The good news for Major League Baseball teams who aren't where they want to be right now is that the 2023 season is less than 10 percent finished. Their ultimate fates will be decided in the other 90-odd percent of the year.

And yet, it's never too early to break out the ol' "Panic Meter."

We've put the meter to eight clubs who aren't even rising to the level of .500 play after beginning the season with playoff aspirations. We've considered what is and isn't going wrong and whether things stand to get better or worse, and concluded by assigning them one of three readings on the panic meter: low, medium or high.

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We'll proceed in ascending order of teams' records, with run differential serving as a tiebreaker.

 

Philadelphia Phillies

Record: 4-9

Run Differential: Minus-19

Things have gotten better for the Phillies since they opened with four straight losses, yet they haven't climbed out of that hole so much as gotten started on clawing at the walls.

Where the Phillies are struggling most isn't subtle. It's capital-R, capital-P Run Prevention. Their pitchers rank last in the National League with a 5.38 ERA, while their defense is third from the bottom in efficiency.

More specific things to worry about include velocity drops and corresponding effectiveness dips on the parts of ace Aaron Nola and closer Craig Kimbrel. And on the offensive side, Darick Hall's thumb injury only further diminished a lineup that was already missing Bryce Harper (Tommy John surgery) and Rhys Hoskins (ACL tear).

And yet, the defending National League champs have also simply been unlucky.

It doesn't show in their run differential, but it does in how they're underperforming their expected metrics on defense. And offensively, for a team to rank fifth in its league in OPS yet only 12th in runs per game is what they call "unsustainable."

As such, the Phillies may well back on track even before their offense regains Hall and Harper and their pitching regains Ranger Suárez from a forearm injury. Top prospect Andrew Painter, who's recovering from a UCL sprain, should also debut at some point.

Panic Meter: Medium

 

Chicago White Sox

Record: 5-8

Run Differential: Minus-17

This year was supposed to be a reset for the White Sox after they experienced all sorts of frustration amid an 81-81 season in 2022. But so far it's, uh, not that.

Knowing how badly the injury bug bit them last season, it's particularly disconcerting that the White Sox are already having injury issues again. Most notably, Tim Anderson figures to miss the next two-to-four weeks with a sprained knee.