Phillies opening-day roster projection: Don’t count out Adam Haseley | Extra Innings

J.T. Realmuto played in his first exhibition game Tuesday night — and behind the plate, no less — and homered in his first at-bat. Adam Haseley is slotted to start in center field today. Bullpen decisions are imminent.

Don’t look now, but the Phillies’ opening-day roster is taking shape.

Six more days until camp breaks in Clearwater, Fla.

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— Scott Lauber (extrainnings@inquirer.com)

After Adam Haseley strained his left groin while running the bases March 4, the Phillies estimated he would miss four weeks, all but ruining his chances of winning the center-field competition.

Well, well, well.

Haseley came off the bench and singled Tuesday night and is scheduled to start in center field today against the Detroit Tigers. There isn’t much time left to win over manager Joe Girardi, but none of the other candidates — Roman Quinn, Scott Kingery, and Odúbel Herrera — has done so yet, either.

“I thought [Haseley] was playing pretty well before he got hurt,” Girardi said. “It’s going to come down to the amount of at-bats he gets and his readiness. We’ll just see where he’s at.”

Why wait? Let’s take a swing at projecting the 26-man roster.

Starting rotation (5): Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Zach Eflin, Matt Moore, Chase Anderson.

No surprises here. As long as Eflin’s back doesn’t flare up during a simulated game today, the rotation is set.

Bullpen (8): Archie Bradley, Héctor Neris, José Alvarado, Connor Brogdon, Brandon Kintzler, Tony Watson, David Hale, Vince Velasquez.

If the Phillies didn’t plan on contending, this would be simple: Keep Sam Coonrod and JoJo Romero, ditch Kintzler and Watson. But the latter two relievers have experience — and opt-out clauses in their contracts that can be exercised today. Hale and Velasquez can pitch multiple innings, and unlike Coonrod and Romero, they can’t be optioned to the minors. The Phillies must retain as much depth as possible.

But it’s not so easy. The Phillies must create room on the 40-man roster for Kintzler and Watson. Can they carry them both?

“I’m not sure,” Girardi said. “They both have thrown the ball pretty well, and we’re just going to have to make some decisions.”

Catchers (2): Realmuto, Andrew Knapp.

The Phillies’ fingers are crossed that Realmuto’s thumb is healed. He will catch again Thursday night, but the final test will come when he catches back-to-back games, likely over the weekend.

Infielders (6): Rhys Hoskins, Jean Segura, Didi Gregorius, Alec Bohm, Brad Miller, Scott Kingery.

Hoskins has come through the spring without incident after elbow surgery in October. Miller’s status is uncertain after he strained his side last week. Kingery would revert to a utility role, but if he isn’t getting enough at-bats for his overhauled swing, he could wind up in the minors.

Outfielders (5): Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen, Haseley, Quinn, Matt Joyce.

As a nonroster invitee to camp, Herrera needed to win the center-field job. He’s had a few moments, specifically three home runs. But has he done enough to unseat the incumbents? Unless Haseley has a setback or isn’t ready, the answer here is no.

Joyce, on the other hand, is 8-for-21 and looks like a solid left-handed hitter off the bench.

Even before last night’s game, the Phillies thought Realmuto was on track for opening day.

It’s a big day for Kintzler, Watson, and fellow reliever Héctor Rondón. The bullpen picture is about to come into focus.

Once upon a time, Matt Moore was a bigger deal than Bryce Harper. Here’s Matt Breen with a great look back at Moore’s days as the top prospect in baseball.

In case you missed it, Nola will make his fourth consecutive opening-day start, which puts him in elite company among Phillies pitchers.

Today: Phillies face the Tigers in Lakeland, 1:05 p.m.

Tomorrow: Yankees come to Clearwater, 6:05 p.m. (NBCSP+)

Friday: Chase Anderson starts vs. Blue Jays in Dunedin, 6:37 p.m.

Monday: Spring finale vs. Jays in Clearwater, 1:05 p.m. (NBCSP+)

April 1: Opening day vs. Braves at Citizens Bank Park, 3:05 p.m.

It wouldn’t have been spring training if pitchers weren’t tinkering with grips and attempting to incorporate new pitches. In Phillies camp, Nola and Neris were prominent examples of pitchers who tried to diversify their repertoires.

Nola — a fastball, curveball, changeup maestro — sprinkled 12 cutters into his 244 pitches in exhibition games, according to StatCast. Eight were balls; four were strikes. He didn’t get any swings-and-misses but didn’t allow a hit, either. The only cutter put in play went for a lineout.

Neris, meanwhile, typically throws a fastball and a splitter. He mixed in 14 sliders among his 95 spring-training pitches and got six strikes, including four swings-and-misses.

Send questions by email or on Twitter @ScottLauber.

Answer: Hey, Andrew. Thanks for the question and for reading.

After last season, the Phillies needed bullpen help, rotation depth, a center fielder, and oh yeah, a catcher and shortstop. Re-signing Realmuto was an organizational priority, and the pitching needed to be addressed. It came down, then, to a choice between center field and shortstop.

Interestingly, Bradley and Gregorius wound up receiving similar two-year contracts. But the Phillies decided they were better off bringing back Gregorius to play short, keeping Segura at second, and staging a spring-training fight for center field.

“There’s a couple moves we could have made if we were going to just improve our defense, but we don’t know if it would have made us a better ballclub,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told me recently. “We talked about it a lot. We’re a club that’s going to win some games with our offense and maybe we’ll lose a game with our defense here and there. You give a little bit to get something somewhere else.”