Different deadlines, but Phils and Flyers both need help

One team is just beginning, the other essentially deadlocked in a competitive late-season playoff possibility holding pattern. While the Phillies’ position players have yet to officially christen spring training by cracking open tubes of BENGAY, the veterans in Flyers uniforms are almost numb to daily must-win feelings amid a season of Metropolitan Division ladder climbing. That climb is nearing crunch time.

No matter what time of year it is for either team, the pressure to win is already there.

Any club coming off an early spring win in the Bryce Harper sweepstakes was going to be expected to achieve great things. The 2019 Phillies ... did not.

The reasons were many, but the bulk of them had something or other to do with injuries. Despite holding a lead for much of the spring and early summer, the Phillies faded late just as the prior season’s team had, thus culminating in the dismissal of second-year manager Gabe Kapler.

You could tell by the stunned look on the face of general manager Matt Klentak when the firing went down that it wasn’t his idea. This is a franchise in which the boss is John Middleton, and no matter how much he’s going to pretend this year to let his people do the bossing, he’s far from a handsoff owner.

It was Middleton who moved to fire Kapler.

It was Middleton who jumped at the chance to hire Joe Girardi.

It’s Middleton that signs off on signings, too. So far this winter, he hasn’t had to approve many moves from Klentak and/or usually seldom seen team president Andy MacPhail. But what they have done should help.

For offseason openers, there was some effective addition by subtraction.

It should help that the Phillies’ brass cut ties with both Maikel Franco and Cesar Hernandez, both of whom elected free agency because despite their often useful talents but frequently frustrating performances, their Philadelphia honeymoons were over. The Phils, however, are basically still stuck with Odubel Herrera, whose undeniable skills will be applied in the Lehigh Valley at least at the start of the year because no team was interested in picking him up off waivers.

Domestic incidents like the one Herrera ignited last spring in Atlantic City can have such nasty fallout, even after an 85-game suspension.

On a brighter note, free agent signee Zack Wheeler should be a solid No. 3 starter ... although for the Phillies he’ll be disguised as a No. 2.

And fellow free agent signee Didi Gregorius is a likely good choice who could once again thrive under his former Yankees manager Girardi while relieving Jean Segura of his duties at shortstop.

Some encouraging moves, but hardly enough to qualify as the last moves for the Phillies’ regulars before they head north.

With Hernandez gone and Gregorius here, that would likely entail a move for Segura to second base, which means Scott Kingery could again be a player who needs to play every day although he doesn’t have a solid position.

The kid should be an every day second baseman, but Segura – who may seem to be a graybeard but actually won’t be 30 until St. Patrick’s Day – has never played third at this level for any stretch of time and the Phils may not want him to start now.

As for Kingery, he’s much younger, has a stronger arm, and does have the innate flexibility to play different positions. With Kapler no longer in the manager’s chair, at least Kingery no longer has to fear being asked to play three or four positions every night.

Besides that, the Phillies will ask their fans to be patient about top thirdbase prospect Alec Bohm, who finished up last season with Double-A Reading, and should keep his sites trained on Triple-A success with the IronPigs before sizing up the hot corner at Citizens Bank Park.

Although the trading deadline for this Phillies team is 5½ months away (and yes, time flies), there seems to be more than a bit of pressure on Klentak and Company to make and sign off on a move to bolster this changing infield.

Disgruntled Rockie Nolan Arenado and the Cubs’ Kris Bryant remain muchrumored (and Philly possible) third-base trade options.

Of course, the Phils probably need help in the outfield as much as they need another third baseman.

With Herrera not wanted back and not on the 40-man roster, the hope is that incumbent center fielder Andrew McCutchen can return to at least near normalcy coming off a torn knee ligament. If he can’t, there’s always the multi-faceted Scotty Baseball to fill in, along with always injured Roman Quinn and/or Nick Martini, who was plucked off waivers from Cincinnati, to act as fill-ins between right fielder Harper and left fielder Adam Haseley.

And there has to be a lingering question of whether Haseley is up to the task of every day playing, too. So many questions, so little time before the start of the season.

As for the Flyers, their trade deadline is pretty soon, too ... as in Feb. 24.

Considering the progress they’ve made this season (a 32-19-7 mark after 58 games represents a full, five-game improvement over their record of a year ago), you’d think solo hockey boss Chuck Fletcher might be in a stand-pat mode. Well, he’s a little sharper than that.

Fletcher knows the Flyers need a solid, checking line center if they really expect to not only be playoff strong, but even get there in the first place.

No matter how optimistically Fletcher talks about Nolan Patrick returning to practice soon, Patrick is going to be far short of proving healthy enough for game action in a mere nine days from now. So despite feeling the pinch when it comes to available cap space, expect Fletch to fudge his trade deadline options in an effort to get a veteran center in here to help stabilize the lower lines, and maximize the production from Claude Giroux and Scotty Laughton, who are more productive at wing than in the middle.

Two different sports weighing down opposite ends of the crowded pro sports calendar. When it comes to seeking help, however, both the Flyers and the Phillies have reasons to be motivated now.

Contact Rob Parent at rparent@21stcenturymedia.com; you can follow him on Twitter @ReluctantSE

FRANK FRANKLIN II – THE ASSOCIATED PRESS With former manager Gabe Kapler gone to San Francisco, you’d think the time would be right for the Phillies’ Scott Kingery to finally settle into his natural position at second base. So far, that doesn’t seem the case at all.