Phillies manager Joe Girardi says lineup blunder ‘falls on me’

Phillies manager Joe Girardi printed his lineup card Tuesday night, signed it, and sent it to the umpires but failed to realize it was missing one of his players. The error nearly cost the Phillies a win as newly recalled reliever Enyel De Los Santos was ruled ineligible to pitch after his name was left off the sheet.

A day later, Girardi shouldered the blame.

“We sent it over late,” Girardi said before Wednesday’s game. “I can’t tell you exactly what happened. It didn’t reflect the changes that were put in there. But it falls on me. I have to recognize it. Sometimes when you look at things every day and you go over it, you miss it. It’s no excuse, but it is.”

Girardi met with the umpires at home plate before Tuesday night’s game, but the card the umpires brought to the meeting did not have De Los Santos’s name on it. Girardi’s card did have the pitcher’s name and so did the card the Phillies sent to the Brewers.

But it is the team’s responsibility to make sure the umpires’ card -- which is the official card -- is updated. Major League Baseball introduced the new system last season as part of their COVID-19 safety protocols to eliminate the pregame exchange of lineup cards.

MLB rules say each team must input its lineup card into a mobile application provided by MLB and then deliver its own lineup card to the umpire room 15 minutes before first pitch. At the home-plate meeting, clubs need to confirm their lineups with the plate umpire and inform him of any changes made since it was printed.

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“It used to not mean anything,” Girardi said of the cards. “The only thing you used to have right was the pitcher or the DH back in the day. It was more of a courtesy, and the cards have taken on a new meaning. You have to have everyone on there.”

The umpires removed De Los Santos before he threw a warmup pitch, forcing Girardi to insert David Hale with a five-run lead in the seventh. Hale failed to retire the three batters he faced and was replaced by JoJo Romero, who allowed a two-run homer as the once-comfortable lead trimmed to just one.

The lineup card has all 26 players listed; the left half of the card lists the starting nine while the right side lists the extra players and pitching staff. The starting pitcher is listed twice, as he’s named in the lineup and in the pitching staff.

Girardi counted all the players to make sure he had 26, but missed that left-hander Cristopher Sanchez -- the player sent to triple A when De Los Santos was called up -- was still on the card.

“My hope is that we can just print out our own cards and exchange them again,” Girardi said. “Hopefully we can get to that. In our system here, we had all the moves done. It was on the board and it was on our lineup card, but not on my little lineup card, the official lineup card. Hopefully we can get back to that so we don’t have to deal with this.”

Roman Quinn and Matt Joyce were placed on the injured list as the team’s outfield depth continues to take a hit. Quinn needed nine stitches on Tuesday night to close a gash on his right index finger. Joyce suffered a strained calf on Tuesday and has been bothered by back discomfort.

The Phillies recalled Scott Kingery and Mickey Moniak from triple A and Girardi said both could be options to play center field.

Bryce Harper was out of the lineup for a third straight game, but Girardi said he’s “definitely making progress” from his left wrist contusion.

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“The swelling was considerably down yesterday,” Girardi said before Wednesday’s game. “Which I was pleased with. He did two or three rounds of treatment yesterday. He’ll do two or three rounds today and we’ll see where he’s at after today.”

Jean Segura could rejoin the team soon as he was scheduled to play Wednesday night in a second rehab game for triple-A Lehigh Valley. He went 2-for-3 on Tuesday. ... Zack Wheeler will start Thursday afternoon’s series finale against Milwaukee right-hander Brandon Woodruff.