Phillies vs. Yankees Tuesday MLB probable pitchers, odds: Philadelphia looks to avoid unprecedented 0-5 start for defending pennant winner

It's fair to say the defending National League champion Philadelphia Phillies badly miss sluggers Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins. The Phillies are the only winless team in the NL and look to avoid their first 0-5 start since 1934 as +125 underdogs at Caesars Sportsbook Tuesday night at the New York Yankees.

It might surprise you to know that the only team to win a World Series after starting 0-4 was the 2021 Atlanta Braves. The Phillies already have risen to +1400 at Caesars.

Philadelphia also has the worst run differential in the majors at minus-25 following Monday's 8-1 loss in the Bronx in the series opener. Since scoring seven runs on Opening Day in Texas, the Phillies have totaled just five in the next three. Alec Bohm has the team's only homer this season. Hoskins' replacement, Darick Hall, is batting .250 with one RBI.

The Phillies are the sixth pennant-winning team since 1917 to start the following season by losing their first four games. Prior to Monday, the 1984 Orioles were the last pennant-winning team to lose four straight. No pennant-winning team has lost five straight to start the following season.

"You don't want to start 0-4, that's for sure," Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson said. "But if we lost four in a row in July, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. So it looks a little bit worse to start the season."

The Phillies turn to lefty Matt Strahm on Tuesday as the starting pitcher, although he'll serve as a glorified opener. Strahm pitched one scoreless inning in the first game vs. Texas. Last year with Boston, he was 4-4 with a 3.83 ERA in 50 relief appearances. Strahm is expected to have a maximum pitch count of 70 tonight. He should return to the bullpen once starter Ranger Suarez is healthy.

Right-hander Domingo German starts for New York. The 30-year-old was 2-5 with a 3.61 ERA in 72.1 innings last year and never has been the same pitcher he was in 2019 when he was 18-4, in part due to injury. German missed the first 93 games of the 2022 season with right shoulder impingement syndrome and all of 2020. In 10.1 innings this spring, German posted an 8.71 ERA and 1.45 WHIP.

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