PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper snared a line drive on the 61st pitch that Alan Rangel threw to complete two innings, and Harper did not know it was the third out. He looked to complete a double play somewhere on the field. Then, he realized.It was a slog for everyone.“Really, it feels like kind of all day you’re kind of out of it,” Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said after a 6-1 loss to the New York Mets. “They had guys all over the place.”Nothing about the Phillies has changed as they’ve emerged from the All-Star break. They remain a good hang three out of every five days — whenever Cristopher Sánchez, Zack Wheeler or Jesús Luzardo pitches. Two of them will start this week against the Los Angeles Dodgers.But they have not won a game started by anyone else since June 23. Their fifth starters — a collection of pitchers that includes Taijuan Walker, Andrew Painter, Rangel and some openers — have a 7.33 ERA in 25 starts.The Phillies are 5-20 in those games. They are 50-25 in every other game.Ken’s Week in Baseball: What will the Mets do with Francisco Lindor?Ken RosenthalIt’s a regular-season problem; the Phillies do not need a fifth starter in October if they reach the postseason. If they want to win the National League East again, they probably need a better solution for the fifth spot. They need someone for about 12 more starts this season.There is a cumulative effect, too; the Phillies needed 208 pitches to record 27 outs Sunday against a Mets lineup that entered the game as one of two major-league teams with a lower on-base percentage than Philadelphia’s.Rangel relies on deception, and the Mets had seen him last month. Both starts had similar results. The Phillies don’t really have another pitcher to consider for the next turn.“It’s something to talk about,” Mattingly said. “Now is not a great time to talk about that, when you’re 10 minutes after the game. But I’m sure it’s something that everybody’s looking at to try to give us the best chance to win.”A smattering of other thoughts about the Phillies as the Dodgers and New York Yankees come to town …1. I think the number that should concern the Phillies the most is .303, their on-base percentage. That is dead last in Major League Baseball. Since 1961, when MLB expanded to 18 teams, only five teams with an on-base percentage of .305 or worse have qualified for the postseason. Two of them, the 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers and the 2024 Detroit Tigers, won a postseason series.It’s dangerous to create a narrative using season-long Phillies statistics because the first 26 games were so dreadful that they skewed everything. But the Phillies had a .298 OBP after their 8-18 start and a .305 OBP in the 74 games since.It looks like this is what they are. The Phillies are eighth in the majors in home runs, a great trait for October, but it’s better to hit those homers with men on base.Without getting on base at a better clip, the Phillies’ lineup is streakier.“A lot of it’s got to do with how tough the pitching’s gotten in this league,” third baseman Alec Bohm said. “You can really run into some teams with some tough bullpens. They can match up well. It seems like you can go through some games where you see just three guys throwing 100 from both sides and moving the ball around. Sometimes, you can wait those guys out and get some pitches in the middle and do something with them. Sometimes, they end up just kind of dominating you.”2. I think Edmundo Sosa has been one of the under-the-radar disappointments of 2026, but he’s going to continue to have a chance at playing an important role in October. Sosa will start Monday and Tuesday, probably in left field, because the Phillies will face two left-handed starters.Sosa has a .630 OPS in 167 plate appearances. He has essentially been a replacement-level player when the Phillies need him to be a steadier bench presence, like he’s been in previous seasons.But even if the Phillies acquire another right-handed-hitting outfielder, Sosa could still be in the outfield picture. The Phillies have kept Justin Crawford away from lefty starters. They could start doing that with Brandon Marsh. That would give them an outfield versus lefties of Sosa, Derek Hill and a mystery righty hitter.Marsh is experiencing his first prolonged slump of the season. A lot of it has been skewed by poor results against lefties. He is 3 for his last 23 against left-handers, with 13 strikeouts. Until a ninth-inning single Sunday, he was hitless in 12 previous at-bats against them, with one walk.While the Phillies rode a wave with Marsh, who looked to benefit from regular playing time no matter the pitcher, it’s going to be difficult to argue that his performance outweighs playing the matchups.Maybe this is overthinking it. Sosa hasn’t been as good against lefties in 2026. He posted an .877 OPS against them over the last two seasons. It’s down to .739 in 2026.This stat, still, is beyond comprehension: Right-handed-hitting Phillies outfielders have slashed .195/.254/.322 this season.Baltimore Orioles outfielder Taylor Ward is batting .251/.389/.361 this season, and he has a .934 OPS versus lefties. (Greg Fiume / Getty Images)3. I think the Phillies will be outfield shopping in the same aisle that netted them Harrison Bader and Austin Hays in previous trade-deadline deals. The easiest name is the Baltimore Orioles’ Taylor Ward, who will be in demand and probably cost more than he should. Two others to consider: the Kansas City Royals’ Lane Thomas and the Mets’ Tyrone Taylor.Thomas has interested the Phillies before, but he’s never been a clean match. Maybe this is the year. The 30-year-old right-handed hitter is having a bounce-back season for the Royals. He can play all three outfield positions. He has a .369 OBP against lefty pitchers this season. He is on a one-year, $5.25 million deal.Taylor, 32, has been a productive part-time player most of his big-league career. He has a career .290 OBP, which would not help the Phillies improve in that area. But he can defend, and he features some power.The Phillies have acquired only three hitters who were not rentals at the five trade deadlines under general manager Dave Dombrowski. They were Marsh and Sosa in 2022 and infielder Rodolfo Castro in 2023.If the Phillies go for someone with more control, the San Francisco Giants’ Heliot Ramos, the Washington Nationals’ Jacob Young, the Los Angeles Angels’ Jo Adell and the Cincinnati Reds’ Spencer Steer are potential targets.4. I think it would not hurt to see what Bryan De La Cruz has to offer before the Aug. 3 trade deadline. The Phillies thought enough of De La Cruz to add him to their 40-man roster earlier this month when he exercised an upward-mobility clause in his minor-league contract.Rookie right fielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. has gotten a longer run than Otto Kemp or Felix Reyes did as the club’s stab at producing a homegrown outfield piece. But after going hitless in his last 19 at-bats, Rincones is down to a .489 OPS in 76 plate appearances.De La Cruz is no magic bullet. He bats right-handed, and Rincones is a lefty. It’s not an even swap. But the Phillies are expected to see at least three left-handed starters this week. It might be time to try it.5. I think it’s safe to suggest the Phillies don’t anticipate any high-leverage bullpen options for this season emerging from their farm system. That’s not a groundbreaking development. Although the idea of Alex McFarlane or even Gage Wood as a late-inning reliever is enticing, it’s easier said than done.The Phillies have made it clear they do not think McFarlane, 25, has thrown enough quality strikes to earn a promotion just to Triple A — at least not yet. It could happen soon, but the Phillies will be making bullpen decisions at the trade deadline without knowing much about how McFarlane fares against better competition.Wood struck out nine batters, a personal best in pro ball, over four innings Sunday for Double-A Reading. The Phillies have managed Wood’s innings to keep him pitching as a starter for the entire season. If they were to change course, it would have to be soon, at least to condition Wood for a bullpen role. He was a reliever during his first two years at the University of Arkansas.The Phillies have a 23-year-old righty named Marty Gair whose fastball has averaged 97.8 mph at Low-A Clearwater. He has struck out 43 percent of the batters he’s faced in the Florida State League. But the 13th-round pick from the 2023 draft has yet to receive a promotion.The Phillies might include Gair as a second or third piece in a prospect package at the trade deadline.