The Phillies gambled they could improve their defense without changing the personnel. So far, so good. | Scott Lauber

Rather than chasing Gold Glovers such as Andrelton Simmons, Kolten Wong, and Jackie Bradley Jr., the Phillies brought back the same cast of characters — and tried to coach them up.

Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto awaiting the throw from center fielder Roman Quinn before tagging out Atlanta's Ozzie Albies on a play at the plate in the 10th inning of Thursday's 3-2 victory in the season opener at Citizens Bank Park.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

by Scott Lauber

Published April 2, 2021, 9:00 a.m. ET

When the Phillies took the field Thursday, 550 days after they last played in front of fans at Citizens Bank Park, it could’ve been four-time Gold Glove winner Andrelton Simmons at shortstop instead of Didi Gregorius. Or two-time winner Kolten Wong at second base. Or defensive maestro Jackie Bradley Jr. in center field.

Various permutations of the Phillies’ offseason plans included each of them.

“Defense was not a strength for the club last year, and it was discussed internally,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said by phone last month. “There’s a couple of moves I think we could’ve made if we were going to just improve our defense. But we didn’t know if it would’ve made us a better ballclub.”

It was a conscious choice, then, to re-sign Gregorius, keep Jean Segura at second base, stage a center-field competition among four flawed internal candidates, and hope for the best — or at least something better than the brand of defense the Phillies played last season — without changing the personnel.

The verdict won’t be known for months, of course. Ten innings of a feel-good, 3-2 opening-day victory over the three-time defending division champion Atlanta Braves on a walk-off single by Segura qualify as a fraction of a percentage of the sample size required to draw any meaningful conclusion.

But, well, did you see the Phillies flash the leather?

There was 6-foot-5 third baseman Alec Bohm going airborne to snare a 107-mph line drive off the bat of Marcell Ozuna and saving at least one run, maybe more, in the fifth inning. And Gregorius, backpedaling, twisting, fighting the wind to make an over-the-shoulder catch on a popup to shallow left field in the ninth.

Oh, and then the play that saved the game: an on-target throw from center fielder Roman Quinn and a catch and tag by catcher J.T. Realmuto to cut down Ozzie Albies at the plate with the score tied in the top of the 10th.

“Unbelievable defense. Off the charts, man,” pitcher Aaron Nola said. “We know we’ve got good defensive guys. Our defense is a lot better this year, I believe.”

But is that really possible? The Phillies were the third-worst team in baseball last season in defensive runs saved, 33 runs below league average. Is it realistic to expect a group of mostly veteran players (save for Bohm) to make significant gains from one year to the next? Or is this another example of believing that the dystopic 60-game 2020 season yielded an incomplete picture?

It’s a little of both, according to Phillies officials. Take Gregorius, for example. Dombrowski characterized his range as “not one of the better ones in the league,” but added that the 31-year-old shortstop still “catches what he gets to.” The solution: “We need to position him well,” Dombrowski said.

The Phillies worked in spring training on improving the infielders’ pre-pitch routine, the actions they must take to be as ready as possible when the ball is hit. It might sound basic, but it takes into account the type of pitch that is about to be thrown, the tendencies of the opposing hitter, and balancing analytical information with the instincts of the infielder.

“We know that, off our pitchers, there are a lot of ground balls. They’re not necessarily huge strikeout guys, so you’ve got to be ready to play defense,” said manager Joe Girardi, alluding to the extreme ground-ball rates of Nola and fellow starters Zack Wheeler and Zach Eflin. “Our guys in spring training took it as a challenge. It’s really on the guys. They took it as a challenge, and they took pride in getting better.”

Or, as Segura put it after sending the announced crowd of 8,529 home happy: “We’ve got guys here that play defense.”

Other teams took a different approach. The Milwaukee Brewers, nine runs below average in defensive runs saved last season, signed Wong and Bradley to two-year contracts totaling $42 million. By adding Wong, they were able to move Keston Hiura to first base after he ranked as the worst defensive second baseman in baseball last year.

“I don’t know that we ever turned on a dime and tried to focus primarily on defense,” Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns told reporters after Milwaukee signed Bradley. “It was more a recognition that defense matters and run prevention matters, and it’s all part of the same equation of trying to score one more run than the other guy.”

The Phillies did their own calculations. And with one more big move left to make after re-signing star catcher J.T. Realmuto, they decided Gregorius’ offense relative to Simmons’, Wong’s, or Bradley’s outweighed the defensive gains they would get from those players, especially if they’re able to coach him up to play better defense over a 162-game season than he did in 60 games last year.

“We’re going to win some games with our offense,” Dombrowski said, “and maybe we’ll lose a game with our defense here and there.”

But what if the defense could even win them a few games? It has already helped them win one.

“If we play that type of game that we played today, I guarantee we’re going to be in the playoffs,” Segura said. “No doubt about it.”