The Phillies’ Rhys Hoskins: Don’t expect the universal DH or expanded playoffs in 2021 | Extra Innings

Bryce Harper has arrived in Phillies camp.

Now it’s a party.

Harper joined his teammates on the field Tuesday after completing his COVID-19 intake testing. For the record, he wore a red knit hat with “Jawn” across the front and a T-shirt that read “Clearwooder,” and carried a Phillie Phanatic bat.

“I love the stuff he comes out with,” manager Joe Girardi said. “I’m always curious certain days, whether it’s Mother’s Day or Father’s Day or opening day, what his shoes are going to be. I’m always kind of thinking, ‘Man, I wish I had a little style.’ But that was not one of my blessings.”

You’re signed up to get this newsletter in your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday during spring training. If you like what you’re reading, tell your friends it’s free to sign up here. I want to know what you think, what we should add, and what you want to read, so send me feedback by email or on Twitter @ScottLauber. Thank you for reading.

— Scott Lauber (extrainnings@inquirer.com)

A few hours before the 2020 season began last July, Major League Baseball and the players’ union agreed to expand the postseason from 10 teams to 16, eight in each league.

Don’t bet on a similar 11th-hour deal this year.

Rhys Hoskins, the Phillies’ player representative, said this week the issues of expanded playoffs and the universal designated hitter — both of which were instituted on an experimental basis last year — likely won’t be broached again until the negotiations of a new collective bargaining agreement commence next winter.

“We’re playing with the hand that we’ve got right now, and unfortunately that’s no DH and things like that,” Hoskins said. “We will see where we end up in 2022.”

MLB and team owners favor expanding the playoffs because it generates additional television revenue. In a proposal to the players last month, MLB pitched a 14-team format in exchange for the DH in the National League, a rule that the union prefers because it would create more jobs for hitters and reduce the risk of injury for pitchers.

But the players rejected the idea on the basis that making it easier to qualify for the playoffs could give some owners even less incentive to spend money in free agency. As much as they want the universal DH, the players don’t view it as an equal trade for expanded playoffs.

MLB and the players don’t agree on much these days. It doesn’t portend well for the looming negotiations, which hang over this season like the proverbial storm cloud. The CBA will expire on Dec. 1.

It remains possible, though perhaps only if several pitchers get injured while hitting or running the bases in spring training, that MLB could give in on the universal DH. But don’t count on it.

“Trying to speak to something that’s further on than this season is hard to do just because I have no idea how the negotiations are going to go,” Hoskins said. “As of right now, [the universal DH and expanded playoffs] are settled, and this is what we’re going with for 2021.”

Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said Tuesday that it’s “likely” fans will be allowed in Citizens Bank Park on opening day. Great news, unless you’re a cardboard cutout, as Matt Breen writes.

A lower-back problem hampered Harper last September. By all accounts, he’s healthy now, but the Phillies will watch him closely.

Alec Bohm made an impressive adjustment at the plate after getting called up last year. It wasn’t an accident.

Bohm’s defense is worth watching, too, as Bob Brookover writes.

Dusty Wathan’s first impression of Scott Kingery in the minors: “He was the total package.” But Kingery has been one of the least productive players in the majors since 2018. How did that happen? And how can the Phillies get more from their former top prospect?

Good news for Hoskins: He has been medically cleared after elbow surgery in October.

Something to warm you up: Jose F. Moreno’s photos from Phillies workouts in Clearwater on Monday and Tuesday.

Sunday: Exhibition opener vs. Tigers in Lakeland, Fla., 1:05 p.m.

Monday: First exhibition game in Clearwater vs. Orioles, 1:05 p.m.

March 29: Grapefruit League finale vs. Blue Jays, 1:05 p.m.

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

Aaron Nola has made three consecutive opening-day starts, a feat achieved by four other Phillies pitchers in the last 34 years. Roy Halladay (2010-12), Brett Myers (2007-09), Curt Schilling (1997-99), and Terry Mulholland (1991-93) also started three in a row.

But if Nola is selected by Girardi to face the Atlanta Braves on April 1, he will have the longest run of opening-day starts by a Phillies pitcher since Steve Carlton started 10 straight from 1977 to 1986.

Since 1901, the only other pitchers in Phillies history to make as many as four consecutive opening-day starts are Carlton (1972-75), Chris Short (1968-71), Robin Roberts (1950-61), and Grover Cleveland Alexander (1914-17).

Send questions by email or on Twitter @ScottLauber.

Question: OK, so who is the closer?

— Eric S., via email

Answer: Right to the point. Love it. Thanks, Eric, for the question.

Girardi hasn’t named a closer. Don’t worry, though. He does intend to define bullpen roles. By virtue of experience, Archie Bradley and Héctor Neris are the front-runners to close games. The guess here: Bradley will get the first crack at it.

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Question: Hello. 86 years old and still a baseball enthusiast (Nut). Enjoy your coverage and really look forward to Extra Innings. Phillies are #1; Eagles 1a.

Adam Haseley is an interesting player who, I think, demonstrated that he can hit (but not with power) left-handed pitching. What does he need to prove, or what are his perceived weaknesses?

— Fred K., via email

Answer: Thanks, Fred, for reading and for the kind words.

I’m with you on Haseley. He showed promise after getting called up in 2019. You could see why the Phillies drafted him seventh overall two years earlier. But he regressed last season, especially on the defensive side. Perhaps it was related to a wrist injury.

But Girardi also was reluctant to put Haseley in the lineup against lefties. I would like to see the Phillies give him an extended run of playing time before concluding that he’s strictly a platoon player. Not sure if that will happen. He needs to have a good spring.