Yankees 4, Phillies 0: Tony Watson enters bullpen competition with scoreless inning

Tony Watson has been an integral part of major-league bullpens for 10 years.

Sunday, he began his quest to prove he can help the Phillies.

Watson made his spring-training debut in the eighth inning of a 4-0 loss to the New York Yankees in Tampa, Fla. The 35-year-old lefty struck out the first two batters, then issued a two-out walk before getting Jay Bruce to fly out to left field.

The Phillies signed Watson to a minor-league contract last month on the eve of the first workout for pitchers and catchers. He will make a $3 million base salary if he’s able to win a spot on the opening-day roster, and given his track record -- 2.80 ERA in 627 career appearances and a 2.50 mark in 21 games last season for the San Francisco Giants -- he stands a decent chance.

One potential reason why teams shied away from signing Watson this winter was a drop in his average fastball velocity from 93 mph in 2019 to 89.9 mph last season. Radar readings don’t typically mean much early in spring training, especially for veteran pitchers, but Watson topped out at 90.4 mph and averaged 89.1.

It won’t have any bearing on his standing in the rotation, nor should it, but Zack Wheeler wasn’t sharp in his second spring start.

Facing most of the Yankees’ regulars -- DJ LeMahieu, Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Giancarlo Stanton, Luke Voit, Gleyber Torres, and Gary Sanchez are all expected to be in the opening-day lineup -- Wheeler faced 12 batters and recorded six outs before reaching the 49-pitch mark. He gave up four hits, two walks, and a grand slam on a hanging breaking ball to Brett Gardner in the second inning.

» READ MORE: Phillies' new-look bullpen all about high velocity and ‘creating an attitude’

Didi Gregorius left his No. 18 jersey back in Clearwater and had to wear a loaner -- No. 95, without a name on the back. After going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and short-arming a throw for a two-out error in the fourth inning, he may have wished he could’ve truly gone incognito.

Mickey Moniak’s place in the Phillies’ center-field competition gets more “interesting,” to use manager Joe Girardi’s word, by the game.

Moniak came off the bench and worked a seven-pitch at-bat against reliever Kyle Barraclough that resulted in a line-drive single to right field. The former first overall pick in the 2015 draft is 4-for-8 with one double and two homers thus far in spring training.

With lefty-hitting Adam Haseley due to begin the season on the injured list because of a strained left groin, either Moniak or Odúbel Herrera may be in better position to make the team as lefty-hitting center-field candidates. Unlike Herrera (3-for-6 with a homer this spring), Moniak is already on the 40-man roster.

» READ MORE: Adam Haseley forced out of opening-day center fielder competition by groin strain

Five relievers combined for 5 2/3 scoreless innings. Among them: right-hander Bryan Mitchell, who worked around a leadoff walk. Mitchell hasn’t allowed a run in four innings over three appearances.

The Phillies are off Monday, but Zach Eflin will throw three innings in a simulated game. The Phillies will make the 6-mile trip to Dunedin to face the Toronto Blue Jays at 1:07 p.m. Tuesday. Vince Velasquez is scheduled to start. The game will not be televised.