The Phillies missed out on a series sweep against the Rockies, falling 1-4 in the third game. Much of the blame lies with their starter, Taijuan Walker. Last year, he split time between starting and relieving, posting a 4.08 ERA across 34 appearances. This season, the Phillies elevated him to a full-time spot in the rotation, but he has yet to find his form. And as the Sunday game wrapped up, Walker himself acknowledged his shortcomings.

“Rough,” Walker said of his start to the season. “I felt like the stuff is good and is playing up, just when I’m making mistakes, it’s getting hit right now.”

Sunday actually went rough for the Phillies as well as their $72 million arm. Walker pitched 5 innings and allowed 4 runs with 4 SOs. The early blast came in the first inning itself when the Rockies scored 3 runs against the Phillies starter. Mickey Moniak crushed a solo homer to the second deck with two outs, followed by TJ Rumfield’s two-run blast, plating three runs.

And the worst part for the Phillies was that Moniak was the Phillies’ No. 1 overall Draft pick from 2016. Rumfield was the Phillies’ 12th-round pick from 2021. So, the Phillies trailed in the first inning, that too by their two former sluggers. However, Walker’s blown-up innings don’t mean he was struggling at the mound.

His pitches were diverse, including fastballs, curveballs, and heaters, but unfortunately, the majority of them got hard-contacted. Moreover, Walker induced more swing-and-miss on Sunday than he did in his first start of the season, resulting in 10 Whiffs.

“There’s a lot of intent on all his pitches,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “He missed a couple of spots in the first inning and paid for it, and then he was really good. He really mixed well until the fifth, and he just left a curveball up to Moniak, and that’s what happens. But I thought he was fine. He kept us in the game.”

Still, despite the manager’s optimism, Walker’s struggle against the Rockies just added to his poor run started in the 13-2 loss to Washington a week ago. That day, he allowed six earned runs on 10 hits from 4.2 innings. But while the Phillies should be worried with their starter’s struggle, their offense is looking like a disaster in the making.

The Phillies’ offense has yet to fire up

The Phillies’ offensive struggle is contributed by the rough patches of a few stars. For instance, the heart of the order has been notably cold. One week into the season, Bryce Harper was batting just .120 with a -0.4 fWAR. In contrast, Trea Turner was hitting .192. Moreover, the veteran power hitters like Kyle Schwarber, Turner, and Harper combined for only seven home runs through the first month of projections.

This has caused the team to rank near the bottom of the league in total long balls. Thus, with all these factors turning up, the Phillies as a whole are batting .220 with a .314 on-base percentage and a .360 slugging percentage. Surely, not something the fans expected from a lineup headlined by Harper and Schwarber.

However, it is also true that apart from the Phillies, there are a few other teams that are also struggling to put runs on the board. For instance, the Dodgers are hitting .237 as a team. Then, the Yankees and Cubs are hitting .227. The Tigers are at .215. The Red Sox are hitting .208. So, as of now, 2026 is yet to see the sluggers lighting up the ballparks, while pitchers are firing at their best.