Phillies’ Mickey Moniak (hand) progressing in rehab; Connor Brogdon still working on his velocity
Before Moniak can fight for a spot in the lineup, he's got to fully recover from his injury.
NEW YORK — On Friday, Phillies manager Joe Girardi said that if Odúbel Herrera continues hitting the way he has been lately, he could earn the Phillies’ full-time centerfield job. If that were to happen, that wouldn’t leave much opportunity for 23-year-old center fielder Mickey Moniak, who made the team after a red-hot spring training in which he batted .378/.378/.973 over 15 games.
Moniak is currently on the 10-day injured list with a broken right hand, but is progressing well in his rehab. Girardi said on Saturday that Moniak has begun taking swings, and is starting to throw lightly, but is not taking batting practice yet.
There is still no timetable for his return, but Moniak will continue to be re-evaluated on a weekly basis. Girardi says that until Moniak gets close to fully healthy, he won’t spend too much mental energy thinking about how he’d fit into the center field competition.
“Yeah [he has a shot at the center-field job],” Girardi said. “I mean, obviously, you have to go through rehab. And there’s so many things that can happen before Mickey actually is ready to go. To me, I feel like I don’t need to think about it much. Cross that bridge when we get there. I don’t really worry about it.”
Update on Brogdon
Right-handed reliever Connor Brogdon, who was optioned to Lehigh Valley on April 14, has still struggling to get his velocity up, according to Girardi. Brogdon’s velocity averaged around 96 mph in 2021, but in spring training he was a few ticks down. Girardi said he thinks Brogdon is pitching well, nonetheless, despite some less-than-ideal circumstances.
“It’s been pretty similar to what he was,” Girardi said of Brogdon. “But he has pitched in some pretty crappy weather conditions. One day he pitched and it was snowing. Another day last week it was cold. So he really hasn’t had a whole lot of good weather to pitch in yet. He’s throwing the ball well though.”
The Phillies could use all of the bullpen help they can get, coming off of a shortened spring training, and with other relievers still on the injured list, like Sam Coonrod and Ryan Sherriff.