The Phillies Haven't Won a Game Since Tax Day

They're cooked.

I said it on April 19 when they'd lost seven of nine and were down 5.5 games. People told me it was early. People told me April doesn't matter. People were wrong.

The Phillies are 8-18. Ten straight losses. The last time Philadelphia lost ten in a row, Bill Clinton was president and nobody had a cell phone. That was 1997. Twenty-nine years ago. This franchise went an entire generation without being this bad for this long, and they picked the year after back-to-back division titles to do it.

Let that settle.

Two-time reigning NL East champions. The team that was supposed to make it three. They're 10.5 games behind the Braves and it's April 25th. The calendar hasn't even flipped to May.

Meanwhile, Atlanta is 19-8. Best record in baseball. Won nine of their last ten. The Braves aren't chasing anyone. They're running laps around a division that surrendered.

I was 85% the Braves were the best team in the NL on April 18. I'm raising it. I'm 92% now.

Here's the receipt: a 10.5-game lead built in 27 games. That's not a hot start. That's a knockout in the second round. Philadelphia is on the canvas and nobody in that clubhouse has a plan to get up.

Forget the wild card math. Forget the "it's a long season" cope. Ten-game losing streaks don't happen to good teams having a rough patch. They happen to teams that are broken.

The NL East is over. Atlanta won it in April.

Tell me I'm wrong.