Phillies giving newcomer Corey Dickerson a look in the leadoff spot because, well, why not?

PHOENIX -- OK, so it wasn’t exactly Andrew McCutchen going deep on the third pitch of the season. But considering the Phillies’ problems with the leadoff spot over these last two months, it was notable nonetheless.

Making his second start since being acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates in a trade-deadline deal on July 31, Corey Dickerson hit a leadoff home run Tuesday night at Chase Field. It marked only the fifth time this season that Phillies opened a game with a homer.

"He's a banger," manager Gabe Kapler said Tuesday.

But is Dickerson a viable replacement for McCutchen at the top of the order?

It has been two months since McCutchen went down with a season-ending ligament tear in his left knee. Since then, the Phillies have tried five players in the leadoff spot, including Cesar Hernandez, who filled the role for most of the last two years. They haven't found anything that works.

Entering Wednesday night’s game, Phillies leadoff hitters ranked 25th in the majors in batting average (.233), tied for 17th in on-base percentage (.330), 20th in slugging percentage (.405) and tied for 26th in hits (108), and those numbers include McCutchen, who was batting .256 with a .378 on-base percentage, .457 slugging percentage, and 56 hits in 59 games at the time of his injury.

In McCutchen’s absence, Scott Kingery has filled in most often (26 games) but slashed only .197/.271/.333. Bryce Harper has had the most success there (.333/.444/.533), albeit in the limited sample size of three games, but Kapler prefers to keep him in a run-producing spot in the order. Hernandez possesses the most leadoff experience but is slashing only .236/.286/.389 at the top of the order this season.

One option that Kapler thinks about often but has not yet taken: Rhys Hoskins, leadoff hitter.

Nobody works a pitcher more than Hoskins, who was leading the league with 4.55 pitches per plate appearance and 84 walks entering Wednesday’s game. But Kapler also realizes that Hoskins doesn’t profile as a prototypical leadoff man. Moving him to the top of the order might be too far outside the box.

“I just don’t think we have that profile right now,” Kapler said.

Maybe Dickerson is the answer. He has batted all over the lineup in his seven-year career with the Rockies, Rays, and Pirates, most often hitting fifth (149 games), sixth (125 games), first (118 games), and second (114 games). He sees his share of pitches (4.13 per plate appearance this season, entering Wednesday), though not as many as McCutchen (4.45). He doesn’t have a particularly high walk rate (8.4 percent) and doesn’t make as much contact as Hernandez.

But, he’s worth a look.

"I'll tell you the most important reason we have Dickerson at the top of the lineup," Kapler said. "We will be excited if that spot comes up."

Dickerson got two hits and reached base three times in Tuesday night’s 8-4 loss to the Diamondbacks. Asked whether he might give Dickerson an extended run atop the order, Kapler remained intrigued but noncommittal.

“I think we could, but it’s a performance thing,” Kapler said. “And I don’t think it’s based on just [one game]. Say Corey goes out tonight and hits two homers, it doesn’t mean that we should have him in the leadoff spot. I will say this: It’s nice to know that he’s coming up. Relative to some of our other options, I really like the idea that we’re sitting in the seventh or the eighth inning and that spot is coming up and we might not get to the bottom of the lineup. It’s nice to have him come up one more time in the game if we can do that.”