Are the Phillies still figuring it out, or is this who they are in 2023? Yankees 4, Phillies 2

The Yankees took the series finale in a commanding fashion, dropping the Phillies to a pathetic 1-5 start to the season. It’s possible that this team is still suffering the effects of a short off-season, but they’ve dug themselves into a deep hole to start the season and it’s starting to get concerning. Fortunately, there are still 154 games left to be played in 2023.

Aaron Nola had a much better outing than his first start in the season opener, but still got hit around for three earned runs in six innings. He struck out five and walked only one. It’s an improvement for sure, but not the kind of outing the Phillies have come to expect out of him the past few years. Gregory Soto also had a better outing than his first, though quite frankly that wasn’t hard to accomplish. He only gave up one hit, a solo home run, and struck out three in one inning.

The Phils’ two runs came on a Jake Cave sacrifice fly in the seventh inning and a Schwarbomb in the eighth — Kyle’s second in two days. It was the first homer off Yankees pitcher Jonathan Loaisiga since May 12 of last year.

The offense mustered just five hits, two of which by Bryson Stott. He’s now batting .435 this season and while that might not mean much considering the small sample size, it’s great to see from him.

The best news of the day actually came from Rob Thomson before the game, when he announced that Bryce Harper took batting practice for the first time since his surgery. For an offense that’s struggled to score in 4 of its 6 games so far, Harper’s return can’t come soon enough.

The Phillies will now return home for their opening series against the 3-2 Cincinnati Reds. Zack Wheeler will take the mound for the Home Opener, looking for his first win of the season. First pitch at CBP is scheduled for 3:05 pm.