The toughness of this Phillies team, mentally and physically, is being tested less than a month into the season.
Friday night was the Phillies' third extra-inning loss in their last 10 games. At 11-8 overall, the Phils have lost twice on walk-offs and twice when their opponent was down to the final strike of the game.
Those are the kinds of losses that you don't easily forget, the kind you think back to if the race is tight in September.
The Phillies right now are wounded and fatigued. Over the last four games, they've lost Jean Segura, Odubel Herrera and Scott Kingery to hamstring injuries and were forced to pull Andrew McCutchen last night with knee inflammation. They were also forced to place David Robertson, their most important reliever, on the injured list with a sore elbow.
Making matters more difficult, the Phils have played 64 innings in their last six games, an average of nearly 11 per night. They don't have an off day until April 29, then they're off again May 2. Those will certainly be days manager Gabe Kapler tells his guys to just chill.
Juan Nicasio allowed the game-winning homer to Charlie Blackmon Friday night, but the Phillies' bullpen has pitched extremely well as a unit during this stretch. Over the last six games, the bullpen has pitched 28 innings with a 1.93 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and .177 opponents' batting average.
No, last night's loss falls more on an offense that put 23 men on base but managed only three runs.
MLB
The Phillies, despite several painful and frustrating losses and despite poor performance from two-fifths of the starting rotation, have still played to a 94-win pace so far.
There will be some evening out. Aaron Nola will improve, though we could also see some offsetting regression from Vince Velasquez and Jake Arrieta. Adam Morgan will not go an entire season without allowing a run, but Seranthony Dominguez (five straight scoreless outings) should be able to rattle off a few dominant stretches.
You have to look at it all in totality. This team is very talented 1 through 25 and has arrived at an 11-8 record even though the 3-4-5 hasn't yet fired on all cylinders. The talent, the depth and durability are just being challenged earlier than you'd like.
Five months from now, we will know the impact of these early tribulations, which have a chance to make the Phillies a better and more battle-tested team.
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