According to an October 1981 newspaper advertisement describing Al-Anon, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repetitively and expecting different results. Those words can apply to both my dating life and the Philadelphia Phillies‘ approach to the bullpen.
As it is, the Phillies bullpen has been their Achillies Heel over the past few years. They have continued to throw whatever possible at the wall in hopes that it would stick, and yet, very little has. On Thursday night, those bullpen woes finally reached rock bottom as they blew a 7-1 lead heading into the top of the ninth inning.
Philadelphia Phillies have historic bullpen meltdown
Prior to Thursday, MLB teams were 0 for their last 684 games when entering the ninth trailing by at least six runs. The Mets themselves were 0-330 over the last 25 years when trailing by at least six runs entering the ninth. The Phillies were almost guaranteed a victory. But none of that mattered once James Norwood and Corey Knebel got involved.
This was the perfect situation to get Norwood some work. He has essentially been a depth piece throughout most of his career, with 37 total major league appearances in parts of five seasons. What had been a solid start to the 2022 campaign is over after he allowed four runs on four hits while recording one out.
Knebel was not much better, although he likely did not expect to pitch on Thursday given the lead. He allowed three runs on four hits while recording the final two outs. While he was able to get the ninth inning to come to an end, it was far too late to matter.
As it is, the Phillies’ general ineptitude this season has been perfectly encapsulated in two games. Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler have combined to allow one run on nine hits and two walks over their 14.1 innings, striking out 14 batters. They have lost both games. Either the offense has not made an appearance or, as was the case on Thursday, the bullpen decided that a scorched earth policy was best.
It is the same thing year after year. The faces may change, but the results are the same. The Phillies keep spinning their wheels, the lack of competent relief arms continuing dooming them to mediocrity. At this point, the Phillies and hovering around .500 go together like beer and baseball.
The Philadelphia Phillies found a new way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on Thursday. Their bullpen may have finally found rock bottom.