SAN DIEGO, CA - AUGUST 20: Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrates after hitting a home run in the third inning against the San Diego Padres on August 20, 2021 at Petco Park in San Diego, California. (Photo by Matt Thomas/San Diego Padres/Getty Images)
Has the worst already passed for the Philadelphia Phillies?
Or is all of this just the calm before the incredibly unpleasant storm, a torrential downpour of more unforced errors and losses to the NL’s dregs?
Well, it depends. You feel like being an optimist?
Because the road ahead is anything but bleak, and though the Phillies trail the NL East by five games at the moment, we have mountains of evidence from 2021 alone that the tide can flip in an instant.