Another June takeoff? Phillies remain grounded after sweep by the Mets

NEW YORK — In December, scarcely one month after the spunky, underdog Phillies were vanquished in the World Series, manager Rob Thomson got to thinking about the challenges of an encore.

“Something I’m not really too concerned about,” he said then, “is the complacency side of it, making sure guys don’t come in and, if you get off to a slow start, go, ‘Oh, we did this last year. Don’t worry about it. We’ll be all right.’ That doesn’t always happen.”

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Thomson’s words sprang to mind Thursday. The calendar flipped to June, the month when everything changed for the 2022 Phillies, and it was impossible not to wonder if history could repeat.

And then, the 2023 edition laid yet another egg.

The Phillies dropped their fourth consecutive game, 4-2, and were swept away by the Mets. They have lost 12 of 17 games and are 25-31, a season-worst six games below .500 and one game out last place in the NL East.

But hey, at least it’s June. Cue the magic, right?

“Trust me, I don’t think there’s any blasé,” Kyle Schwarber said. “We’re not panicking, but I’m saying there is a sense of urgency. Just because we have the experience last year doesn’t mean it’s going to happen, right? There’s going to be things that need to happen, and it’s going to be on us to do that.”

At the moment, the Phillies aren’t doing much of anything well.

Taijuan Walker delivered another worrisome start. His command wavered (three walks, one hit by pitch, 38 strikes in 74 pitches). His velocity fell. Staked to a 2-0 lead, he gave up a two-out, two-run homer to Mark Canha that gave the Mets a 3-2 edge in the fourth inning.

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Worse still, nobody had an explanation. Walker and Thomson claimed the right-hander is healthy despite his fastball averaging 92 mph, down from his season average of 93.1.

“Just couldn’t get it going,” said Walker, whose ERA rose to 5.65. “Morning game and, not trying to make any excuses, my body just wasn’t going for me.”

Said Thomson: “He was just off today. His stuff wasn’t as crisp.”

Thomson said he lifted Walker after only four innings to avoid having him face Mets hitters for a third time. OK, but why the velocity drop on each of his pitches, from the fastball to his signature splitter?

“They [tend to] go up and down a little bit,” Thomson said.

“Kind of just searching right now, trying to find what’s working,” Walker added. “I’m just kind of all over the place right now.”

Still, for most teams, a one-run deficit in the fourth inning isn’t insurmountable. For the Phillies lately, it feels like Mount Everest.

The Phillies didn’t muster an extra-base hit and struck out 12 times against Mets starter Max Scherzer and three relievers. Their lone runs were manufactured — also, gifted — on a first-inning double steal by Trea Turner and Bryce Harper, a throwing error by catcher Francisco Alvarez that enabled Turner to score, and a sacrifice fly that plated Harper from third.

In the last five games, the Phillies scored 2, 4, 0, 1, and 2 runs; they racked up 15, 10, 11, 10, and 12 strikeouts.

At least they’re consistent.

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“The challenge for us is to be able to have the short memory,” Schwarber said. “No one’s feeling sorry for us. We’ve just got to be able to turn pages. We just got swept — in division. That’s never ideal. But we’ve got a new challenge ahead of us here going into Washington. We’ve got to focus on that.

“Do we want to have the same [start] that we had last year? No. But for us to have the experience of it, I’m not saying it’s going to be easy — it’s not easy — but you’ve gone through it once, we’ve just got to be able to have a steady mindset and keep going.”

Would a team meeting help? The Phillies have had them. Thomson admitted before the game that he has met with the players as a group “a couple of times,” though he wouldn’t divulge details, including when those meetings took place.

How about a batting order shake-up?

“I’ve thought about it,” Thomson said.

But Thomson remains confident that the Phillies aren’t counting on another June to remember — or even a forgiving National League, in which only the Braves, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks are more than five games over .500.

Never mind, then, that the Phillies rallied from a 22-29 start last season. Or that the 2021 Braves and 2019 Nationals came back from 30-35 on June 16 and 19-31 on May 23, respectively, to win the pennant.

Thomson believes the Phillies are playing with the proper urgency.

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“Complacency? I don’t think that has anything to do with it,” Thomson said. “I really don’t. They’re grinding, they’re working, they’re preparing. To a man, everybody knows that the last three National League champions had the same type of start. But it doesn’t happen every year. They know what reality is.

“I just don’t think we’ve put it all together yet, but I have full confidence that we will.”