So, what are the Philadelphia Phillies going to do now?

The Philadelphia Phillies have been slip-sliding away in the NL East for several weeks now, and they must answer this question now: What can be done now?

The Philadelphia Phillies themselves might very well answer the above question with: “What? It’s only July 9. The trade deadline is eons away.”

“We’ll see” is, in fact, what the team seems to be saying about what they might do about their fall from first place by three games entering the month of June to 6½ games back in third place the day of the All-Star game.

Their All-Star catcher, J.T. Realmuto, of course, has declared he’ll be “shocked if our front office didn’t believe we could make a run.” This, seemingly, would be a hopeful remark for the Phillies faithful, or it might be in isolation because Realmuto also said June 8 at the All-Star celebration the team must produce “especially [in] the three [games] against Washington,” meaning the contests starting June 12.

“Those are really important,” he added. “We’re neck and neck with them for second place. We definitely need to create some distance and also gain some ground with Atlanta, so that’s a big series for us.”

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As if that didn’t apply (appropriate) pressure for the team as they come out of the gate for the second “half,” Realmuto unfortunately also added a “team line” observation that Phillies fans might find bothersome: “I feel like we can fill our [starting pitching] question mark just by pitching better.”

Oh, jeez, the best guy on the team has had at least a sip of the Kool-Aid.

Rats.

(What’s worse is that no one told Realmuto that Kool-Aid pitcher has been sitting in the locker room for more than two years.)

Not only are the starting pitchers available for the Fightin’s iffy now in four slots, one of those four slots just became far iffier. Jake Arrieta has a bone spur. As reported by Bill Ladson, “Arrieta will be evaluated by the Phillies’ medical staff in the next few days, and then the team will make a decision on what comes next.”

What this threatens may not seem like much to some since the former Cy Young awardee has only been a .500 pitcher for the Phillies, but Arrieta’s grit probably shouldn’t be waved away casually. The guy is a battler. Unfortunately, battling through this injury may not be the right idea if the results are likely to be what they were against the Mets July 6. The pitcher gave up five earned runs in 4.1 innings and clearly didn’t have a good feel for what he was throwing, hitting three batters.

Should Phillies fans expect Arrieta to be available for this all-important Washington series? How about the Dodgers series that follows the Nationals visit?

It’s quite unlikely that Philadelphia will acquire a new, worthwhile pitcher before, say, the Los Angeles Bombers arrive next week, but no Phillies fan would be that unhappy if GM Matt Klentak tried anyway.

This is because, while the competition on the road that follows (Pittsburgh and Detroit) is weaker than Washington and LA, the Phillies will likely have posted, at best, a 4-3 record for the two immediate home series coming. Their season could effectively be over in two weeks.

The Phillies need to shake off uncertainty and do something more quickly than they probably had to only a few days ago. And none of the above even brushes up against the inconsistent, but very expensive offense installed over the winter.