The Braves have two center fielders in their starting lineup, and that allows for certain luxuries — like when Alec Bohm smashed a sixth-inning pitch to the warning track that should otherwise tie the game. But Ronald Acuña Jr. ran to the spot in right field Friday night, extended his left arm over his head, and snared the ball before crashing into the wall.
“I mean, it’s a center fielder playing right field is what it is,” manager Joe Girardi said. “And we’re going to score two there.”
Acuña is an otherworldly player who moved off center field last postseason because Atlanta loves Cristian Pache. On Friday, Acuña tormented the Phillies in an 8-1 defeat. He savored every moment of it. Acuña is 23, Pache is 22 and the Braves have invested a great deal of energy in shaping an outfield that will be very good for a long time.
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The Phillies are 5-2 and have seen more good than bad. But in center field, they are reduced to a constant search for silver linings. Roman Quinn entered the game late as part of a double-switch, once the outcome was decided. He stepped to the plate 0-for-9 with seven strikeouts. He took strike one. He whiffed at an elevated fastball and he shook his head. The next pitch, a 96 mph sinker, was a strike. But it was called a ball.
Two pitches later, he slashed a fastball to the opposite field for a single. A short, simple swing. He didn’t try to do too much. He had a hit.
This qualified as a significant feat. Quinn and Adam Haseley have combined to hit .185/.267/.222 with 11 strikeouts in 30 plate appearances over the team’s first seven games. The on-base percentage is juiced by the three times Quinn has been hit by a pitch.
The Phillies are not blessed in center like the Braves are, but it is not for a lack of attention.
Haseley was the eighth overall pick in the 2017 amateur draft. Quinn was a second-rounder (No. 66) in 2011. The Phillies wanted Scott Kingery to win the job in spring training; he was a second-round pick (48th) in 2015. Mickey Moniak was the No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft. Odúbel Herrera was a former Rule 5 pick who, with polishing in the majors, became an All-Star. The Phillies have devoted serious draft capital and countless hours of development on center field.
And they are asking for the most basic of production in 2021. The center fielder will bat eighth for Girardi and there are far more important people in the manager’s lineup. The Phillies need their best offensive players to produce; whatever the team receives from center field is helpful but not imperative.
Still, the Phillies would prefer to not have two automatic outs at the bottom of the lineup now that the pitcher is batting again.
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“I think the most important thing is playing a good center field and getting on base,” Girardi said before Friday’s series opener at Truist Park. “Those are the most important things to me for both of our guys. A, it helps you turn the lineup over, and B, it gives you a chance to score more runs. You know, I don’t consider both of them power hitters, but they do have the ability to spray the ball all over the field to hit doubles. Roman is more of a stolen-base threat, probably as much as anyone in the league. So, getting on base is the most important thing for me for them offensively.”
Haseley might offer the best chance at a suitable on-base percentage, and this is why the Phillies have defaulted to him when possible. He has already made two starts against lefty pitchers in 2021; that matches his total from a season ago. The Phillies, under former manager Gabe Kapler, tended to view Haseley as the strong side of a platoon and limited his looks against lefties. Girardi did the same in 2020.
Haseley started Friday against right-hander Charlie Morton, and he hit a ball hard to the opposite field in the fifth inning. He went 0-for-3. Phillies center fielders entered the weekend with the seventh-worst average exit velocity on batted balls.
Maybe Quinn’s hit in the eighth inning Friday compels Girardi to try him Saturday. Girardi has been reluctant to use the word “platoon” but he appears to be running one.
Quinn, a few weeks into spring training, dedicated himself to hitting the ball on the ground more. He wanted to attempt at least one bunt in every start. But in his limited opportunities during the season’s first week, he reverted to big hacks.
“He’s probably pressing a little bit too much,” Girardi said. “And he’s trying to make some more adjustments in his swing to make more contact. I think the last three or four bats have been a lot better. … He’s gotten deeper into counts. He hit a ball hard on a 3-2 count to the first baseman. So his at-bats have been better to me. And I think we’ll continue to see them get better.”
It’s early. Pache hasn’t hit yet, and the Braves are sacrificing some offense for defense while he gains his footing in the majors. The Phillies haven’t had terrible defense in center, but it hasn’t been exceptional. Haseley and Quinn have made most of the plays.
Acuña, no longer a center fielder, made the eye-popping plays Friday. Starter Zack Wheeler didn’t have his best stuff. “It’s just one of those days,” Wheeler said. Acuña hit a hanging slider 465 feet to center. He pimped it. Wheeler looked perturbed in the moment, and after the game, he didn’t dispute that displeasure.
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“Whatever,” Wheeler said.
When you’re that good, you have a license to do just about anything on the field. Acuña is a problem; everyone knew that before Friday night. The Phillies have a center-field problem that was obvious when spring training began. The dilemma, then, is deciding when it’s fair to think about trying something else.
(Top photo of Adam Haseley: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
