Interim manager Don Mattingly said on May 4 that the Philadelphia Phillies will hold meetings early this week in Philadelphia to evaluate the team’s performance and discuss possible improvements. The staff, along with some members of the front office, plan to review what is working, what is not, and how they can improve their season.
The meetings are intended to provide a clear assessment of the team’s status. “Honestly, it’s not something that’s about anything that we’ve done to this point,” Mattingly said. “It’s something that they do in Toronto, and it’s something I like. It’s like, where are we as a group? And, it’s everybody in there. It’s not just like me and another guy. It’s the whole staff, part of the front office, whatever.” He added that these reviews help identify trends: “Is it a trend? Is it something, hey, let’s don’t dismiss this…if we keep this, we’ve got to keep an eye on it moving forward. This is an area; it stayed consistently like this; what’s going on? What exactly is going on?”
Among topics likely to be discussed are defensive struggles and offensive challenges against fastballs. The Phillies entered Sunday last in Major League Baseball with -28 Defensive Runs Saved but Statcast data shows they are tied for 27th with -11 Outs Above Average—still below average but closer to league norms. Mattingly acknowledged both bad luck and possible issues with player positioning: “It is something that we want to look into as a group…In general I think we look at everything that’s happened up to this point…So that’s kind of been where it’s went so far…I’m thinking let’s just keep an eye on it.” The team also faces difficulties batting against four-seam and two-seam fastballs (.242 average), ranking near the bottom of MLB.
Alec Bohm’s individual struggles have contributed significantly; he was hitting .088 against fastballs before Sunday’s game—the lowest among qualified batters—and getting him back on track is seen as important for improvement at the plate.
Bullpen performance remains another concern despite expected returns from key players such as Jhoan Duran later in the week. Several relievers have posted high earned run averages so far.
The Phillies represent Philadelphia in Major League Baseball’s National League according to their official website. They serve fans regionally and nationally through games at Citizens Bank Park—a stadium they’ve called home since 2004—and community outreach efforts according to their official website. The organization has won World Series titles in 1980 and 2008 according to their official website, operates under executive leadership including a chief executive officer and general manager according to their official website, and functions as one of baseball’s charter franchises according to their official website.
Mattingly said follow-up meetings will take place within three weeks or a month: “You can say three weeks [ago] the season started … But then if we keep this up we’ve got to keep an eye on it moving forward.”
