Phillies lead in NL East continues to fall. Time for concern?

Amidst the growing animosity within the Phillies’ fan base regarding the team’s recent struggles, the Phillies themselves are still feeling quite confident.

While their lead in the National League East has shrunk to just 5.5 games over the Atlanta Braves—ahead of their Tuesday night matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers—the Phillies still very much control their destiny. The Phillies are set to play the Braves at the end of the month and have seven more ballgames against their division rival. A stretch of ten road games against playoff contenders will put the club to the test, but for the Phillies, all they have to do is win.

Easier said than done of course, but ahead of a West Coast trip, the Phillies can put to bed all noise of a collapse with a win Friday night in Seattle. Facing arguably the best pitching staff in the Major Leagues, it will not be the easiest game on the calendar in 2024.

Down the path most traveled

The Phillies struggled in July. They are a below .500 team since taking a trip across the pond to play in London and have fallen from the historic pace they played to at the beginning of the 2024 season. It was unreasonable to think the club would shatter the 2001 Seattle Mariners win record of 116 games, but expecting the fourth-highest payroll to play well above .500 is warranted.

Every professional baseball team will go through a stretch where they look like a shell of themselves. The New York Yankees and Houston Astros have gone through similar patches this season as well. Based on the way the Yankees played in Philly this past week, you would never be able to tell the club had struggles just weeks prior.

All teams travel down this path at one point or another. Other great Phillies teams have had similar struggles. If you check back into the 2008, 2009, 1980, and other teams in Philly’s past, you will see the common trend. Their sweep by the Yankees is the first time suffering this fate all season and waiting until the last weekend of July to get swept is a very proud achievement.

Speaking of the 2001 Mariners, they didn’t get swept until the final series of their regular season. It just goes to show that it happens to every team, and while the last few weeks have not been their best, the Phillies aren’t falling off the rails quite yet.