Src

Yikes... The Phillies are uh, struggling. Big time. I'll admit, there's certainly a strong possibility that I'll look back on this portion of the season and laugh at how worried I was but, I don't know.

They were crushed 11-2 by the Cubs on Wednesday, losing yet another series. The offense continues to snooze. Meanwhile also, as of writing this post, two of the Phillies starting pitchers have a 7+ ERA. Those pitchers are Taijuan Walker and, after Wednesday's awful outing against the Cubs, Jesús Luzardo. Luzardo allowed 8 runs on 12 hits and a walk in 5 1/3 innings of work.

I was blaming the bats for these early struggles, but now I don't know who to blame! The Cubs outscored the Phillies 21-6 in the final two games of the series. Just bad.

I guess the answer right now is simply patience. Most of these guys are proven and just need to get warmed up. Zack Wheeler has been rehabbing in the minor leagues so far in 2026, his return seems to be right around the corner. He will add a ton of value and depth to the pitching staff hopefully. The more talent, the better right now.

The Phillies have a strong opportunity in front of them tonight as they begin a big series against the Atlanta Braves. The Braves somewhat abruptly had a bad season last year. They finished 76-86 in 2025, missing the playoffs by quite a lot after seven straight years of making the playoffs including winning a World Series in 2021. Unfortunately, the Braves are once again off to a hot start in 2026 which is not something I'm excited about. They're 12-7 and in first place in the NL East by three games, a three and a half game lead over the Phillies specifically.

But hey, instead of being worried, what a better way to begin turning this season around than by beating the rival Braves at home in Philly?

Taijuan Walker could be getting a bit better after an improved start last time out. If he can be clutch tonight, that would be huge for the team and for his career in general.

The boys had a day off, so hopefully the rest helped them out! Let's start turning this thing around tonight!

#GOPHILLIES