Three MLB Contenders That Need Answers Before It’s Too Late

Good Major League Baseball organizations resist the urge to press the panic button, especially before MLB celebrates Jackie Robinson’s legacy on April 15.

But good MLB franchises also do their best to ensure that poor starts don’t turn into lost seasons — both for their players and the collective. That’s why there are a few expected contenders that likely are watching every pitch and swing with more of a critical eye.

Every team enters Sunday’s action with either 14 or 15 games under their belt, so there’s still 90 percent of the season to go. But here are three teams that aren’t coming close to living up to their potential — and why:

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (7-7)

The two-time defending NL East champs didn’t spend huge dollars on Kyle Schwarber and Cristopher Sanchez and good money on setup man Brad Keller just so they can be mediocre.

While they’re sitting at .500, their numbers suggest they should be worse. They’ve gotten outscored by 15 runs, which combines painful starts from Jesus Luzardo (6.23 ERA) and Taijuan Walker (9.31 ERA) with dreadful production from their infield.

Leadoff man Trea Turner boasts a .237 average, a .591 OPS and just one stolen base in 14 games. That makes him the Phils’ second-hottest infielder as 2B Bryson Stott (.190 average, .477 OPS) and 3B Alec Bohm (.157 average, .470 OPS) are not exactly stinging the ball. Bohm has dropped from cleanup to eighth in the order, but that might not be far enough.

Meanwhile, Schwarber has fanned a league-high 23 times in just 62 plate appearances (37.1%). In retrospect, it’s no wonder the Phillies recently went 20 straight innings without scoring against the scuffling San Francisco Giants.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS (6-8)

Speaking of spending big money, the Blue Jays went all-in to maximize their chances for a second consecutive World Series appearance — trying to join an American League list that consists of the Houston Astros (2021-22), Kansas City Royals (2014-15) and Texas Rangers (2010-11) over the last 25 years.

The Blue Jays rank last in the AL in runs differential (-19) — not including the Chicago White Sox’s minus-31 because they’re not even trying to field a full roster of MLB-caliber players — but Toronto can take some solace that it ranks first in unlikely, ruinous injuries.

Catcher Alejandro Kirk fractured the thumb on his glove hand while catching a pitch. New starting pitcher Cody Ponce suffered a season-ending knee sprain trying to field a bouncer between the mound and first.

They joined a teeming injured list that also features starting pitchers Trey Yesavage, Jose Berrios, Shane Bieber and Bowden Francis and starting outfielders Addison Barger and Anthony Santander.

The Jays have no choice but to be patient, but it must be tempting to spend some more millions each time they endure another start like Saturday’s — when Eric Lauer allowed seven earned runs in the third to spark a 7-4 loss to Minnesota.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS (7-8)

We’ll keep this brief because there’s one stat that sums up the Royals’ 3.27 runs per game through Saturday’s play:

In the Royals’ first 14 games, All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt reached base 22 times (15 hits and seven walks) and stole eight bases. Somehow, though, he managed to score just one run. According to White Sox radio play-by-play man Len Kasper, that’s because the rest of the Royals batted .120 with Witt on base.

Being a team-first guy, Witt figured out a way Saturday to keep his teammates from feeling worse about themselves: He elected to go 0-for-4 -- just the second time this year he failed to get on base.

That had to make Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez, who boast matching .164 batting averages, feel much better.