Rise and Phight: 3/24/21

Yesterday in his press conference prior to the spring game against the Blue Jays, manager Joe Girardi shared that J.T. Realmuto would catch somewhere around 4-5 innings, take a day off, then come back to see how he would react. He also shared that Adam Haseley would be starting in center field tonight in his first action in four weeks.

It begs the question about center field and the competition for the starting job. Haseley came into the spring as one of the favorites to land the job and started off well before getting hurt. That opened the door for others that they only dipped their toes into instead of kicking it down. Odubel Herrera looked like the favorite for a while (and still does), but the question must be asked: if Haseley hits well these next few days, will that be enough to hand him job with so little time spent during spring playing the position? The guess here is that Herrera will still be the starter with Haseley slowly being worked in (have you ever seen a left-left platoon?), but that would mean Roman Quinn’s and Matt Joyce’s spots on the team may get a little cloudier. It’ll be an interesting week, that’s for sure.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• J.T. Realmuto made his spring debut last night and played well. Looks like Opening Day is in the bag.
• Aaron Nola has declared himself ready to go for the opener.
• Ryan Howard is co-owner of a sandwich place in Mt. Holly and oooobaby. You can count on a first hand review of the food soon.

MLB news:

• Those poor Blue Jays. Can’t play in their home stadium and now they can’t stay healthy. Kirby Yates is done, George Springer is hurting and now their #2 starter Robbie Ray is hurting as well. Yikes.
• Erick Fedde just lost an arbitration case determining if he has a fourth minor league option, but that could improve his chances of making the team.
• Fernando Tatis, Jr. left yesterday’s game with a hip issue. Yeah, it’s time to end spring training now. Just start the season.