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| Photo: Associated Press |
It's appropriate that the Phillies are playing the Cubs this weekend, because most of us can't bear to watch them these days. It's gotten grizzly. They don't even do the bear minimum. As I write this, the Phillies have lost 5 games in a row, including getting swept by the stinkin New York Mets. After their hot start to the season, the Phillies are now a .500 team. A wise man once said, "you are what your record says you are".
Before anyone says it, yes, I know it's only April. Some people with the Phils have said that BS notion that it's so early in the season, and that it's not time to panic. Phillies President Dave Dombrowski has said that. Hell, even John Kruk said it recently on an NBC Sports Philly postgame show. No disrespect to Kruk, whom I really like as an analyst...but that is a crock from Kruk. I fully believe the notion that while you can't win the division in April, you can certainly lose it. And issues not addressed now, can spiral out of control.
As of this writing, the Phillies trail the Mets by 5 games in the division. Here is where I WILL reference the calendar. The Mets are ALREADY up by 5 games, and we're not even through April yet. Let me ask you a question? Do you have ANY confidence in this Phillies team, that they will turn things around? Honestly I don't. And for that, I put the blame squarely on Dombrowski.
Like a lot of you, I was thrilled when the Phillies hired him. His track record is amazing. He has won everywhere he has been. And he certainly got off to a good start here. The Phils hired him in December 2020, and after missing the playoffs in 2021, the Phillies got to the World Series in 2022. But since then it's been all downhill. Out in the NLCS in 2023 and out in the NLDS in 2024. The glaring issues that caused those premature playoff exits are still apparent. If WE can see that, why can't he?
A lot of people, including some people very close to me, want to blame Phils Manager Rob Thomson. Does he get some of the blame? I guess so. But a chef can't make a gourmet meal with substandard ingredients. I don't care how good the chef is. I think Thomson is a good manager, and a lot like Nick Sirianni with the Eagles, his players love him. Do I question some of Thomson's moves? Of course. It's a 162 game season. That's a lot of games, and there are bound to be things he does that we don't agree with. My one big criticism of Thomson recently was in the Mets series. JT Realmuto is called out on strikes, on a pitch that was WAY out of the strike zone. Like many Phils fans, I wanted Thomson to come out and raise hell, and get thrown out of the game. Maybe that would have woken this team up. But he did not. That was a missed opportunity.
But beyond that, I've been OK with Thomson so far. It's Dombrowski that I have an issue with. We knew after last season, the outfield and the bullpen were issues, especially after Jeff Hoffman left. We also knew this lineup had a tendency to go cold all at the same time. So who were Dombrowski's big signings? Max Kepler...and Jordan Romano. Kepler is fine. Not thrilling, not exciting, but fine. And Romano has been a disaster. The issues that have plagued this team in the playoffs for the past two years are still there.
If you're Thomson, and say Zack Wheeler goes six innings, who do you go to in the bullpen? Joe Ross? Jose Ruiz? That's a crapshoot. Emphasis on the "crap" part. Even guys like Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm, who have been reliable for the most part, have struggled lately. Jose Alvarado is the man. But beyond him, who do you have? This lies squarely on Dombrowski.
Yet there he was last week on the Phillies Radio pre-game show, telling Gregg Murphy that "it's still early". From the hitting standpoint, he said the weather hasn't stayed consistently warm, and of course warm weather is better for hitters. But unless I am mistaken, aren't the Phillies opponents on any given night also playing in the same climate?
So it's time to stop making excuses. It's time to admit this team has a A TON of flaws, and address those issues. It's time for Dombrowski to fix this team. Otherwise it will be a long summer around here.