “Nobody likes to go through stretches like this. But that’s kind of part of a long season. I think especially early on with some struggles, it’s been a little hard to shake the feel of a 60-game sprint that we had last year, and there’s probably a little bit of earlier -- I don’t want to say panic -- but there’s just a little earlier worry that I think maybe we’ve had as a group or guys have had individually, that might not have happened in the past.
“That’s something that we’ve got to shake. We’re 54 games into the season. We’ve got a lot of baseball left. And especially in the northeast and in Philly, when the summer months come, we get some guys back, we get some guys feeling more like themselves, we're going to score some runs. We’ve just got to weather the storm right now.”
The Phillies went 12-16 in May, but it felt worse.
They played the month at times without Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Jean Segura, Didi Gregorius, Archie Bradley and others because of injuries. They lost JoJo Romero and Roman Quinn to season-ending injuries. There were blown saves and crazy losses, like the walk-off defeat to the Braves on May 8. Phillies manager Joe Girardi and Segura had a spat in the dugout on May 16 in Dunedin, Fla. The club played that same game without anybody healthy on the bench, only to force Harper into action because it lost Scott Kingery after he crashed into the right-field wall. The Phils forgot to double-check the lineup card on May 4 against the Brewers. They struggled offensively -- they have scored three or fewer runs in 10 of their past 12 games -- and cost themselves outs and runs nearly every game with the worst defense in baseball, as on May 2 against the Mets and Saturday vs. the Rays.
Girardi’s announcement last week that he will no longer reveal or discuss injuries (unless the player is on the injured list) because it hurts the team strategically will bother nobody in the clubhouse or front office. But it added to a public perception that things are unraveling for a team with the fifth-highest payroll in baseball.
Girardi said he still sees fight in his team. He still thinks they can win.
The Phillies will have to win in the short-term without Harper and Gregorius. Harper (bruised left wrist) can be activated from the IL on Wednesday, but it will not happen. He just started to hit. Gregorius (right elbow inflammation) can be activated at any time, but he just started to throw.
“I know we’re missing some guys, but other teams are missing guys, too,” Girardi said. “We just need to play better. We need to do all three facets of the game better. If not, we’re putting ourselves in a tough spot.”
Vince Velasquez had a 2.30 ERA in six starts since he joined the rotation last month, but he allowed six runs in three innings against the Reds. The Phillies never had a chance after that.
“It’s tough, man,” Velasquez said. “It’s a tough feeling all around. We’re just trying to find some light at the end of the tunnel.”
The Phillies believe they will, eventually.
“Something is going to happen,” Hoskins said. “Some big moment is going to happen. It’s kind of just going to click, because that’s usually how it goes. So, frustrated for sure. But you know, we’re still working our butts off. And it’s going to change.”
The Phillies are just a third of the way through the season. Teams have overcome worse starts. But if they want help from the front office over the next couple months, they cannot wait forever, either.
“It’s not early. It’s not,” Girardi said.