Pete Mackanin on Phillies' May Woes: ‘As Bad as It Gets'

The Phillies haven't been this bad in over 55 years.

Even with a win Wednesday afternoon in Miami, the Phils would still finish the month of May at 7-21 and the team is on pace for just 56 wins. In an interview this morning with 94WIP, manager Pete Mackanin did not mince words.

"I've been associated as a player, coach and manager with winning teams and losing teams and this is as bad as it gets right now," he said. "We're at the end of our rope and we have to just keep climbing up, keep pushing forward."

"I believe we're a better team than we're showing and the bottom line is the players have to start performing better. They have to do their jobs better - there's no way to sugarcoat it. We own our record and right now, we're that team with the worst record in baseball."

Mackanin discussed different strategies he's used with past teams to shake things up in the clubhouse but was at a loss as to how he and his coaching staff can resolve the team's offensive woes. Tuesday night in South Florida, the Phillies mustered just two hits and in the last month, the team has scored more than five runs just three times.

But the baseball journeyman - in a variety of roles - has no question he wants to remain the Phils' head man.

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"When you're that a rut, you've got to figure a way out and that's all I do. I don't sleep," Mackanin said. "I get up in the morning, try to figure out what I can do today, how I should make up that lineup. ... I'm privileged to have this job. It's hard but I get paid fairly to do a hard job, to try to figure this thing out and there's no way that I would not want it. I'd rather be 15 games over (the .500 mark) than 15 games under, but it's part of the job."

Before Tuesday's game, CSNPhilly's Jim Salisbury reported the team has discussed demoting Maikel Franco with Howie Kendrick back in the fold after a lengthy DL stint. The rotation also will see some new faces in coming days to replace Zach Eflin, who was sent back to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, and the injured Vince Velasquez.

The IronPigs sit atop the International League standings with a 35-16 mark and have five of the organization's top 10 prospects - including outfielders Roman Quinn and Nick Williams, both of whom have found their hitting stroke after slow April starts.

"There's more than one way to solve a problem, and Matt and I have been discussing various ways to solve this (offensive) problem. I don't know exactly what he's planning on doing. There's no set plan but I guarantee you he's not happy with what's going on. ... He and I talk about all those options and the key to that is making the decision at right time."

The team will have an off day Thursday before returning home to Philadelphia as it opens a three-game weekend set against San Francisco.

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