The Philadelphia Phillies dropped two of three to the lowly Washington Nationals this weekend, brining their second half of the season record to 19-16, as they continue a somewhat inconsistent season.
But Phillies legend Ryan Howard is not worried at all.
"That's called baseball," Howard said on Monday's 94WIP Midday Show with Hugh Douglas and Joe Giglio. "That's the ebbs and flow of the baseball season. Even back when I was playing, Phillies have always been getting out to a slow start. I was also told it's not about how you start, it's how you finish. At some point, you're going to have those streaks when you get hot and then you're going to kind of mellow out again. To me, I would rather have them kind of go through playing somewhat of .500 baseball now at the end of August and then start to pick it back up in September. As you saw last year, if you can get hot at the right time great things happen."
Douglas asked Howard how does the team stay calm as the fans and media in Philadelphia react daily to the ups and downs of the season.
"That's why they put seatbelts on the roller coaster," Howard said. "You just got to sit back and relax. It's 162 games. You're going to have some good stretches, some bad stretches and like my man Jim Thome told me, 'He says don't get too high, don't get too low. Just stay even keel.' I know that's tough to say in Philadelphia because the fans are so passionate, everybody is so passionate. But these guys know what to do. They got a taste of it from last year and I think in terms of that, it's going to be one of those things where I think they're going to know what to do in the right time."
The Phillies face Gabe Kapler and the SF Giants for three straight games at home in what will be the biggest season of the series to date, as the Phils hold a 2.0 game lead over the Giants for the NL's top wildcard spot. The series begins tonight, kicking off nine straight home games for the Phils over the next 10 days against the Giants, Cardinals, and Angels.
Keep up with 94WIP via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
