Even the Mets can now point and laugh at the Phillies.
The reigning NL East champions now own MLB’s longest losing streak of eight after falling, 7-2, to the Cubs in Chicago on Wednesday night to drop to an NL-worst 8-16.
“Yeah, it sucks,” Phillies shortstop Trea Turner said, per ESPN. “Not having much fun in here, which is tough. This is a great game. We’re lucky to play it. And when you are expected to win and you want to win and it’s not happening, it’s tough and not fun, but that’s why we’re here.”
The Phillies’ struggles have somewhat gone under the radar due to the rival Mets’ incompetence during their 12-game losing streak that ended Wednesday night with a 3-2 home win over the Twins, but they are now fully in the crosshairs for underachieving to start the season.
A team built to mash instead has scored the third-fewest runs in MLB, averaging just 3.42 per game.
They have scored no more than four runs in any contest during this eight-game skid, having last done so April 13, which marks their last win.
Manager Rob Thomson shook up the lineup Wednesday in an attempt to galvanize the bats, but they could not do much with their nine hits.
“I feel like we get one guy on base and then he kind of dies for whatever reason,” Turner said, per ESPN. “And that’s just not good enough. So maybe it’s a little bit of approach.”
The pitching has nearly been as awful, with the team’s 5.05 ERA ranking 27th — and that includes Christopher Sanchez’s 1.59 ERA through five starts.
Jesus Luzardo has been a disaster with a 6.91 ERA, Aaron Nola owns a 5.01 mark and Taijuan Walker has been perhaps baseball’s worst starter with a 9.13 ERA.
The Phillies attempted to help him Wednesday by using an opener, but he was still terrible in relief, getting shelled for five runs (four earned) on eight hits in four innings.
“Just not going our way right now,” Walker said, per ESPN. “We’re not executing. Just kind of in a rut. When you get in these ruts, it’s hard to get out of sometimes. And right now we’re just not getting out of it.”
The Phillies, like the Mets, still have plenty of time to right the ship, but it’s hard to believe in a team that can’t hit or pitch well.
Philadelphia essentially ran the same roster back this offseason, aside from a few minor changes, and a veteran team looks rather old.
Getting ace Zack Wheeler back should provide a big boost, but he can only pitch once every five days. Wheeler is expected to start Saturday against the Braves after missing most of last season following thoracic outlet decompression surgery
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
