Joe Girardi Details Biggest Priority for Phillies Heading into June

The Philadelphia Phillies have been one of the most inconsistent teams to begin the 2022 MLB season. Their inability to string together long periods of success has led to a 21-24 record, trailing the New York Mets by 7.5 games for the NL East lead as June approaches.

Manager Joe Girardi knows that his team has a lot of areas to improve upon. In fact, the 57-year-old bench boss has listed one specific area that the Phillies need to get better at as the calendar flips: consistency from the bullpen.

Philadelphia Phillies News

Girardi talked about the Phillies' pitching woes on MLB Network Radio on Friday, saying that "nailing down our bullpen is the biggest thing we have to do at this point." Philadelphia's relievers have combined for a 4.21 ERA, ranking sixth worst in the National League.

The Phillies manager also spoke about how their relievers have struggled due to the 2021-22 MLB lockout preventing a proper training camp experience.

Relievers like Brad Hand and Seranthony Dominguez have been solid for the Phillies, but their play has been offset by poor performances by the likes of Jose Alvarado and James Norwood, who have ERAs above 7.00 in 17 and 16 appearances, respectively.

Jeurys Familia has also taken a step back in his first year with Philadelphia following his 2021 performance. His 4.60 ERA is on pace to be the third worst of his career, while the opposition is also batting .274 against him — tied for his second-highest batting average allowed.

The good news for the Phillies is that this year's trade market for pitchers is strong and they might be able to pluck a reliever off of a struggling team.

Phillies World Series Odds

The Phillies need to get that bullpen help as soon as possible if they hope to make good on their championship odds. FanDuel Sportsbook has Philadelphia listed as having +2500 odds (T-No. 11) to win the 2022 World Series this season.

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.