NEW YORK — Less than two months ago, Drew Ellis was unemployed and back home in Indiana. From his couch, he confronted his baseball mortality. “It was like, ‘Is this it?’” Ellis, 27, said. “I didn’t know.” The Phillies signed him in April but didn’t even send him to Triple A. He first went to Double-A Reading. He was there until two weeks ago, then he was back in a big-league clubhouse Thursday morning because the Phillies needed someone.
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Ellis rolled his suitcase into the room and put his Casper pillow — a true minor-league move — on top of the bag. He will not need his own pillow while he’s in the majors. He introduced himself to his new teammates and, a few hours later, he came to bat as the tying run with two outs in the ninth inning.
He skied the first pitch he saw. A lazy fly for the 27th out. The game ended. The Phillies lost again. They have scored nine runs in their past five games. They have struck out 58 times in their past five games. They have drawn six walks in their past four games. They are 25-31 and face a similar scenario to a season ago.
They have to turn this entire thing around again. They pushed the boulder — with the weight of 10 years to it — over the hill last summer. The view from the top was beautiful last fall. This year, it was supposed to be different. There was downhill momentum.
No, it’s all the same.
“It comes down to us,” Kyle Schwarber said after a 4-2 loss to the Mets. “At the end of the day, it’s going to be on us. I’m telling you that we’re not panicking, but there is a sense of urgency. Just because we had the experience last year doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. Right? It doesn’t mean it’s just going to happen. You’re not just going to flip. There are going to be things that need to happen. It’s going to be on us to do that.”
There are various ways to dissect the first 56 games of this disappointing Phillies season, but Schwarber did it well. It’s on the players. The Phillies assembled a better roster than the one that carried them to the National League pennant in 2022. The club’s best players need to play better. It was the same thing when the Phillies fired manager Joe Girardi last June 3. Rob Thomson might have provided a steadier hand as Girardi’s replacement, but his players played better.
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All offseason and into spring training, Thomson warned about the dangers of complacency. The Phillies could not assume that it would all happen the same way again. They had to start better. They have, quite clearly, started worse than last season. Is Thomson worried the players have been on cruise control, that they assume it’ll all just click soon?
“No, I don’t think so,” Thomson said. “I think they are 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. So they know what reality is. And they’re grinding. They’re fighting.
“I don’t think (complacency) has anything to do with it. I really don’t. I just don’t think we’ve put it all together yet. But I have full confidence that we will. I have full faith in the clubhouse with the talent and the character that we have, I truly believe that we’re going to find it.”
It would be so much easier to point to specific shortcomings that have prevented the Phillies from a better record. Taijuan Walker, signed for $72 million to be a mid-rotation stabilizer, pitched with diminished velocity and errant command Thursday. He lasted only four innings. He threw only one pitch at 93 mph or harder — the fewest he’s ever thrown in a start.
But Thomson and Walker said the veteran pitcher does not have a physical ailment. It makes his struggles even more disconcerting.
“Kind of just searching right now,” Walker said. “Trying to find what’s working. I’m a little bit all over the place right now.”
Walker has a 5.65 ERA. He left a start in April with right forearm tightness but did not miss any time. After his start Thursday, he had a wrap on his right leg. He appeared to gingerly move at times during his outing. No one said anything about it. Thomson, repeatedly asked if Walker was dealing with something, said, “No. Not right now.” The Phillies do not have a fifth starter, so it’s paramount that Walker solves whatever it is that has prevented him from being a more consistent presence in the rotation.
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The Phillies will be without Alec Bohm for the next 10 days — and probably more. He has a mild hamstring strain. The Phillies don’t consider it serious, but they won’t rush him to risk a worse injury. That’s why Ellis, from his couch to the majors in less than two months, was on the active roster.
Thomson is not one to shuffle his lineup. But, among Phillies hitters, Brandon Marsh has taken some of the better at-bats during this road trip. Before Thursday’s game, Thomson said he might consider moving Marsh higher. “Possibly, yeah,” Thomson said. Then, he pinch hit for Marsh as the tying run in the ninth inning because the Mets had a lefty reliever on the mound. Ellis, who had played in one big-league game over the past 372 days, was the choice.
Mets manager Buck Showalter surprised with a countermove. He summoned a righty to face Ellis. There are limited levers the Phillies can pull right now. It’s on the players that form the highest payroll in franchise history to make this work as constructed. It’s June, so everything is supposed to improve.
What if it doesn’t?
“If we could put everyone in (our clubhouse) on a consistent basis, I think you would see our urgency,” Schwarber said. “We’re not going to go press the panic button. But the reality is we just got swept. Are we happy about it? Absolutely not. We need to do better.”
(Top photo of Kyle Schwarber after he struck out in the ninth inning: Brad Penner / USA Today)
