PHILADELPHIA — Four days ago, Bryson Stott decided it was time. He talked to his wife, Dru, about the decision. Since 2020, Stott had used Tai Verdes’ “AOK” as his walk-up song. Its carefree chorus became an anthem for the good times at Citizens Bank Park; the viral video of Stott’s postseason grand slam in 2023 is such a joyous postcard from this place. Everyone had to be here to experience the Phillies, to engage in rituals like that singalong.
Stott did not use the song on Sunday night.
“Change it up,” he said.
No one is A-O, A-O-K here. Not after a 4-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves sealed a series sweep. Not after a five-game losing streak in which the Phillies have scored nine runs. Not after a 2-7 homestand from hell. Not after an 8-13 beginning to this season that ties the worst 21-game start the Phillies have had since 2000.
There are cracks everywhere, and that’s not an overreaction to a mere 21-game sample. It is reality, right now, and nothing more than that. Is it predictive of a long summer in South Philly? Maybe. But no one knows anything. All they know is that this does not feel like it should. That will heighten the scrutiny on everyone — the players, the coaches, the manager, and the front office that built this roster.
When Kyle Schwarber laced a ball to deep right field that Ronald Acuña Jr. chased down for the 27th out, he slammed his helmet to the ground, and that said it all.
“Obviously, sure, there’s frustration,” Schwarber said. “But you can only grin at it, too, right? It is what it is.”
Schwarber said the Phillies have to “take it on the chin.” He repeated that a few times. Playing this sport requires a certain numbness. Baseball players take pride in the amount of failure a big leaguer must endure. The Phillies are being humbled to begin this season, and how they respond will dictate the rest of it.
“You have to keep going,” Stott said. “There’s another game tomorrow and the next day. If you dwell on the day before, it just turns into a month or two-month thing, when it could be over in a week. It could be over in a day. … The longer you dwell on a game or a series or something, you look up and it’s June, and you’re like, ‘Whoa. What happened?’ Just try to turn the page as fast as possible.”
“At some point, it’s going to change,” said Kyle Schwarber, after his lineout capped a series sweep and a 2-7 homestand. (Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
The Phillies have been outscored by more runs than any other team in MLB. After they lost another game in an all-too-familiar way, Rob Thomson adopted a more defiant tone. The manager was as forceful in his answers as he’s been in his Phillies tenure.
“A lot of frustration,” Thomson said. “You know? OK? We’re disappointed. We’re frustrated. I know they’re trying hard, sometimes trying too hard. I think guys are upset. We’re off to a slow start here, but it’s going to get better.”
How does he keep a positive face?
“That’s my job,” Thomson said. “There are times when you have to straighten some people out. In a way, we’ve done that. But, for the most part, you have to stay positive and you have to believe in the club because there’s talent here. It’s not that we don’t have talent. We’ve got talent. It just hasn’t happened yet, but it’s going to happen.”
The Phillies could distill the first 21 games into one inning, the first one on Sunday. Trea Turner singled to right. Schwarber launched a two-run homer. Bryce Harper walked. In the span of 15 pitches, the Phillies had set the tone.
The next three batters — Adolis García, Brandon Marsh and Alec Bohm — were retired on 12 pitches. Then the 7-8-9 hitters went down in order in the second inning. Until Justin Crawford’s single in the fifth inning, the Phillies not named Turner, Schwarber or Harper had gone 0-for-11 with four strikeouts.
In that first inning, Bohm took the first two pitches for balls. He was in a hitter’s count, a time to seek a pitch to drive. The Phillies’ hitting coaches have urged Bohm to be selective in advantageous counts. Just because he can hit a certain pitch does not mean he must swing at it. In a 2-0 count, Bohm should be thinking about doing damage.
He flailed at a 2-0 slider, down and away, and popped it into foul territory. Braves first baseman Matt Olson gloved it.
Bohm is 2 for his last 34. He hit only one ball at 100 mph or harder in the Atlanta series. It was Friday night, with the Phillies trailing by seven runs, and he pulled his first ball in the air all season. It was a routine fly out.
“He’s very frustrated right now,” Thomson said. “He smothered some balls tonight, but the last couple of nights he’s actually hit the ball harder. So hopefully he’s coming around. But everybody’s frustrated. I’m telling you. Nobody’s complacent. Everybody’s working their tails off. Nobody’s happy.”
The Phillies need someone — anyone — outside of the top three hitters to produce. But it’s not as simple as that. Harper came to bat in the fifth with two outs and runners on second and third. He poked an 0-2 pitch down the third-base line and Austin Riley made an excellent play to get him.
In the ninth, Turner came to the plate with the tying runs on base and one out. He whiffed at the first two pitches, both out of the zone, and then struck out on a hittable fastball. He had consecutive multi-hit games on April 3 and 4, but only one such game in the next 13.
No one is immune. Rafael Marchán, the little-used backup catcher who has been pressed into more action early this season while J.T. Realmuto deals with nagging injuries, took a called strike three in the sixth inning with two runners on base. Marchán will have to play again Monday at the Chicago Cubs because Realmuto’s lower back needs another day of rest.
The Phillies have not hit fastballs: their .382 slugging percentage against four- and two-seamers ranks 24th in baseball. It was seventh last season, at .467. That is an issue. Add it to the growing list.
They did not lose their 10th game at home last season until May 30. They are 5-10 at Citizens Bank Park in 2026, and will now go on the road for a week. There was a last gasp in the ninth inning when Stott stepped to the plate. Hardy’s “Luckiest Man Alive” played on the speakers inside a half-empty stadium on a frigid night. Stott decided to change his music last Thursday, but he did not appear in Friday’s or Saturday’s game. He is hitting the ball harder this season. He has not been lucky.
He slashed a bloop double to the opposite field against Braves closer Raisel Iglesias. It was his first extra-base hit in 16 days. It was something until it was nothing.
“It’s inevitable,” Schwarber said. “At some point, it’s going to change. We always talk about the sense of urgency. The sense of urgency is there. Everything is there. The want’s there. The desire’s there. The will. And we all believe. We all believe in ourselves at the end of the day. There’s no doubting that. Just take it on the chin and keep moving.”