Phillies' bullpen woes threaten division lead

The Philadelphia Phillies seemed invincible in late May, cruising through their schedule and building a commanding division lead. By July 13, they were 29 games over .500 and sat 9.5 games ahead in the NL East. 

Since then, it's been a different story. The Phillies have gone 4-12, and their lead has shrunk to six games. They've been outscored 77-92, a statistic softened only by four shutout wins.

The dog days of August have exposed the Phillies’ vulnerabilities. Their hitting has faltered, their energy seems sapped, but most alarming is the state of their bullpen. 

Last season, the bullpen blew 29 leads and had only three walk-off losses. This season, they've already blown leads 26 times with six walk-off losses, including three since July 19. If the bullpen doesn't improve, the Phillies risk losing their division lead and any chance of a deep October run.

Addressing the bullpen was supposed to be a priority for president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, who brought in Carlos Estevez at the deadline. Even Estevez has struggled, recording his fourth loss of the season on Aug. 3 after allowing his first run, albeit unearned, since May 21. 

Prior to Estevez's arrival, six Phillies pitchers combined for 27 saves. Estevez has converted 20 of 23 save opportunities, while the rest of the bullpen has blown 17 saves.

J.T. Realmuto summed up the frustration. 

"It's something different every night," Realmuto told Matt Gelb of The Athletic. "We've had the lead in multiple games now — late in the game — and not been able to hold it. There's been games where we pitched great and just haven't put any runs on the board. The games we have hit well, we haven’t seemed to pitch well. It's just finding multiple ways to lose games right now."

Bryce Harper was equally candid.

"I could say we haven’t been playing good baseball on both sides of the ball," Harper said. "Pretty sloppy as a team — we’ve got to turn the page. We’ve got to cowboy up and play the right way. We’re a damn good team."