An argument for Philadelphia Phillies fans to panic early

Perhaps it’s needless to say, but the season did not start off well for the Philadelphia Phillies. Three straight losses to the improved Texas Rangers exposed two aces who don’t look quite ready for prime time and a lineup that clearly can hit, just not with runners in scoring position. They were competitive in only one game, a 2-1 loss, and Aaron Nola appears to still be a bit uncomfortable with the pitch clock.

Then the team travelled to New York City to face the loaded Yankees lineup, and new starter Taijuan Walker failed as well, although he did appear possessed of some bounce-back energy after a rough first inning. No matter — despite 11 hits, the Fightin’s plated only one and fell by 8-1.

The winless Phillies win Tuesday night in New York doesn’t mean much yet.

Also, defensively, the Phillies haven’t been sharp. They’ve only been given three errors thus far, but one was reversed in the first game with the Yankees, awarding a home player a triple on a ball originally scored a single and two-base error. Somewhere in the first four games a ball fell between Turner and his utilityman left fielder, Josh Harrison.

And the Phillies ran into some bad luck. First, there was the egregious home plate umpiring by C.B. Bucknor in Sunday’s loss to Texas and the 416- foot rocket Kyle Schwarber hit that would have been a home run in 26 of MLB’s ballparks and might have spun off the top of the wall for a homer in Arlington if it hadn’t been caught. It would have scored two without that catching part.

In other words, the Phillies were playing MLB baseball and failing at it. They were facing the same problems as all other teams, apart from Bucknor’s huge strike zone. And it wasn’t as though the ump didn’t blow a few calls against the Rangers. A wide strike zone doesn’t totally explain a 16-3 loss.

Indeed, as Inquirer.com writer Alex Coffey notes, Umpire Scorecards “only” awarded 2.63 runs to Texas based on Bucknor’s errors.

However, somewhat predictably many observers seized on the obvious suggestion Phillies fans shouldn’t panic — it’s quite early in the season. Ms. Coffey closed her piece after the Phillies were swept in Texas with that argument, for example.

Call to the Pen writer Nick Halden was more expansive, citing a number of reasons to be optimistic about the Phillies, including the likelihood that Nola and Zack Wheeler will probably be better as the season goes on, and the fact that the team “started slowly in 2022 with arguably a worse roster and finished in a far better position.” These are both good points.

It is with Halden’s third point where some doubt creeps in. “Once Harper returns,” he writes, “this team isn’t going to have any issues scoring consistently.” Hmm … maybe yes, maybe no. The team in ’22 didn’t fold when Harper’s thumb was broken, but a total of 41 hits in four games and only 12 runs scored is not good. Worse, only one of those runs was scored in a competitive game after a few innings in the opener.

I doubt all this casts serious doubt on the Phillies’ ability to make the playoffs, but there were only a few reasons to be happy with the team’s performance so far, Turner’s play generally, Alec Bohm’s hitting, and the fact they pummeled Jacob deGrom.

Of course, the Phillies have beaten up deGrom before. They lost that game to the Mets.

So, journeyman starter-reliever Matt Strahm should have been keyed up for the season’s fifth game Tuesday. A stopgap starter, he had already pitched in the Phillies first loss in relief and gave up nothing.

And clearly, the team needed a win.

So, they got one. Or at least the second team did. Strahm pitched very well, giving up only a hit in four innings by attacking a fearsome lineup. Kyle Schwarber hit his 200th homer on the second pitch in the game, and backup catcher Garrett Stubbs had a single and scored. In the ninth the Phillies went to Craig Kimbrel to secure a 4-0 win, not save it, technically.

Kimbrel gave up a homer, but the Phillies prevailed. Schwarber’s two hits raised his batting average to .136, and some might say the 1-4 team was off and running.

No one should be sure of that, although the Phillies finally played a professional game in 2023.