By: Tim Kelly, Managing Editor 
On June 16, 2017, the Philadelphia Phillies may want to hope for a rainout. Exactly one year after giving up 19 runs in a game that saw Jeff Francoeur pitch, the Phillies were crushed by the Toronto Blue Jays, 13-2 Thursday night.
While the Phillies are in a much better position organizationally now than they were a year ago, the loss, which was the team's eighth in their last 10 games, prompted manager Pete Mackanin to hold a team meeting after the game. Mackanin discussed what the meeting centered around with a group of reporters, including Philly.com's Matt Breen:
“There was a few things that I had been thinking about and wanted to have a meeting about,” Mackanin said. “Today was the culmination of those thoughts.”
Though these type of meetings can often be a sign of a team that has spiraled in a direction that can't be changed, this meeting seems as though it was a good call by Mackanin. He has a young team, that, against advanced metrics, was playing well over its head early in the season. A team that a month ago was beginning to hear discussion of the idea of being buyers at the non-waiver trade deadline, has come crashing back down to Earth over the last few weeks. That doesn't mean that the Phillies need to necessarily fall into a position where they are one of the three worst teams in the league again, though.
Beyond trying to avoid prolonged losing, 2016 was supposed to be a learning season for a young Phillies team that at the very least features pieces that are expected to be a part of the next great Phillies team. Mackanin's meeting not only gave him a chance to address the rough stretch that the Phillies are in the midst of currently, but also to discuss the individual mistakes that have put the Phillies in this position. With a young team, those type of teaching moments are important.
