The Phillies can’t hit, have lost 8 straight

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The Phillies were supposed to rebuild in 2016, and that’s important to remember when any kind of critical analysis of them occurs. The 2016 Phillies are not good — lately they’ve been extremely not good, losing eight in a row — but they never were supposed to be. Sure, they stashed some extra wins in the bank early, but the lineup was a disaster that warned that either things needed to improve, or they were going to get worse on their own. For now, it looks like “worse on their own” is winning out.

The Phillies’ team OPS+ is 72. For some context, light-hitting Marlins’ shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria is having a poor offensive season even by his low standards, and he has an OPS+ of 71. The entire Phillies’ team is hitting like an underperforming, glove-first shortstop. Well, okay, not the entire team: Odubel Herrera has a 125 OPS+ thanks to a .305/.401/.426 line, but that just goes to show you how horribly everyone else is doing. Ryan Howard now has a .198 on-base percentage. Cesar Hernandez has a 70 OPS+. Freddy Galvis is at 55. Peter Bourjos is somehow having the worst season of his career at the plate, and that’s no small hurdle to clear.

The good news is that none of these players are long-term contributors to the Phils: they’re just the players who are there now while they rebuild. Top prospect J.P. Crawford is the shortstop of the future. Howard is 36 years old and has a $10 million buyout on his 2017 option. Bourjos is just there to fill space, and Hernandez is a bench player who happens to be starting because what does it matter? If players central to the future fill the lineup and nothing improves, then you can be concerned. For now, though, about the only major issue is Maikel Franco’s slow start. The rest is just an ugly side effect of the rebuilding process.