The Philadelphia Phillies manager knows his job is to win.

“This is a performance-based business, right? You have to perform or changes are made,” Girardi said after the Phillies lost to the Miami Marlins 11-6 Wednesday night. “That’s for everyone. It includes me, too, right? If the team doesn’t perform to standards, I’m the one that’s in charge and I’m the one that is responsible. That’s the business we live in.”

Girardi, who is in the second year of a three-year contract, is about to embark on interesting July, August and September.

The Phillies (37-41) began Thursday in fourth place in the National League East, five games back of the first-place New York Mets. Philadelphia was only 3½ games ahead of the last-place Miami Marlins.

These are not the standings fans envisioned when Girardi was hired in October 2019.

He was a high-profile hire after managing the New York Yankees to a 910-710 record in 10 seasons, including the 2009 World Series championship over the Phillies.

“Sometimes where you are as an organization will dictate the type of leadership you want,” then Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said at Girardi’s introductory news conference. “It’s time to win. It’s time to win right now. That lends itself to bringing in a guy who has done that.”

But there hasn’t been much winning. Klentak was reassigned after last season and Girardi has a 65-73 record as the Phillies’ manager.

As the team has struggled this season, often losing games in exasperating fashion, fans have turned their ire on Girardi. It is fair to say the manager has not been the difference maker many thought he would be when he was hired.

Much of the criticism of Girardi has centered around his use of the Phillies’ bullpen.

A perfect example occurred Wednesday.

The score was tied at five in the fifth inning. Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola had thrown 98 pitches. With runners on first and third and two outs, Girardi pulled Nola and brought Neftali Perez into the game.

Perez was a curious choice.

He once won the American League Rookie of the Year Award. But that was back in 2010.

Before this week, Perez hadn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2017.

Perez gave up an RBI single and a two-run double before getting the inning’s final out. When he walked off the mound to the boos of the Citizens Bank Park fans, the Marlins had a three-run lead they would not relinquish.

On Thursday, the Phillies designated Feliz for assignment.

How does Feliz go from pitching in a close game to essentially being released the next day?

The answer is an all-too familiar one for the Phillies.

It seems that after every Philadelphia bullpen fiasco, Girardi tells reporters that a certain reliever pitched because other Philadelphia bullpen pitchers were unavailable because of overuse or injury.

That was the case Wednesday.

Girardi said Ranger Suarez had back spasms. The manager said he had only five available relievers for Wednesday’s game.

“My bullpen was extremely limited,” he said.

How does a bullpen find itself in such straights?

“It probably starts off with a doubleheader (last Friday) and not having any days off the last five or six days,” Girardi said. “We haven’t gotten real deep (into games with long outings from starters). We have some extra-inning games. We’ve just had to use our bullpen a lot.”

The focus on Girardi and the bullpen wouldn’t be as intense if the relievers were effective. The Phillies have blown 20 saves this season.

“It’s extremely frustrating,” Girardi said. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it — it’s really frustrating.”

Even through a Zoom call, it’s easy to pick up a sense of urgency from Girardi when he speaks the media.

The season is close to the halfway point. Girardi’s contract includes a club option for 2023. When he was hired, nobody envisioned Girardi possibly being a lame duck manager in 2022.

“I believe we can (win), but we have to start doing it,” Girardi said Wednesday. “That’s the bottom line. There’s been myriad issues that we’ve had during the course of time, whether it’s defense, pitching, hitting. There’s been a number of things, but we’ve got to turn this around.”