PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Since spring training, the center field position has been heavily scrutinized under a watchful eye. Almost a month later, that’s still the case — except this time, the games count.
Center field remains a problem for this 8-8 ball club.
“We’re not happy with what’s going on,” manager Joe Girardi said about the lack of offensive production from their center fielders, after the Phils were shut out 2-0 to Gabe Kapler’s San Francisco Giants at Citizens Bank Park. “We’re on our third center fielder, in a sense. Mickey (Moniak) is getting a chance and we’ll continue to give him a chance, but I know they’re all capable of hitting at a much higher clip. They’re just not doing it for whatever reason. But we need someone to be somewhat productive out there.”
Of the three center fielders the Phils have played so far this season — Moniak, Roman Quinn and Adam Haseley — they’re a combined five for 56, which is a batting average of .089.
According to NBC Sports Philadelphia, the Phils have gone 13 consecutive games without a hit from whoever they started in center field, which is the longest streak since records began in 1906.
Not good.
Moniak, the 22-year-old who was the Phils’ first overall pick in the 2016 amateur draft, is zero for 12 so far with eight strikeouts. Although he made a highlight catch Monday night — one that he initially lost in the sky — that won’t cover up the lack of production at the plate.
The Phillies began the season with a platoon of Quinn and Haseley. Last week, Haseley stepped away from the team for an undetermined amount of time for personal reasons. The club recalled Moniak while leaving Scott Kingery and Odúbel Herrera at the alternate site in Lehigh Valley.
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Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski said the organization thought Moniak was playing better than Herrera, who’s not on the 40-man roster. Kingery, meanwhile, is working on fixing his swing. Clearly it’s not there, otherwise he’d be up with the big club.
“Yes, I am concerned about a lack of production in center field,” Dombrowski said before the series-opening loss to San Francisco.
Dombrowski didn’t rule out upgrading the position by looking outside the organization, if need be.
Don’t be mistaken, center field is not the only empty hole in the Phils’ lineup right now. Heading into Tuesday night’s action, the Phils are hitting .234 as a club, which is 15th in the majors and ninth in the National League — mediocre at best.
They’re tied for 26th in MLB and 12th in the NL with 13 home runs through 16 games. Their 54 runs batted in are tied for 24th among all 30 teams and 11th among 15 National League clubs.
“We need more production, and these guys are capable of more production,” Girardi said. “I see averages are down around all of the league, which there are some numbers that are shocking to me, and I think we’re a little bit shocked by some of our numbers, but we turn around tomorrow.
“That’s the great thing about this game — we get a chance to do it tomorrow.”