The Phillies have 32 spring training games to figure out which infield alignment makes the most sense, who the opening day centerfielder will be and how the batting order shakes out.
On yesterday’s Phillies Talk podcast, Ricky Bottalico and I discussed how much batting order flexibility the addition of Didi Gregorius gives Joe Girardi. Gregorius can really bat anywhere between first and fifth.
This was Ricky’s batting order:
- Andrew McCutchen, LF
- Didi Gregorius, SS (L)
- Bryce Harper, RF (L)
- Rhys Hoskins, 1B
- J.T. Realmuto, C
- Jean Segura, 2B
- Scott Kingery, 3B
- Adam Haseley, CF (L)
And here was mine:
- Andrew McCutchen, LF
- Bryce Harper, RF (L)
- J.T. Realmuto, C
- Rhys Hoskins, 1B
- Didi Gregorius, SS (L)
- Jean Segura, 2B
- Scott Kingery, 3B
- Adam Haseley, CF (L)
We will have to wait and see how much the new three-batter rule for relievers affects lineup construction, if at all. It could prompt managers to focus more on splitting up their lefties, which was the idea behind my splitting up Harper and Didi.
MLB
Another option the Phils could go with is McCutchen and Segura at the top, where they were early last season. Forgotten in the totality of Segura’s disappointing first season as a Phillie is that he was hitting .330 in mid-May and his production didn’t crater until right around the time he didn’t hustle out the ball in San Diego, leading to the rundown in which McCutchen tore his ACL. Segura spoke this week about how much that ordeal weighed on him last summer.
What’s your ideal Phillies batting order?
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