Phillies’ Joe Girardi and Jean Segura settle their ‘dugout conversation’ by saying they love each other

Joe Girardi’s “dugout conversation” on Sunday with Jean Segura led Monday to a phone conversation that the Phillies manager was much more willing to talk about.

“I told him I love him,” Girardi said before Tuesday’s series opener against the Marlins.

Girardi was tight-lipped after Sunday’s game when TV cameras caught Segura being held back from the manager in the dugout in Dunedin, Fla. It was a dugout conversation meant for the dugout, Girardi said. And that’s all the manager would say.

Two days later, all was good in South Philly.

“We love each other,” Segura said. “Absolutely.”

Girardi likely said something to Segura after he misplayed two balls Sunday, a day after making an error. Segura wasn’t happy and had to be calmed down by third-base coach Dusty Wathan and J.T. Realmuto. The next inning, Segura was the lone infielder who did not go to the mound when Girardi made a pitching change.

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” Segura said. “I’ll leave it in the past. Like Joe said, whatever is said on the bench stays on the bench and whatever is said in the clubhouse stays in the clubhouse. At the end of the day, we’re all here and we’re loving each other and we’ll continue to play the game.”

Segura leads the Phillies with a .320 batting average this season and entered Tuesday with 12 hits in nine games since returning from the injured list. His defense at second base had been fine until the last road trip when he made four errors, three of which came at the minor-league park in Florida where the Blue Jays are playing home games.

“That stadium is kind of crappy, you know,” Segura said. “I don’t want to make an excuse, but last year I didn’t make any errors at second base, this year four errors already, three there. I’ve been playing really good defense. I don’t know what’s going on there. I kind of lost it. That infield was hard, like taking ground balls on concrete. Everything speeds up. You’re not normally playing in a stadium like that. It happened. ... I never want to be a sloppy player in my career, so I came here to do whatever they want me to do.”

Girardi was asked before Tuesday’s game if everything was good with Segura and he quickly pointed to him being in the lineup. Segura played second base and hit second. Love settled all.

“I mean, there’s things that I’m not going to choose to share with you guys [in the media] and I understand that you’re going to ask a number of times,” Girardi said. “But it’s like, every little spat that you have with someone that you love at home, you don’t go and tell everyone around you, you know?”

The Phillies placed Didi Gregorius on the injured list as they try to determine why the shortstop’s elbow swelled so much last week that he was unable to swing a bat.

“We’re not sure,” Girardi said. “The problem is we’ve just been having a hard time getting all of the swelling out of his right elbow. We’re hoping that it will continue to improve as we go along. But right now we’ll just continue to treat.”

JoJo Romero will undergo Tommy John surgery next week in Los Angeles, which will end the reliever’s season and likely cost him the start of 2022. The left-hander made 11 appearances this season, allowing seven earned runs in nine innings. His velocity dipped earlier this month, seeming to indicate something was wrong.

“I’ve spoken to him a couple times,” Girardi said. “Obviously he’s frustrated that he’s going through it, but for what he’s going through, he’s in a pretty good place in his mind and understands that he’s going to be back and he’s going to be healthy and he’s going to be effective.”

Reliever Archie Bradley returned from the injured list after missing five weeks with an oblique strain in his side. “I’m definitely ready to go,” Bradley said. “I had a good time. Say good time; you know, business trip down to triple A. Got my rehab in. But yeah, definitely ready to go.” ... Utilityman Ronald Torreyes returned from the injured list after testing positive for COVID-19. ... Scott Kingery was placed on the seven-day concussion injured list. ... Former Mets infielder Ruben Tejeda, who infamously broke his leg in 2015 when Chase Utley slid into him at second base, was signed by the Phillies and assigned to triple-A Lehigh Valley. ... Girardi said he has not made changes to his starting rotation when asked if Chase Anderson will start Saturday against Boston. The Phillies could turn to Spencer Howard, who is scheduled to start Friday in triple A. ... Zach Eflin will start Wednesday against Marlins left-hander Trevor Rogers.