Alec Bohm makes his first start at third base for the Phillies as Joe Girardi’s defensive maneuvering begins
The first month of the season will be a bit of a defensive puzzle for Phillies manager Joe Girardi.
Ahead of Saturday’s game, the Phillies lineup looked much like it did on opening day. The first five names that manager Joe Girardi penciled in were the same names he penciled in on Friday. He switched second baseman Jean Segura and shortstop Didi Gregorius’ spots, and kept centerfielder Matt Vierling batting ninth. But one notable difference was that third baseman Alec Bohm was in the lineup, batting eighth, in lieu of rookie Bryson Stott.
Bohm went 2-for-2 Saturday with a double and a walk. He was replaced by Johan Camargo in the seventh inning.
The first month of the season, when rosters are expanded to 28 players, is going to be a bit of a defensive puzzle for Girardi. Bohm and Stott will keep gunning for the third base job, and Girardi will have to find them both at-bats.
“We’re going to try to get all the guys in fairly quickly, because you don’t want guys that are playing a couple of days in a row go weeks without playing in a game,” he said. “We need to keep people healthy. You might see people get a day tomorrow, and the next day, get everyone involved.”
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The outfield will also see some moving pieces; Nick Castellanos is currently DHing, but Girardi says he’ll fill in for Kyle Schwarber at left field, and for Harper in right field, when those two need a day off of their feet.
“Two [games] on, one [game] off for Schwabs as a DH, maybe three [games] on and one [game] off, that sort of thing,” Girardi said. “It’s important that Nick gets out there too.”
The DH position is new for Castellanos; in his 10-year career, he’s only played 45 games at DH (43 of those games started). He has only DHed three times over the last two seasons.
“I’m trying to get [Castellanos] in a rhythm [at DH],” Girardi said. “Maybe he learns something in his four at-bats today that he can take. You try to get him in a rhythm where he feels like OK, this is what I’m going to do. You’ve got to learn how to do it, and there’s no doubt that he’ll learn how to do it, because he’s really a smart player. I thought I’d do a couple days a row and then maybe put him in left field.”
Health is a top priority for the Phillies right now, and that means making sure that players aren’t overworked early on. Girardi said he has communicated to his players that they’re not going to be playing five, six, seven days a week at the start of the season. Since spring training, he says the only player who has four days in a row is Vierling — and Vierling wouldn’t have started yesterday’s game had outfielder Mickey Moniak not been injured.
Quinn back with Phils
The Phillies re-signed outfielder Roman Quinn to a minor-league contract and will assign him to triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Quinn, who spent parts of the last four seasons with the Phillies, got non-tendered in November and became a free agent. He went to spring training with the Miami Marlins and nearly made the team.