Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Improved ‘D’ giving Girardi hope
PHILADELPHIA >> From the third inning through the ninth Thursday, through four pitchers, through multiple missed opportunities and through a biting wind, the Phillies would not score a run.
Yet there they were, nearly three hours later, mobbing Jean Segura behind second base, celebrating his walk-off single, delighted with a 3-2 Opening Day victory over the Atlanta Braves. How did that happen? The bullpen, revamped by Dave Dombrowski, helped.
Aaron Nola, who threw 84 mostly useful pitches and one clumsy one that Pablo Sandoval redirected into the right field seats, helped.
And then there were the defensive plays, one after the next, hustling and impressive, well-executed and difference-making.
“It was an unbelievable defense today,” Nola said. “Off the charts.” A samplings:
• In the second, Andrew McCutchen stayed with a ball bashed by Dansby Swanson yet tormented by the wind on its way to the left-field seats, gathering it just in front of the wall.
• In the sixth, with Braves at first and third, long Alec Bohm leaped to snag a whistling Marcell Ozuna line drive at third for the second out, before Nola fanned Travis d’Arnaud to end the threat.
• In the ninth, Didi Gregorius charged full speed into shallow left-center and, while falling down and negotiating the wind, blindly caught an Ozzie Albies looper before it hit the ground.
• In the 10th, with one out and Albies at third, Ozuna floated a ball to Roman Quinn in shallow center. Quinn, his arm never properly respected, hurled a 95 mph fastball to J.T. Realmuto, who expertly blocked the plate, caught the ball and retired the tagged-up Albies for a double play.
The Phils would win in the bottom of the inning.
Baseball is tricky that way, and the Braves may have caught some bad breaks on a windy day. But Quinn is a defensive threat, Realmuto the best at his position in the game, Gregorius a remarkable athlete and Bohm ever improving at third after a shaky defensive start to his rookie season.
For all of that, and more, Joe Girardi believes his team has a good chance to improve on its odd, 60-game 2020 season, when it made 36 errors, had the ninth best defensive percentage in the National League at .983 and allowed an average of 5.18 runs.
“I do,” the manager said. “Because they did work really hard. You see our infielders working every day with (infield coach) Juan (Castro). They do good routines. The outfielders have worked really hard with (coach) Paco Figueroa.
“With our pitchers, there are a lot of ground balls. They are not necessarily huge strikeout guys. So you have to be ready to play defense. I really appreciate the time our players and coaches put in during spring training. And it paid off today.”
Bohm remains a defensive project, and he might have avoided an error on Ozuna’s blast off his glove, ruled a hit to begin the second. Quinn is not likely to play every day. Gregorius is not a Gold Glove shortstop. Segura is a little out of position at second. Rhys Hoskins has never been a comfortable defender.
But the Phillies are not as much expecting another 161 games of highlight-film plays as they are hoping for consistent defensive professionalism.
One game in, they’re encouraged.
“It was a focus in spring training,” Girardi said. “We asked them to get out of their comfort zone a little bit, to try our way, and they all agreed to do it. And that was all 75 guys in camp. (New pitching coach) Caleb (Cotham) brought some interesting drills to do for defense, ones that I had never seen before, and they paid off in spring training.”
It has long been an accepted baseball belief that good pitching keeps defenders engaged. Too often last year, as the Phillies’ relief pitching sagged, the defense seemed to follow. Thursday, Nola, Archie Bradley, Jose Alvarado, Hector Neris and Connor Brogdon wasted few pitches and threw few bad ones. The defense responded with intensity.
So the improved pitching will help the defense.
And the improved defense, as it did late in the opener, can help the pitching.
“We have guys who throw hard,” Segura said. “We have guys who throw strikes. And we have to stay like that, stay together as a team. Sometimes it is going to go your way. Sometimes it is not. But if we play the type of game we played today, I guarantee we will be in the playoffs. No doubt about it.”
It was one game in a sixmonth season. But the Phillies won it with a level of defense they too seldom showed a year ago.
“It’s really on the guys,” Girardi said. “They took it as a challenge. And they took pride in getting better.”
• • • In addition to the players on the active roster, the Phillies’ player pool will include these 30 players at the Lehigh Valley alternate site: Pitchers Tyler Carr, Enyel De Los Santos, Kyle Dohy, Bailey Falter, Neftali Feliz, J.D. Hammer, Spencer Howard, Damon Jones, Mauricio Llovera, Adonis Medina, Bryan Mitchell, Francisco Morales, David Parkinson, David Paulino, JoJo Romero, Ramon Rosso and Cristopher Sanchez; infielders Daniel Brito, Darick Hall, Scott Kingery, Austin Listi, Nick Maton and Luke Williams; catchers Edgar Cabral, Rodolfo Duran and Rafael Marchan; and outfielders Odubel Herrera, Travis Jankowski, Mickey Moniak and Matt Vierling.
• • • The Phillies were off Friday. Zack Wheeler (4-2, 2.92 in 2020) will start at 4:05 Saturday, facing Braves right-hander Charlie Morton (2-2, 4.74). Before the game, the Phils are expected to provide an update on Adam Haseley, who left the opener in the eighth inning with a hamstring injury.
At 1:05 Sunday, it will be Zach Eflin (4-2, 3.97) and right-hander Ian Anderson (32, 1.95).