BALTIMORE — The Philadelphia Phillies procured a suite, just to the right of home plate at Camden Yards, for about 15 members of their front office this weekend. Dave Dombrowski summoned his assistants, scouts and analysts — everyone and anyone — for daytime meetings followed by a ritual watching of whatever the latest thing is that ails this team.They decided, during Thursday’s meetings, that Andrew Painter should start Friday night against the Baltimore Orioles. They watched with delight as Painter overcame a rocky beginning to complete six strong innings. Even if it was only for a little less than two hours, the Phillies could feel as if a roster hole had been temporarily plugged.Then, the bullpen door opened.“It pisses me the f— off,” Orion Kerkering said after a 6-4 Phillies loss in which he permitted a career-high-tying four runs. “It’s frustrating because you can’t give this team a chance to win, it feels like. And it pisses me off a lot. I just have to figure it out.”Why the Tigers should keep Tarik SkubalEno Sarris and Derek VanRiperAs July becomes August, the Phillies have lost 10 of their last 13 games, and they face exhausting questions. The front office will not allow a recent stretch of putrid baseball to influence its vision for this team. The Phillies are built to win now, and when they do not win as they should after successive years of October disappointments, it’s not hard to feel the creeping darkness.“This too shall pass,” interim manager Don Mattingly said.No one knows how Dombrowski really feels about this team; he has declined to field reporters’ questions this week until the Phillies make a trade. Even those in the suite with Dombrowski might think they know how the president of baseball operations is leaning before Monday’s trade deadline, but no one truly knows. Dombrowski, 70, will act on the information he has and a feeling that he’s curated over five decades in the sport.He must know, then, that he cannot fix everything about this roster. That probably will not stop him from trying.As Phillies players ate a postgame meal in silence after the game, Dombrowski found Bryce Harper. The veteran executive put his arm around Harper during a conversation. It was there for many of Harper’s teammates to see, and that was probably not an accident. Dombrowski and Harper might not approve of each other’s work, but they have a common goal.The man bankrolling it, John Middleton, was seated in the first row behind the Phillies’ dugout Friday. The club’s CEO and managing ownership partner stood to celebrate when Painter induced an inning-ending double play in the sixth inning. But after the game, Middleton whisked through the clubhouse.Andrew Painter allowed two runs over six innings and struck out six in his first start with the Phillies since being demoted to Triple A in mid-June. (Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)Painter’s appearance may be nothing more than a cameo. The Phillies have targeted a starting pitcher in trade talks. The idea would be to move that acquisition to the bullpen in October. But that still leaves the Phillies feeling short in the bullpen — now and later.“This is definitely not the brand of baseball we want to be playing,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said. “We’ve got the guys in this room to win. We know that. We just have to play better. We’re just not doing enough things, particularly late in the game. I feel like, when it really matters, we’re just not making the pitches we need to make. Not getting ahead of guys and attacking. That’s giving us some trouble.”It’s a telling assessment by Realmuto, who has seen the good and the bad during his eight years with the club. When the catcher joined the Phillies, they were known for their September collapses and postseason droughts and ramshackle bullpens.Right now, the Phillies have one reliever they can trust: Jhoan Duran. He is quite good. He is one of the best closers they’ve ever had, and the irony of it all is that when the Phillies were on the precipice of something great in the middle of the 2023 National League Championship Series, they had no one to finish the games they should have won.Getting the ball to Duran feels like a serious challenge. Jonathan Bowlan has impressed, but no one knows how he’ll react to more stressful situations down the stretch. José Alvarado has been erratic, at best. Everyone else is a middle reliever.And then there is Kerkering, an unwitting symbol for all of this. No one will ever forget what happened at Dodger Stadium last October. It is a burden Kerkering has carried ever since, and it’s only natural to wonder what will happen to the right-hander once the pressure increases again.He has not thrown consistent strikes for much of this season.“The f—ing walks,” Kerkering said. “The hits will come. Walks, you can control. It’s one of those things that’s been a struggle this year. It just pisses me off that I keep walking guys.”Kerkering, whose fastball velocity was down two ticks when his outing began, faced six batters. He fell behind four of them. He allowed a leadoff single in the seventh, then after a strikeout, walked Colton Cowser on five pitches. He threw a 2-2 sweeping slider to Christian Encarnacion-Strand that was off the plate but not as far off as Realmuto wanted it. The two-run double tied the score.Kerkering struck out the next batter, then was one pitch from escaping the inning with the score still tied. He hit Pete Alonso with an 0-2 fastball. Tim Mayza inherited both runners and allowed a two-run triple to a lefty hitter, Gunnar Henderson.That was that.Kerkering has a 14 percent walk rate, an increase from his 10 percent rate in 2025, which was a notable uptick from the 6.6 percent walk rate in 2024. The reliever the Phillies saw in his first full season as a rookie has faded into a less-reliable version.He’s just one of several problems that reside in the bullpen.“For sure, yeah, we’re concerned,” Realmuto said. “But, I mean, we believe we have the guys in this room to get it done. We’ve got guys that have gotten a lot of big outs for us in the last few years and with really good stuff. We’re just not attacking the zone. We’re getting behind too much. That’s something we have to work on. This stuff is there, and we just have to get better and attack the zone. … Just too many counts 2-1, 3-1 late in the game right now.”Everyone feels more pressure to contribute something when it’s teetering. Kyle Schwarber has three home runs in the last 33 days. Harper singled home a run in the first inning Friday but struck out with runners on the corners in the seventh when the Phillies had a chance to pad the lead. Brandon Marsh went hitless again. At least Trea Turner looks energized.The Phillies are never going to feel great about the whole roster this season. Even when they were winning in May and June, their flaws were obvious. They could overcome them then. Now, it’s August, and Dombrowski has to triage it.He’s going to need some help.