There’s no gentle way to put it the Phillies’ first month of the season has been terrible. Philadelphia is already stuck at the bottom of the NL East, which is shocking considering the Mets just lost twelve straight games.
But in Philly, misery loves company. So who else around the league has been just as bad, to help fans cope with this embarrassing start?
Consider three former Phillies who left last year hoping for better luck elsewhere: Harrison Bader, Nick Castellanos, and Jordan Romano. Their performance has been nearly as low as Phillies fans’ spirits.
To be fair to Bader, he didn’t really want to leave Philadelphia which still stings. But his rough start in San Francisco might actually justify the front office’s decision to let him go. Through his first 15 games, Bader has a -4 OPS+, a huge drop from the 124 OPS+ he posted with the Phillies last year that had fans hoping he’d return.
They didn’t get their wish, but maybe that’s for the best. He’s now striking out about once every three at-bats.
Then there’s Castellanos. His split with the Phillies was messy, but not the team’s fault it was one of those cases where both sides wanted out. Castellanos is also in the NL West, a few hours south of Bader in San Diego.
His numbers are just as bad: a .404 OPS and a strikeout rate over 29%. As of April 25, he hasn’t homered in 23 games dating back to last season, and he’s gone without a home run in 16 games so far this year.
Jordan Romano has struggled for three straight seasons now. In the middle of that tough stretch was a one-year stop in Philadelphia in 2025, where he put up an 8.23 ERA, four losses, and three blown saves. He allowed ten runs in his final 10.1 innings a memorable parting gift to the franchise.
And this year with the Angels, he’s just as bad. His 1.773 WHIP is a career worst. He also blew back-to-back games against the Yankees, a surefire way to make fans cringe every time he takes the mound.
You never want to root against players too hard, but watching them struggle like this might help ease the pain for Phillies fans at least for a while.
