Mired in rough stretch, Phils need superstars to step up

PHILADELPHIA -- Bryce Harper spoke the truth on Sunday.

He answered a few questions about the Phillies’ recent play and Tuesday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline following Sunday afternoon’s 4-3 loss to the Guardians at Citizens Bank Park. The Phils have lost eight of 12 since they swept the Dodgers on July 9-11. They have not played well. Harper has not played well, either.

He said so himself.

So when Harper was asked how he feels about the team as it is constructed heading into the final two months of the season, if Carlos Estévez and Austin Hays are the only two acquisitions president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski makes before Tuesday’s Deadline, he offered a pitch-perfect seven-word response.

“Yeah, the superstars got to show up,” Harper said.

In other words, the hypothetical bat or arm the Phillies could still acquire before the Deadline is not going to lead them to the promised land.

Harper is.

Trea Turner is.

Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto and Nick Castellanos are.

They are the Phillies’ superstars.

“It just hasn’t been good,” Harper said. “Obviously, myself, I haven’t been good at all. We’ve just got to get better, turn the page and try to have a better series against the Yankees [beginning on Monday]. It’s just part of the game. As the season goes, you’re going to have your ups and downs, obviously. We’ve had chances to win games. We’ve had leads in games. We haven’t been able to get the job done.”

Harper is batting .200 with four home runs, nine RBIs and an .805 OPS in his past 12 games. A lot of players would love to hit four homers and post an .800 OPS and call it a rough stretch, but Harper has MVP expectations for himself.

Consider his seventh inning at-bat against Cleveland right-hander Hunter Gaddis on Sunday. Harper fouled off a first-pitch fastball down the middle. It is a pitch that he might smash over the right-field fence if he is on.

The next pitch sailed outside for a ball.

Harper, perhaps still thinking about the previous pitch he missed, shouted a curse word as he stared at home plate.

“Any time you’re missing pitches over the zone, swinging at pitches out of the zone, you just can’t do that,” Harper said.

He flied out to right for the second out of the frame.

Harper will get going at some point. Maybe it begins Monday night against the Yankees.

The Phillies will get going, too. They are too talented to play like this forever, especially because they are more talented than they were last week. The club acquired Hays from Baltimore on Friday for right-hander Seranthony Domínguez and outfielder Cristian Pache. He will get a chance to play every day in left field. If he performs well, he will stay there. If he struggles against right-handers, he could platoon with Brandon Marsh.

Estévez, acquired from the Angels for two pitching prospects on Saturday, will bolster the bullpen. Phillies manager Rob Thomson would not name him the team’s closer, but he said the right-hander will get ample opportunities to pitch in the ninth inning.

“Getting Estévez, he’s been one of the best closers in baseball this year,” Harper said. “So that’ll be good for us, good for our bullpen. He throws strikes. He does the job. I hear he’s a really good person as well. He’ll fit into this clubhouse. Hays, obviously coming from a winning organization with the Orioles, he’s a really good player as well, hits lefties really well. He’s going to have a chance to play every day here, so that’ll be good for him. Obviously, I’m not really sure if Dave is done or not, so we’ll see.”

If Dombrowski makes another move, great. It can only help.

If he doesn’t, the Phillies still have the players to win the World Series. They just need their superstars to lead the way.