Phillies' 0-4 start is bad, but there's still hope
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Phillies baseball returns to Citizens Bank Park later this week, but many already wish they could hit a reset on the season. The Phillies are an ugly 0-4 to start the season as defending National League champions.
Just about everything that could go wrong has gone wrong.
A baseball season is a marathon, and you can't judge how a team will finish based on four games. There are 158 games left, and there has been a team who won the World Series after an 0-4 start: the 2021 Atlanta Braves. If anything last season should be proof that the season is doomed in April.
Here's a look at a few numbers from the Phillies' abysmal start.
Run differential
The Phillies' minus-25 run differential through four games is tied for the worst in franchise history and since at least 1901 (which is as far back as Baseball-Reference's Stathead feature goes).
There are two Phillies teams in franchise history who have given up more runs through four games than the 2023 Phils' 37. But here's the catch: neither of them had a worse run differential.
In 1883, when the Phillies were the Philadelphia Quakers, the team allowed 43 runs in its first four games but had a minus-23 run differential. The Quakers scored 20 runs, with the third game being a 24-6 loss.
Then in 1895, in their sixth season as the Phillies, they had a minus-25 run differential when they allowed 50 runs and scored 25 in four games. The good news is, the Phils finished third in baseball with a 78-5-2 record in 1895. The bad news is? There were 12 teams and yes, ties were a thing.
Since 1901, only the 1969 Phillies had a worse run differential than the 2023 team -- minus-19.
Where does the 2023 Phillies' minus-25 run differential fall in terms of all of MLB since 1901? Seventh worst.
Painful pitching
The Phillies' pitching is paper thin and through four games, it's been dreadful. The Phillies have a team ERA of 9.28 and their bullpen ERA is even poorer at 11.30. Only one starter has made it past the fifth inning.
Through four games, only seven teams since 1901 have had a worse team ERA than the Phillies. One of those teams, the 2001 St. Louis Cardinals, made the postseason and three teams finished with 90 or more wins.
Phillies relievers have inherited 14 runners in four games. Eleven of them scored, which is the third most through four games going back to 1901 in all of baseball.
The 1965 Orioles allowed 13 of 17 inherited runners to score and the 1995 Orioles allowed 12 of the 21 inherited runners to score. The 1965 Baltimore team finished 94-68 but didn't make the playoffs.
If you're looking for a silver lining, the Phillies' rotation isn't the worst in baseball through four games, even if it feels like it.
Phillies starters have a 7.64 ERA, which is the 24th in MLB this season.
Time to panic?
Not so fast. An 0-4 start is certifiably bad, but it doesn't mean the postseason is out of reach -- or even winning the World Series
As mentioned above, the Braves won the 2021 World Series after starting the season 0-4.
Eleven teams since at least 1901 have made the playoffs, with two reaching the Fall Classic and nine teams winning their division. Four teams since 2011 have done so.
The season is far from over, but the Phils have again dug themselves a hole.
