Philadelphia Phillies: Stay away from the panic button

For the love of baseball, please stay away from the panic button. The Philadelphia Phillies‘ past series with the Colorado Rockies had very few moments to hold your hat on, but before we sound the alarms in April, we need some context on this road trip before jumping the gun.

First and foremost, even after this past three-game series, where the Phillies were only able to win one game against a lackluster Rockies team, combined with this rough .500 stretch since starting the season 5-1, the Phillies are still in second place and only a game back of the Mets for the division lead. The highly anticipated NL East is not playing up to the standards that most of the league, including myself, expected out of the gates, which has been a blessing in itself for the Phillies.

The league has only played one-eighth of the season to this point, so there’s plenty of time for the narrative to shift. 21 games from now, we could be talking about the great adjustments the Phillies made or how bad they have fallen off, and even then, we still would only be a quarter of the way through the season.

Stay away from the panic button, the Philadelphia Phillies.

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This two-series road trip against the Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals is also the first real road trip the Philadelphia Phillies have taken since 2019 and also the first since Girardi has taken the helm. Yes, the Phillies went down to Atlanta and up to New York, but they have played their division rivals five times over compared to the rest of the National League because of the format of the bubble season.

To put it in perspective, this was the first real road trip where the team changed time zones and played against an unfamiliar opponent. The last time the Phillies made a similar trip was at the end of the 2019 season when the Phillies played the Indians in Cleveland, so do not get too worked up over the series loss.

I cannot stress this point enough. IT. IS. APRIL. How many times did Ryan Howard bat .210 in April, and Phillies fans freak out because he might not figure it out this year? Do we already forget about the 2007 September run? Even the other side of the coin where just three years ago; the Phillies were winning the division as late as July to just fall apart when it mattered most. The point is baseball is a marathon, and what truly matters is that the Phillies stay in contention until September and play their best baseball once the leaves start to fall.

By no means am I saying I’m not concerned? Andrew McCutchen looks like a 34-year-old still recovering from a major knee injury, centerfield is a circus, and the bullpen we have all been high on is looking very vulnerable, along with two very untimely injuries to Archie Bradley and Jose Alvarado. That’s not to mention the Matt Moore issue in the starting rotation and the lack of crooked number innings out of the offense thus far. The cause for concern is rightfully so.

dark. Next. What should the Phillies do with rookie sensation Nick Maton?

The Philadelphia Phillies have issues that need to be addressed, but so does every other team in the league. Have faith in Dave Dombrowski and the front office to not watch the ship sink and proactively try to fix the existing holes before it’s too late. We also need to give the team some time to gel and work out the kinks before writing guys off this early in the season. There are still 141 games to be played so please, steer clear of the panic button. It’s only April.

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