Phillies’ biggest flop to begin 2026 MLB season

The Phillies have been playing as if scoring in multiple innings in a game is against baseball’s rules. They suffered a 5-4 loss to the Diamondbacks Friday night after scoring all of their runs in the first inning. They got blanked the rest of the way. The Phillies scored four runs in the third inning Saturday, and that was all the offense they could muster. It was good enough to earn the victory.

Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber are the two prime leaders for the Phillies, and either one of those stars can carry the team when they go on a hot streak. If they both get hot at the same time, they will simply dominate many of their opponents. They did hit back-to-back home runs in their win over the Diamondbacks, but more is needed.

Harper is slashing .250/.350/.500 with 3 home runs and 9 runs batted in. While those numbers are not awful, they are not worthy of a player who signed a 13-year, $330 million contract. Harper will remain under the team’s control through the 2031 season.

Schwarber has been an all or nothing hitter for several seasons, but he could be so much more than that. He is slashing .188/.371/.479 with 4 home runs and 9 runs batted in. However, he has struck out 23 times and is likely on a 200-strikeout season. He has done that twice in his career, and he has fanned 197 times each of the last two years.

Schwarber regularly fits the modern approach of delivering the long ball above everything else. However, this may be the season where the opposite-field approach might work well in combination with the implementation of the ABS system.

Supporting cast and starting pitchers need to step up

While the big names on the Phillies need to be more consistent, the supporting cast has fallen badly. Third baseman Alec Bohn has been invisible. He is hitting .157 with 1 home run and 8 RBI. He has just one other extra base hit — a double — besides his home run.

Second baseman Bryson Stott has started 12 games for the Phillies, but he is hitting just .190 with no home runs and 2 RBI. Shortstop Trea Turner is a three-time All-Star and two-time National League batting champion, but he is hitting .237 with just 3 RBI. The 32-year-old is suddenly failing at the plate and Thomson needs him to wake up right away.

The Phillies know their starting pitching can be dominant, but that has not been the case to this point in the season.
While Christopher Sanchez has a 1.65 earned run average in 17.1 innings on the mound that has seen him make 3 starts, Jesus Luzardo has a 6.23 ERA and has given up 12 earned runs in 16.1 innings.

Taijuan Walker has been something of dumpster fire with his 7.36 ERA while giving up 4 home runs in 14.2 innings of work.

Aaron Nola is the ace of the staff and he has been decent, but he has not pitched at anything close to peak level. He has a 3.63 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 17.1 innings. He needs to set the tone for the rest of the staff with a couple impressive outings that see him deliver 7-plus shutdown innings for the Phillies.