GDT 5/17/22 San Diego Padres (Clevinger) @ Philadelphia Phillies (Eflin)

Good return start from Eflin.

The offense fails to show tonight. Shutout on 5 hits.

Team looked bad in the field again.

Not much to be optimistic about coming out of this game.

After reaching .500 at 17-17, Phillies now fall to 17-19.

The optimism of last week is almost crushed by the bullpen melt down Sunday and this dismal performance tonight. The good thing is that we know there will be some good days ahead. The question is whether or not this team has the drive and talent to really move beyond striving to reach .500

It's just the same old Phillies really. What an 80-86 win team looks like. Some times that means hot and cold streaks over a few stretches of 10 games and sometimes it just means going 5-5. Sometimes this offense is going to beat the heck out of people and other times and go cold (or be let down by the other stuff).

Of course they could also use the guy who hasn't played during this two-game losing streak.

Without question, the hot Harper we saw on the west coast is greatly missed. Will he come back and be able to pick up where he left off? Naturally, he cannot continue his player of the week pace every week. They really need to get Schwarber, Castellanos and Hoskins in a hot streak.

They can still win the SD series. GO for it.

The good news is the starting rotation looks solid.
The bad news is the bullpen is still a mess.

The disturbing news is they got two DH types in the offseason and still don't have a credible leadoff hitter, though Bohm is looking like a fixture in the #2 spot - after a hiccup last season, he's back to his #4 in the draft norm. Over time I think his power will pick up, but he looks like a hitter.

Though as far as Schwarber goes, .197 BABIP suggests regression to the mean will work in his favor.

one step forward, two steps back. Starters have been very good. I see a 1-5 week. hopefully wrong.
gm

Schwarber is reverting back to his days as a Cub. Was his last season an anomaly? Norwood needs to be DFA.

I mean, Schwarber had a career .816 OPS and hit 25-20 HRs for the Cubs every year except the COVID season so I would take that! There's no real reason to think that he's broken, either physically or baseball-wise, given how he did last year. And he's still slugging. But obviously they need a lot more for him to succeed (and to make up for his defense). And his last two seasons probably won't be pretty. Castellanos either.

Schwarber 1 for 2 with a walk in the win tonight, a step in the right direction.

Not sure how long they can continue to start Quinn. His BA is now down to .120. That just is not enough to even be a bench player used mostly for defense and pinch running.