The Phillies Are a Good Team That Had a Bad Weekend, But Is CBP A Bad Vibes Experience?

It’s a rainy, dreary Monday in Philadelphia. We awoke to raindrops pattering on the window for the first time in quite some time. Phillies fans probably hope that the rain clouds steadily increase throughout the day and postpone the Phillies tonight. This bullpen and this fan base, could use a day off.

 

The 2022 Phillies baseball experience has been considerably more enjoyable than the past decade of baseball for this team. What was most shocking about yesterday’s collapse against the Mets, to finish the weekend 1-3 against them, was the bullpen returning to its old ways. 

 

The Phillies are a good baseball team, they are a playoff team and they are likely better than their competition, the Brewers and the Padres. It is a much deeper lineup, as proven by their ability to stay afloat without Bryce Harper for going on two months. And the aforementioned bullpen has dramatically improved. But after yesterday’s loss has serious spiral potential written all over it.

 

There are certain things that you can control with “spiral potential” and some you cannot. For instance, you cannot control the physical toll the team has taken. They are playing without their best player, they don’t have a starting centerfielder available, and they just put their closer on the Injured List. The guys are gassed. Players like Matt Vierling need a day off and they just can’t get it because there is no line defense left behind him. 

 

But what added so dramatically to the spiral potential, is the scene at Citizens Bank Park while the Phillies lost 3 of 4 to the Mets. Mets fans took it over, watched their team flex its muscle and made the entire Phillies organization from players to fans look inferior.

The powers that be at Citizens Bank Park should be completely embarrassed by letting the leader of the Mets fan club, 7 Line Army, throw out the first pitch Saturday afternoon. It was the type of anger where you skyrocket past anger to shock. Who could let this happen? And I know there is a promotional item that if your group buys more than 500 tickets, you can have a member throw out a first pitch. The 7 Line Army purchased over ONE THOUSAND tickets. But, you still have to recognize the optics of that situation. The weekend began by welcoming the Mets fan base with open arms like they brought the Trojan Horse. And the weekend ended by Mark Canha flipping his bat to Saturn on the game winning home run on Sunday. 

We are used to Citizens Bank Park South in DC. We are used to not knowing if it was a good or bad play for the Eagles during an away game based on the crowd noise when you step out of the room because we take stadiums over. 

 

In a vacuum, the Phillies loss to the Mets when they blew a 7-1 lead in the 9th inning was way worse. But when you look at the entire scope of the Phillies 10-9 loss yesterday, it is entirely worse. It was a morale killer in the biggest way. Your rival beat you. Their fans took your stadium. And it comes a week after their former player turned announcer trashed your ballclub live on air.

 

The Phillies are a good baseball team who are a bit gassed. The stadium energy right now doesn’t match the fact they should be a playoff team. John Kruk is right when he says the players do have to change it by winning. If you build it, they will come. But, this weekend’s torment at the hands at the Mets shows just how bad the vibes are with the stadium experience at Citizens Bank Park.

 

By Aidan Powers | August 22, 2022
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