Phillies have a decision to make on Mickey Moniak, who appears primed for a shot at center field

Phillies manager Joe Girardi said Sunday that he’s not ready to commit an active roster spot to Mickey Moniak, but it’s hard to imagine Moniak not getting a shot at the center field job.

Right now, Girardi has Roman Quinn and Odúbel Herrera splitting time there. Quinn is batting .143/.172/.315 this season. And Herrera — who swung at a pitch in the dirt on Saturday, and swung at a pitch that went between his legs last Sunday — was batting .176 on this homestand entering Sunday’s game, .250/.278/.456 overall.

Girardi might be in wait-and-see mode, but there does seem to be an urgency in how Moniak, who has been on the injured list since April 7 with a broken right hand, is moving through his rehab assignment. He played in an extended spring training game Thursday, was sent to low-A Clearwater Friday, and will be in double-A Reading next week.

“He played seven innings [Friday],” Girardi said on Saturday. “Guys don’t do that on [the first day of] rehab. I don’t think he needs to build his body up as much as some guys when they go on rehab. They go five [innings] and they have a day off. I don’t think Mickey needs to do that as much because he was all over the place [doing work] when he was here” while on the injured list for the first month of the season.”

Moniak, 24, is batting .429/.375/.857 through two Clearwater games so far. The first overall pick of the 2016 draft who has appeared in 29 games with the Phillies, Moniak had won a job in spring training but was injured in the final exhibition game.

He has worked hard to stay in shape through his six weeks on the injured list. He watched bullpen sessions to try to keep his eyes sharp. He did as much outfield work as he could, and continued to do some baserunning drills. He kept up his routine in the weight room.

The big question, now, is whether Moniak will be able to keep his timing right at the plate. He is coming off of a torrid spring training, in which he hit .378/.378/.914. Spring training games aren’t the best litmus test for how a player will perform in the big leagues, but if Moniak can do even a fraction of what he was able to do in March and early April, he’ll be useful.

The Phillies have 20 days (from his first game in low-A) to decide whether to option Moniak to triple A or recall him to the big league club, but Girardi said that he thinks they’ll come to a decision on him before then. Moniak has two minor league options remaining.

“My thought is it wouldn’t take that long [to make a decision], but you’ve got to make sure that he’s comfortable because he hasn’t played for a long time,” Girardi said. “You want to make sure he has his timing. When a player comes back, you want to make sure he’s prepared to play.”