MIAMI — The Phillies trudged into the All-Star break with back-to-back losses after winning the first four games of their trip to Florida, and the four days off should provide a welcome respite for several tiring players.
Aaron Nola was hit hard in Sunday's 7-3 loss, allowing three home runs to a Marlins team that hadn't hit more than two in any game this season at their spacious home park.
Kyle Schwarber went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts to end an ugly series in which he went 1-for-13 with six K's, was beaten by a step at first base on a groundball he didn't fully run out, and was called for a pitch clock violation for strike three in his final plate appearance Saturday.
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"I think, really with all of our starting pitchers, the All-Star break is coming at the right time," said manager Rob Thomson, who will skipper the National League squad in Seattle Tuesday night. "I think they need some rest. They've been giving us a lot of length for a while now. I think the extra rest through the break and on the backside with Noles going the day after the off-day, I hope it's going to help him."
Nola won't pitch again until the Phillies' fifth game after the break. He'll have eight days of rest. Cristopher Sanchez will start Friday in the first game at home against San Diego, Taijuan Walker and Ranger Suarez will pitch in Saturday's scheduled doubleheader, Zack Wheeler will start the series finale Sunday and Nola will pitch the series opener at home Tuesday against the Brewers.
Nola leads the majors in innings this season and the last six seasons, but his first half was below his standard. He is 8-6 with a 4.39 ERA despite owning one of the 10 lowest opponents' on-base percentages in baseball and the same rate of baserunners per inning as his career mark. The source of a pitcher's struggles isn't always so clear but with Nola it is — far too many home runs.
Nola's opponents actually have a lower OBP than those of Spencer Strider, Shohei Ohtani, Kevin Gausman, Shane McClanahan, Corbin Burnes, Wheeler and Marcus Stroman. The difference is that nearly half of Nola's baserunners have scored.
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He has allowed 21 home runs, two more than last season. There's been about equal amounts of good and bad. He made strong starts against the Rays, Astros, Braves, Cubs, Blue Jays, Rockies, Tigers, Reds, Mets and Yankees and poor starts against the Rangers, Cubs, Dodgers twice and Marlins twice.
"Balls over the plate," Nola said. "They were pretty on-go on my heater today. If (the homers) are solos, it's whatever, but I have given up a lot this year and a lot of them have been with guys on base, which have hurt. It's frustrating. I've just got to keep the ball in the yard.
"I was just kind of off today. The two-seamer felt good, it was probably the only thing that felt good today."
Nearly every team in baseball would love to have Nola in its rotation for the $16 million he earns in 2023, but the equation becomes more difficult when considering his looming free agency. He will be one of the top pitchers on the market, along with Julio Urias, Blake Snell, Lucas Giolito, Sonny Gray and, of course, Shohei Ohtani. Carlos Rodon signed for $162 million over six years last offseason and one would figure Nola's side will be looking for at least that much.
"The break will be good," he said. "We've got a lot of baseball left. Just enjoy the break and get back to it Friday. I look forward to competing when we get back."
The Phillies hit a rut offensively after scoring three runs in the first two innings Saturday. From the third inning of Game 2 through the fifth inning Sunday, they went 4-for-37 without a run and all four hits were singles.
They didn't have Bryce Harper for the series finale after he was hit by a 90 mph sinker in his surgically repaired elbow by left-hander Braxton Garrett on Saturday. Harper showed up with soreness and would not have been available off the bench even in a close game.
Thomson does think Harper will be fine by Friday when the Phillies resume their season.
The Phillies hope to have Harper playing first base soon, potentially by the beginning of August. Once he makes the transition, the Phillies' outfield defense should improve significantly with Cristian Pache playing center field and Brandon Marsh shifting to left. Marsh made his first start as a Phillie in left field Sunday and there was a play in the middle innings he made that Schwarber probably wouldn't have, a high bloop to shallow left field with Marsh positioned more toward left-center.
Schwarber enters the break hitting just .184 and has graded out as the worst defensive player in baseball. Remember, the Phillies did not sign him with the intent of playing him regularly in left field. They wanted to rotate Schwarber and Nick Castellanos as the designated hitter. But Harper suffered his elbow injury nine games into the 2022 season and the Phillies haven't been able to field their ideal defensive unit since.
"It's definitely going to be nice to get a little break and just let everything revamp and show up ready to go," Schwarber said. "I feel like, personally, it wasn't the first half that I wanted to have but there's still a lot more baseball to be played. If I can get a little bit more out of myself to help the team, that's the big thing."
The Phillies end the first half with a 48-41 record that puts them on pace for the same number of wins (87) as last season. They did not play well against the NL East, going 9-15 without a winning record against any of the four clubs.
They also played the most road games of any team in the majors. Their schedule was somewhat front-loaded. They have 73 games after the break and 43 are at home, including a stretch in August when they'll play 19 of 24 at Citizens Bank Park.
"We started off slow. Our rotation was having some problems throwing strikes. We weren't swinging the bats," Thomson said. "Then we got on a roll. We still feel really good. We lost two of three to these guys, and that's going to happen. But I feel really good about this club. I love our rotation, our bullpen has been great and I think our offense, there's more there.
"We haven't peaked yet, but we will."