If you’re annoyed, feel your feelings.
Sometimes, sports doubles as our therapist. Oftentimes, it causes us to seek one out.
Once again this season, the Phillies entered the season with World Series aspirations thanks to a powerful lineup loaded with All Stars, a starting rotation with big game pitchers and one of the best bullpens in baseball. All spring, manager Rob Thomson talked about changing their focus down in Clearwater with more emphasis on winning in order to hit the ground running when the regular season began.
Yet once again, the Phillies are off to a frustratingly slow start.
Things began ominously on Opening Day when the Phillies wasted an outstanding effort by Zack Wheeler and blew a late 2-0 lead in a 9-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves. Aaron Nola and the bullpen got blasted on Saturday, 12-4. And while the Phils salvaged the series finale on Sunday, 5-4, they were victimized by a 10th inning grand slam off reliever Connor Brogdon in a 6-3 loss to the Reds on Monday night.
A 1-3 start in which the offense struggled, Nola got blitzed and certain members of the ‘pen got rocked was not what we had in mind when the team broke camp last week.
The offense has five extra base hits in their first four games and are hitting just .219 with runners in scoring position. Despite solid outings from Wheeler, Ranger Suarez and Cristopher Sanchez, the pitching staff has given up 31 runs in their first four games, had two base runners picked off on Monday, and are already using way too many relievers so soon in the season.
On the latest Hittin’ Season podcast, we reacted to another frustratingly slow start.
This comes on the heels of last year’s 1-5 disaster to start the season in which they were swept by the eventual world champion Texas Rangers, blew a 5-0 lead on Opening Day, and lost two of three to the Yankees on the road. Truth be told, last year was even worse.
Nevertheless, for a team that claimed they wanted to get off to a faster start, the team is clearly out of sync early and appearing to display a lack of urgency. It’s OK to feel certain emotions about that.
No one should overreact to four games out of a 162-game marathon. It’s 2.4% of the season. To declare the Phillies “suck” or that they’re awful or a waste of our time is an overreaction. We have to stop treating Phils games like Eagles games. There are just too many of them, and if history is our guide, early season struggles will not destroy this team’s chances of a deep playoff run in October.
Still, there is an overcorrection to the overreacting fan on social media, and that is the “you’re really stupid for getting worked up about a team in March and April” fan. That is the “the Phillies ALWAYS get off to slow starts and make the playoffs, stop worrying!” fan.
I like to call them the “RELAX” fans.
Don’t you just love to be told to “RELAX” on social media? Isn’t that just great?
Yes, we all know the season is long, but you know what? Each of these games takes up 2 ½ to 3 hours of our lives when we watch them, and no one wants to be frustrated for that chunk of time. And yes, it’s reasonable to enter the season with the hope that the team will not do the bad things they’ve done in the past, that they will be able to evolve and perhaps provide some different results.
It’s important to note the schedule is more front-loaded with easy opponents and home games in April and May, with more road games and tougher teams in August and September. Last season, the opposite was true, so getting off to a faster start in 2024 could be the difference between winning the division, snagging a wild card, or missing the postseason entirely.
Sure, people shouldn’t lose their minds over a 1-3 start. No one is suggesting that. And for those of you who think the Phillies “stink,” you can stop with that nonsense, too. But it’s OK to feel your feelings about a disappointing opening weekend of Phillies baseball.
Just remember that it’s a long season. There will be plenty of opportunities for the Phils to disappoint us all summer long!
Make sure to catch the FULL Hittin’ Season podcast, where we also discuss the Phillies’ raising a 2023 banner and Rhys Hoskins’ torture of the Mets this weekend in New York.
