The Phillies enter Wednesday nights series finale with the Mets three games under .500 at 14-17. Its a low watermark they reached once this season, when they fell to 7-10 in Arizona on April 23 before winning three of the next four games.
The offense took plenty of heat in April, when it ranked in 25th in the majors in runs and slugging percentage, 26th in on-base percentage and homers.
But the bats have been much better in May. The Phillies are sixth in baseball in runs scored this month with 40. Thats eight more than the Red Sox and 14 more than the Yankees.
The problem has been the bullpen. Now that the Phils have started hitting and building leads, theyve been unable to keep them.
Tuesday nights 7-4 come-from-ahead defeat to the Mets was the seventh time already this season the Phillies have lost a game when they were either tied or leading in the seventh inning. Win three of those games and youre 17-14 instead of 14-17. Win all of them and youre 21-10, the record the Phillies had at this point last season en route to 102 wins.
The bullpen just isnt performing. It has the highest ERA of any relief crew in baseball, at 5.08. The unit has five blown saves, though Jonathan Papelbon has none. The Phillies didnt blow their fifth save last season until August. They blew eight all year.
That was an underrated aspect of the best regular season in franchise history. The Phils not only built leads behind historically excellent starting pitching, but protected those leads. Thats been the biggest difference, record-wise, thus far in 2012. The starting pitching has been slightly better through 31 games. Phillies starters have a 3.06 ERA this year compared to 3.13 through 31 games last season.
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There isnt a lone culprit to pinpoint, its been a collective effort by the pen.
Chad Qualls has allowed four runs and 12 baserunners over his last 4 13 innings. He has three blown saves.
Jose Contreras and Michael Schwimer, the latter of whom was sent back down to Lehigh Valley Wednesday to make room for Cliff Lee, each have an 8.53 ERA.
Brian Sanches, Michael Stutes and David Herndon have combined to allow 24 hits in 16 13 innings.
Papelbon has been great in save opportunities and Antonio Bastardo has a 2.25 ERA. Those have been the bright spots. Its hard to tell how long Bastardos success will last though, as the walks are still a problem and hes exited one-third of his appearances with men on base.
Can a team built around maintaining narrow leads succeed with this bullpen?
The early returns say no. To compete in a division that is already fiercely competitive, the Phillies may need to look for outside help.
Here are three impact relievers that could be made available before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.
Grant Balfour
His best season was as a Tampa Bay Ray in 2008, the year the Phillies beat them in the World Series. Balfour is currently saving games for the Oakland Athletics, but Oakland figures to soon fade and GM Billy Beane loves trading away veteran pieces that arent integral to his teams long-term success for talented youngsters.
Balfour makes 4 million this season and has a club option for 4.5 million next season. Beanes track record indicates that Balfour will be available for the right price.
Brian Fuentes
Also an Athletic, the 6-foot-4 lefthander Fuentes is setting up games for Balfour. Fuentes has a 3.44 ERA in 631 career appearances and has 30 more strikeouts than innings pitched. The opposition has hit .227 off him the last three seasons.
Fuentes makes 5 million this year and the As hold a 6.5 team option for 2013. One would figure that Beane is more inclined to move Fuentes than Balfour because of his price tag.
Carlos Marmol
The Cubs havent yet expressed a desire to move the filthy, but erratic Marmol, but he did lose his closers job mere weeks into the season. Hes owed a ton of money relative to what the Cubs want to be spending and hell be a free agent before Chicago can truly contend.
The Cubs owe Marmol 7 million this season and a whopping 9.8 million next season. If they were to trade him, theyd likely look for salary relief and a quality prospect or two. A team like the Phillies would be taking a risk on Marmol, who had 138 strikeouts in 77 innings in 2010, but always struggles with control and is prone to meltdowns. Because of that risk its hard to imagine them or any other team taking on the entirety of Marmols remaining money.
Its far too early to tell who else will be made available, but trading for a reliever makes more sense early than late. If the Phils continue with their relief corps and hope for the best until mid-July, the leads already blown may be more important in the final standings than those preserved after the deadline.
Its a worrisome situation. The offense struggled in April, but it was filled with players performing below their career norms. Most of the guys in the pen, though, dont have a major-league track record. And those who do are in the latter stages of their careers.
Now you see why the Phillies liked eighth inning artist Mike Adams so much at last years trade deadline.
E-mail Corey Seidman at cseidman@comcastsportsnet.com