PHILADELPHIA — It stands to reason, with Bryce Harper scheduled for thumb surgery Wednesday, that a popular talking point is whether the Phillies will be able to make a trade to boost the offense in the MVP’s absence.
But let’s not forget the Phillies’ biggest need: the bullpen.
Now and always, it seems, the Phillies are a few relievers short of a reliable late-inning crew. The reminders are frequent. Whether it’s deposed closer Corey Knebel getting the seventh inning instead of the ninth, or journeyman Andrew Bellatti coming into the eighth inning of a tie game, the bullpen is an ever-present weakness.
Bellatti took a turn on the firing line Tuesday night. Two days after picking up his first career save — in his hometown of San Diego, no less — he gave up Matt Olson’s tie-breaking line drive into the bleachers in right-center field in a 5-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves in the opener of a pivotal three-game series.
One inning earlier, Kyle Schwarber tied it with a long home run into the shrubbery in center field and brought the announced crowd of 27,725 to life at Citizens Bank Park. But Olson’s homer let all the air out.
That’s what the Phillies’ bullpen does. Deflating is its specialty.
It’s an important week for the Phillies, who are still adjusting to life without Harper — for six weeks, at least, or however long it takes for him to achieve his vow of playing again this season. They are chasing Atlanta, both in the division and the wild card. And when the Braves leave town, the St. Louis Cardinals — also in the wild-card mix — will pay a visit.
Schwarber tried his darndest to carry the offense, a la Harper. In the waning days of June, his favorite month on the baseball calendar, he extended his on-base streak to 31 games, the longest by a Phillies hitter since Chase Utley’s 35-gamer in 2006, by working an eight-pitch leadoff walk in the first inning against Braves starter Charlie Morton, which he followed with a five-pitch walk in the third.
The Braves had the matchup they wanted against Schwarber in the seventh inning. Lefty reliever Dylan Lee hadn’t allowed an extra-base hit to a left-handed hitter all season. But Schwarber took him deep for his team-leading 21st homer of the season to forge a 3-3 tie.
It was the continuation of a torrid June for Schwarber, who hit 19 homers in 15 games last June for the Washington Nationals. Entering the game, he was slugging .674 with 10 homers and a .395 on-base percentage this month.
Schwarber might have been in position to put the Phillies ahead if not for a questionable move by interim manager Rob Thomson in the sixth inning (more on that in a bit). But in tying the game, he set up the Phillies for a potentially dramatic late-inning win.
Instead, Olson took Bellatti deep. The Braves added a run against Brad Hand in the ninth inning and came away with the victory.
Par for the course against a bullpen that has let the Phillies down since 2020.
Wheels stay on
Zack Wheeler allowed back-to-back home runs in the first inning, an exceedingly rare occurrence for the Phillies ace.
How rare? Consider: Before Travis d’Arnaud and Matt Olson went deep, Wheeler gave up a total of three homers in 74 2/3 innings this season. He hadn’t allowed two homers in one inning since April 20, 2021 against the Giants (Buster Posey and Tommy La Stella), or back-to-back dingers since Sept. 26, 2019 against the Marlins (Tyler Heineman and Curtis Granderson).
But Wheeler pulled it together. He gave up only three more hits, piled up 19 swings-and-misses, pitched into the seventh inning, and kept the Phillies in the game.
A curious move
In Harper’s absence, with Nick Castellanos moving back to the DH role, Thomson said he’s committed to giving Mickey Moniak more at-bats.
But not pinch-hitting for Moniak in the sixth inning was puzzling.
Trailing 3-2, with the tying run on third base, the Phillies stuck with Moniak to face Lee. Never mind that Moniak is 0 for 15 with nine strikeouts against lefties as a major leaguer. Or that Lee is deadly against left-handed hitters. Or that righty-swinging Matt Vierling was on the bench. Moniak popped out to end the inning.
Moniak is 4 for 28 with 12 strikeouts in the majors this season and doesn’t have a hit against a curveball. It’s little wonder, then, that the Braves threw 11 curveballs in 15 pitches to Moniak.
Triple threat
A replay review spared the Phillies the ignominy of running into a triple play in the fourth inning.
Braves right fielder Adam Duvall made a dazzling diving catch on Castellanos’ sinking line drive. Rhys Hoskins broke from first base and got doubled up. The Braves thought they may have also nabbed Schwarber, who was called out by the umpires.
But Schwarber clearly tagged from second base and advanced to third. Thomson challenged the call and got it overturned before the Phillies eventually stranded Schwarber at third base.
It would have been the first triple play turned against the Phillies since the Houston Astros did it in 2004.
