Bryce Harper's prolonged slump, pitching staff troubles among reasons for Phillies' recent slide

The Phillies have lost five games in a row entering Saturday and have struggled since July -- here's why

By R.J. Anderson Aug 3, 2024 at 10:07 am ET• 4 min read

An old rule of thumb in baseball states that every team is going to win 60 games and lose games, and that seasons are determined by what happens in the other 42 contests. That's not always true, but it's a useful enough framework for analyzing most teams -- in part because it reminds you that seasons contain good and bad stretches, and that it's not always worth getting too high or low during those moments before water stills.

For an example, consider these Philadelphia Phillies. As brilliantly as the Phillies started the season (they entered July on a 106-win pace), they've recently encountered some turbulence. The Phillies are 10-15 in their 25 contests since with a minus-27 run differential; they've lost five in a row entering Saturday; and their lead in the National League East, 9 1/2 games as recently as July 27, is down to five games over the Atlanta Braves with seven more head-to-head matchups looming over the coming weeks.

Just what's going on with the Phillies as of late? Let's break down a few reasons for their recent woes.

1. Pitching staff has collapsed

Through the first three months, the Phillies had the best pitching staff in baseball. Their 3.09 ERA ranked No. 1 by a fair margin (the second-place Los Angeles Dodgers checked in at 3.37). Their rotation had notched 49 quality starts, the most in the National League, over the course of 84 tries (58%). Their bullpen had recorded twice as many "shutdowns" (80) as "meltdowns" (40). And so on and so forth.