Something strange is brewing in the National League East as two teams with lofty expectations have stubbed their toes out of the starting blocks. While the woeful Mets are getting much of the coverage amid an 11-game losing slide, the Phillies are sinking at nearly the same rate. Philadelphia is now 8-14 after dropping its sixth straight contest, a 5-1 loss at the hands of the Cubs, on Monday night. The Phillies are just a half-game out of the cellar and already 7.5 games behind the surging Braves.
Only four teams in Major League Baseball have a higher payroll, which makes it alarming that the Phillies are racing clubs like the White Sox and Royals to the very bottom. Most surprising is that through 22 games the Phillies sport the worst run differential of anyone at -42.
