Shortstop competition? Didi Gregorius says he was told by Phillies to prepare for position switch

Coming off surgery to remove bone spurs in his elbow, Gregorius wants to put his down 2021 season behind him -- no matter where he plays.

Didi Gregorius posted a career low in on-base percentage (.270) and the second-lowest slugging percentage of his career (.370) in 2021.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

by Alex Coffey

Published March 14, 2022, 1:34 p.m. ET

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Last year, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told infield prospect Bryson Stott to be prepared for a competition at shortstop entering spring training in 2022. But the Phillies’ starting shortstop in 2021, Didi Gregorius, says he received a different message.

“I mean, they told me that I’m probably going to play a different position next year [which is this year],” he said on Monday. “So we’ll see what’s going to happen. I’m going to out there and play the game and that’s it, whatever happens, happens.”

Gregorius said he wasn’t told by Dombrowski what position he would be expected to play, but added that he wouldn’t be surprised if it was third base, since he has experience there. Gregorius has not been asked yet to take ground balls at third. He still views himself as the Phillies’ everyday shortstop but understands the decision is out of his hands.

Gregorius struggled in the field and at the plate last season. He posted career lows in hard-hit rate (26.6%) and on-base percentage (.270) and the second-lowest slugging percentage of his career (.370). His minus-10 defensive runs saved was the lowest of his career, and the second lowest on the Phillies, behind third baseman Alec Bohm (minus-13).

Gregorius attributes many of his struggles to bone spurs that he dealt with throughout last season. At first, he said the Phillies believed he had inflammation, then they thought he could have pseudogout in his right elbow. But ultimately, he learned the problem was bone spurs, and underwent surgery to remove them in October.

“I couldn’t swing, I can’t extend, can’t do anything,” Gregorius said of the impact of the bone spurs on his performance last season. “I couldn’t throw, so my throws were going all over the place. And swinging, if I can’t extend it, I couldn’t hit any pitch. The only pitches I was hitting were mostly pitches away. I was going through a lot last year, but that’s behind my back.”

He said he feels fine now, and is not sensing any pressure amid what manager Joe Girardi and Dombrowski say will be an ongoing competition between Gregorius and Stott throughout the spring.

“Every year is a competition, once you’re on top,” he said. “It’s always a competition, doesn’t matter. Whoever gets called up, you want everybody to feel comfortable because this is a team. You don’t want to fight the guy that comes up, because everybody needs to be together so we need to win. If we’re divided, we’re not going to win.”

If the Phillies do ask him to play a different position, he says he’s open to it, but would prefer not to come off the bench.

“I don’t really care, as long as I’m playing,” he said. “I don’t want to stay on the bench — I want to be out there.”