{"id":679726,"date":"2026-04-20T11:55:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T11:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/679726\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T11:55:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T11:55:35","slug":"phillies-frustration-mounts-after-hellish-homestand-worst-21-game-start-since-2000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/679726\/","title":{"rendered":"Phillies\u2019 frustration mounts after hellish homestand, worst 21-game start since 2000"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHILADELPHIA \u2014 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\u2019 \u201cAOK\u201d as his walk-up song. Its carefree chorus became an anthem for the good times at Citizens Bank Park; the viral video of Stott\u2019s postseason grand slam in 2023 is such a joyous postcard from this place<\/a>. Everyone had to be here to experience the Phillies, to engage in rituals like that singalong.<\/p>\n

Stott did not use the song on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cChange it up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

There are cracks everywhere, and that\u2019s 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 \u2014 the players, the coaches, the manager<\/a>, and the front office that built this roster.<\/p>\n

When Kyle Schwarber laced a ball to deep right field that Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr. chased down for the 27th out, he slammed his helmet to the ground, and that said it all.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, sure, there\u2019s frustration,\u201d Schwarber said. \u201cBut you can only grin at it, too, right? It is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schwarber said the Phillies have to \u201ctake it on the chin.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to keep going,\u201d Stott said. \u201cThere\u2019s 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. \u2026 The longer you dwell on a game or a series or something, you look up and it\u2019s June, and you\u2019re like, \u2018Whoa. What happened?\u2019 Just try to turn the page as fast as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kyle<\/p>\n

\n \u201cAt some point, it\u2019s going to change,\u201d said Kyle Schwarber, after his lineout capped a series sweep and a 2-7 homestand. (Mitchell Leff \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

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\u2019s been in his Phillies tenure.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of frustration,\u201d Thomson said. \u201cYou know? OK? We\u2019re disappointed. We\u2019re frustrated. I know they\u2019re trying hard, sometimes trying too hard. I think guys are upset. We\u2019re off to a slow start here, but it\u2019s going to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

How does he keep a positive face?<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s my job,\u201d Thomson said. \u201cThere are times when you have to straighten some people out. In a way, we\u2019ve done that. But, for the most part, you have to stay positive and you have to believe in the club because there\u2019s talent here. It\u2019s not that we don\u2019t have talent. We\u2019ve got talent. It just hasn\u2019t happened yet, but it\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The next three batters \u2014 Adolis Garc\u00eda, Brandon Marsh and Alec Bohm \u2014 were retired on 12 pitches. Then the 7-8-9 hitters went down in order in the second inning. Until Justin Crawford\u2019s single in the fifth inning, the Phillies not named Turner, Schwarber or Harper had gone 0-for-11 with four strikeouts.<\/p>\n

In that first inning, Bohm took the first two pitches for balls. He was in a hitter\u2019s count, a time to seek a pitch to drive. The Phillies\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

He flailed at a 2-0 slider, down and away, and popped it into foul territory. Braves first baseman Matt Olson gloved it.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very frustrated right now,\u201d Thomson said. \u201cHe smothered some balls tonight, but the last couple of nights he\u2019s actually hit the ball harder. So hopefully he\u2019s coming around. But everybody\u2019s frustrated. I\u2019m telling you. Nobody\u2019s complacent. Everybody\u2019s working their tails off. Nobody\u2019s happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Phillies need someone \u2014 anyone \u2014 outside of the top three hitters to produce. But it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

No one is immune. Rafael March\u00e1n, 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. March\u00e1n will have to play again Monday at the Chicago Cubs because Realmuto\u2019s lower back needs another day of rest.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s \u201cLuckiest Man Alive\u201d 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\u2019s or Saturday\u2019s game. He is hitting the ball harder this season. He has not been lucky.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s inevitable,\u201d Schwarber said. \u201cAt some point, it\u2019s going to change. We always talk about the sense of urgency. The sense of urgency is there. Everything is there. The want\u2019s there. The desire\u2019s there. The will. And we all believe. We all believe in ourselves at the end of the day. There\u2019s no doubting that. Just take it on the chin and keep moving.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA \u2014 Four days ago, Bryson Stott decided it was time. He talked to his wife, Dru, about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":679727,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2397],"tags":[5,4,144,25,4216,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-679726","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-phillies","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-philadelphia","11":"tag-philadelphia-phillies","12":"tag-philadelphiaphillies","13":"tag-phillies"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116436908315417916","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=679726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}