The Phillies could still get free-agent help if John Middleton has the cash | Extra Innings

The Phillies opened the Grapefruit League portion of their schedule Sunday with a splat, falling, 10-2, to the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland, Fla.

It was a particularly inauspicious Phillies debut for Ivan Nova, who got the starting assignment from manager Joe Girardi and recorded only a single out before leaving the game. He was charged with five runs on three hits, including a home run, and he also walked a couple batters.

Girardi’s first call to the bullpen of spring training was also a bit ominous, especially given the results of last season’s relief work. Jonathan Hennigan came on and allowed one run on a hit and three walks. After Nova and Hennigan threw a combined 50 pitches and walked five batters, including three with the bases loaded, Girardi was forced to use a mercy rule that allows managers early in spring training to end an inning before three outs because a pitcher threw more than 20 pitches. Nova threw 27 (13 were balls), and Hennigan threw 23 (14 were balls).

» READ MORE: Phillies due for some good luck in 2021 after nearly a decade of misfortune | Bob Brookover

Girardi doesn’t put much stock in early spring-training failures, but you can catch his eye with success and Adam Haseley did by kicking off the center-field competition with a leadoff home run to the opposite field to open the game. He also drew a walk later in the game. His homer was one of four hits for the Phillies, who also got a double from Mickey Moniak.

“I don’t think at this time you can do a lot to hurt your chances, but you can help your chances, in a sense,” Girardi said. “I give guys the benefit of the doubt the first couple of weeks. [Haseley] had some good at-bats. Mickey Moniak had good at-bats today, which was good to see. I thought Bryan Mitchell threw the ball extremely well today. That’s about it.”

Mitchell, a nonroster invitee who pitched out of the bullpen for Girardi with the Yankees, was the only Phillies pitcher who did not give up a run. He allowed one hit and struck out three in two innings.

The Phillies will open the home portion of their Grapefruit League schedule today in Clearwater with Aaron Nola making his spring-training debut against Baltimore. The 1:05 p.m. game is being televised on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

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— Bob Brookover (extrainnings@inquirer.com)

After reporting to spring training last week, Bryce Harper applauded the offseason work of Dave Dombrowski and even suggested that the Phillies’ new team president might not be done tweaking the roster. With the Phillies’ payroll at somewhere around $195 million, the team has room before it would exceed the tax threshold of $210 million, and there are some interesting names still on the free-agent market.

On the position-player side, the list is highlighted by Jackie Bradley Jr., a former All-Star and Gold Glove center fielder for the Boston Red Sox who is coming off a solid season. The Phillies, of course, are staging a center-field competition this spring among the foursome of Adam Haseley, Roman Quinn, Scott Kingery and longshot Odubel Herrera.

Signing Bradley, who will turn 31 next month, would take some serious cash. He made $11 million last season with the Red Sox and is likely seeking at least that much for 2021.

There are other players who could significantly help the Phillies’ bench for a lot less money, and one of them you know very well. Maikel Franco signed for $2.95 million with Kansas City before last season and had a solid year for the Royals, hitting .278 with eight home runs and 38 RBIs. He no doubt would love to continue as a starting third baseman, but he’d add great value to the Phillies as a right-handed power bat off the bench who is capable of playing third base and first base. He’d be a great insurance policy should Alec Bohm or Rhys Hoskins get injured.

The Phillies have two good power options off the bench in veterans Brad Miller and Matt Joyce, but they are both left-handed hitters.

Jedd Gyorko, who had nine homers in 42 games with Milwaukee last year, would also be a good addition as a power bat from the right side.

From a starting-pitching standpoint, the most intriguing remaining player is Jake Odorizzi, who is two seasons removed from going 15-7 with a 3.51 ERA for Minnesota. The Phillies reportedly have expressed some interest, but the price tag on Odorizzi would likely push the team’s payroll to the brink of the tax threshold. For now, the Phillies are more likely to see what they have in Chase Anderson, Matt Moore and Spencer Howard during spring training.

Shane Greene, who had a 2.39 ERA in 93 games with Detroit and Atlanta the last two seasons, is still available on the relief market.

The point here is that help is still available if managing partner John Middleton still has some cash available for Dombrowski to spend.

The game might have been ugly, but the sight of fans, albeit a limited number, was a thing of beauty to Girardi and the players from the Phillies and Detroit Tigers. The crowd of 2,000 was announced as a sellout, but Girardi was disappointed that he did not get to see vendors selling strawberry shortcake, a local delicacy that has always made his mouth salivate at Joker Marchant Stadium.

Hitting instructor Joe Dillon bet Jean Segura that he could be a more productive player by making less contact, and it worked out well for the Phillies infielder during the 2020 season.

Juan Castro once made a terrific play to preserve Roy Halladay’s perfect game in Miami, and now he’s in Florida as the Phillies’ infield instructor trying to help the team improve what was a glaring weakness last season.

A serious health scare and the COVID-19 pandemic kept former Phillies manager Charlie Manuel away from the ballpark last year, so he has been in a jovial mood as he has watched hitters from behind the batting cages in this year’s spring training at the Carpenter Complex.

Scott Lauber caught up with Dombrowski last week over the phone, and the new team president explained how he put the Phillies roster together in just nine weeks. Spoiler alert: Middleton’s willingness to spend again helped a lot.

Not a lot has gone right for the Phillies ever since the Rally Squirrel — known as the Rotten Rodent in Philadelphia — ran in front of home plate as Roy Oswalt was in his windup during Game 4 of a 2011 NLDS loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Maybe it’s finally time for the Phillies’ fortunes to turn.

Today: Nola faces Baltimore in Phillies’ first game at newly named BayCare Ballpark, 1:05 p.m.

Tomorrow: Phillies vs. Toronto in Dunedin, 1:07 p.m.

March 29: Final spring-training game vs. Toronto, 1:05 p.m.

April 1: Season opener vs. Atlanta at Citizens Bank Park, 3:05 p.m.

It has been well documented that the Phillies bullpen was hideous during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, posting a major-league-worst 7.06 ERA that was also the second-highest total for a bullpen ERA in major-league history. Only the 1930 Phillies at 8.01 were worse.

We, however, are here to offer good news about the 2021 bullpen, which we guarantee will be better than the 2020 version. Twenty-five pitchers in the Phillies’ spring-training camp have pitched at least one inning of big-league relief in their careers. The combined career ERA of those 25 guys is 3.65.

My educated guess is that, barring injuries, the 12 pitchers with the best chance to have a spot in the bullpen on opening day are Archie Bradley, Hector Neris, Jose Alvarado, Vince Velasquez, Connor Brogdon, Brandon Kintzler, JoJo Romero, Sam Coonrod, Hector Rondon, Ranger Suarez, David Hale and Ramon Rosso. Those dozen guys have a combined 3.47 career ERA pitching in relief. Based on those numbers, the bullpen should be considerably better.

Send questions by email or on Twitter @brookob.

Question: I have a question about the Phillies bench. When the opposition starts a lefthander and McCutchen and Kingery are in the OF, who is the RH hitter off the bench? Roman Quinn and/or whomever might make the team as a reserve infielder aren’t going to scare anyone. — Jim L. via email

Answer: Thanks for reading the newsletter, Jim. You raise an excellent question that has far more significance in 2021 than it did in 2020 because of baseball’s decision to play without a DH in the National League this season. As I mentioned above, Brad Miller and Matt Joyce are two excellent power bats from the left side for late-game situations, but there is no great option from the right side. The way things look right now, it will be a weakness on Girardi’s bench.