3 National League teams facing a make-or-break June

Philadelphia Phillies

Last season the Phillies struggled in April and early May, however, they turned things around following the firing of Joe Girardi when they were 22-29 and on their way to missing the playoffs again. They inserted bench coach Rob Thomson into the manager’s seat the rest was history.

Philadelphia turned things around and finished the season 65-46 to claim the final NL wild-card spot. This season, they find themselves in a similar situation at 27-32 and seven games back in the NL East and 4.5 games back in the wild card, behind six teams.

Like last season, the Phillies have not been able to sustain any consistency. They began the season without Bryce Harper after he underwent Tommy John surgery, missing the first 30 games. His quick recovery in just six months from a surgery that tends to take a year to recover from was remarkable, but Harper and his teammates continue to spin their wheels in medoricity in the National League. Kyle Schwarber recorded his 223rd career multihomer with two and six RBIs in an 11-3 win over the Washington Nationals Sunday.

This season, they are going to have to deal with more teams than they did last season just to climb into a postseason spot. The in-state Pittsburgh Pirates are having a good first two-plus month, while the Miami Marlins are riding the hot bat of Jorge Soler and currently are 4.5 games ahead of Philadelphia.

June is a tough month for Thomson’s crew with series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, and New York Mets, while a visit to the tester to play the Arizona Diamondbacks is not going to be easy. This feels like a make-or-break month for the Phillies.

St. Louis Cardinals

Things are not going well in St. Louis and every time the Cardinals appear to take two steps forward, they take one step back. To make matters worse, they are doing it in the NL Central where mediocre baseball could be good enough to win the division.

The Milwaukee Brewers and Pirates are sitting on top of the division, but neither has done anything to separate themselves from the other teams. St. Louis owns the worst winning percentage in the National League, but are just 6.5 games back of the Brewers.

The offense is not the main issue with the Cardinals, it’s been the lack of quality starts by their starters and bullpen implosions. Adam Wainwright returned in May but has not been the pitcher he was with a 2-1 record and with 6.15 ERA in five outings. In 26.1 innings, he’s allowed 18 earned runs, which will not win many games. Jordan Montgomery has been hit or miss, mostly a miss, and is a vital piece of the rotation if they are going to turn things around. Miles Mikolas has anchored the rotation with a 4-2 record and a 3.74 ERA.

Again, the offense is not the issue in St. Louis, but if any moves are going to be made by the front office, it’s going to have to be with arms, not bats. A good June would get the Cardinals back into the mix, however, if they find themselves in the same spot they are currently in and 10 games back, then it might be time to make some tough decisions they’re not used to making. Starting the month off getting swept in Pittsburgh over the weekend is not going to help matters.

San Diego Padres

The Padres were a good baseball team last season following the trade deadline when they landed Juan Soto from the Washington Nationals. Their move put them at the top of the teams to beat in the National League. They beat the New York Mets in the first round of the playoffs before taking down the heated Dodgers in the Division Series, but could not get by the hot Phillies.

After the disappointing ending to the postseason, they went out and added Xander Bogaerts from the Boston Red Sox to add another dangerous bat to the middle of their order, then made the low-risk, high-reward signing of pitcher Michael Wacha. Those moves alone with an already loaded roster had the expectations high in Southern California to begin the season. It hasn’t worked out that way.

Injuries have played a big part in the struggles, but the Padres find themselves in a similar spot as the Cardinals, every time they take two steps forward, they take one step back. Wacha was just named the National League pitcher of the month for May, San Diego finds themselves five games under .500 and eight games back in the division, and 4.5 games back in the wild card.

Health is vital for any team, but it is clearly key for the Padres. They have not been able to string together a long winning streak with consistency, but this season is different from last season. Not only do they have the Dodgers to deal with, but this season the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have been knocking on the door of competing, look like a team that will hang around all season.

Of the three teams that made the postseason a year ago and are struggling this season, the Padres have the most upside from the Phillies and Cardinals to turn around their struggles. They need June to be their best month of the first two of 2023 if they are going to make a move in the standings as two steps forward and one step back all season will not be good enough.