The 2022 Philadelphia Phillies season so far can be described with several adjectives, none of which are glamourous. Inconsistent. Underachieving. Infuriating. Head Scratching. Going into the season following the big signings, the major concern seemed to be about the defense and the struggles it may face, particularly the outfield. Currently, that defense is in the middle of the pack in terms of rankings, as is the team’s pitching. Although both of those facets haven’t been exactly great, it’s hardly the case for concern that has caused this team to hover around the .500 mark all season. You can thank the offense for that.

The Phillies have been shut out an alarming five times this season, including getting no-hit against the Mets a few weeks ago. This was a lineup that was built to mash home runs and put up crooked numbers. Instead, fans have been treated to games with a few baserunners, strikeouts, and aggravation. The interesting thing is, the team ranks 4th in the MLB in team batting average at .250. The team is also fourth in slugging percentage. They are in the top ten in homeruns (45) , runs scored (176) , and OPS (.726). If a casual fan looked at those numbers they would scoff at the notion that the Phillies offense is struggling. This is obviously a case where someone who stares at numbers instead of watching the game doesn’t get the full story.

Oh where, oh where has the offense gone?

The Phillies have had some stretches like their recent west coast trip where they looked like the team that we all expected. They were putting the ball in play, getting big his in important situations, and putting up runs. It was even more impressive that it was against some good teams. Then you have stretches like this past week where the team scored a total of 3 runs in an entire series, and follow that up by nearly getting shutout again, saved by a meaningless ninth inning run. The numbers are vastly skewed by the big games that this offense has had. For instance, last weekend against the Dodgers, they scored 9 runs on 12 hits and followed up that game with 12 runs on 15 hits. However, they came back home against the Padres to get shutout twice, with 5 hits in each game. That has basically been the story of the season so far.

The Phillies are 7th in all of baseball in strikeouts at the plate. In 1310 plate appearances they have gone down on strikes 346 times. That is an eye popping 26.4% of time that they fail to put the ball in play. Only Arizona, the Braves, and the Brewers strike out more in the NL. When Kyle Schwarber was signed, with him was the label that it’s feast or famine with him. He does not hit for a career high average, strikes out quite a bit, but when he does make contact, it’s usually a moon shot into the seats. This hasn’t changed so far, but last season, Schwarber’s numbers were helped out by a tremendous June in which he was hitting almost everything in sight. During that month he his 16 homeruns in just 69 plate appearances, a record that even Sosa, McGwire, and Bonds didn’t accomplish during the steroid-frenzy seasons they had. Clearly that month helped Schwarber to a nice payday this offseason but if Schwarber can have anything close to half of that production in a month’s span, it would give both he and the Phillies a nice shot in the arm, especially since he is currently hitting below the Mendoza line at .199.

Hopefully J.T. and the Phillies can wake up

The other big signing, Nick Castellanos has also coming up a bit short to expectations so far. A career .278 hitter, has watched his average dip by almost 25 points recently, his slugging percentage is well below his career average, although he does have 21 runs driven in so far this season. J.T. Realmuto who is often hitting around Castellanos hasn’t been offering much help with just 2 homers and is currently striking out a higher rate (24.8%) than he has in his career. His OPS is at a career low (except for his first season in just 11 games). He is hitting .231 and seems to be pressing quite a bit at the plate.

Missing Bryce Harper this week obviously hurt the team as he was starting to heat up. He is returning to the lineup on Saturday night against the Dodgers and hopefully will pick up where he left off. Any kind of consistency will be welcomed with open arms, and even though the big guns in the lineup are struggling, it is still difficult to imagine them keeping at this slow, wavering pace. Baseball is a game of ups and downs, and as we get ready to enter summer, we need a reason to want to watch this club right now, hopefully they can wake up and provide that for us.