Jay Bruce is among baseball’s best sluggers in recent years. But does he have a spot on the Phillies?

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Opening day is still four weeks away, too much time for even betting men to count out Andrew McCutchen. But take this to the bank: Even if the veteran left fielder starts the season on time, he won’t be able to withstand 155 games on a surgically reconstructed knee ligament.

It’s a good thing, then, for the Phillies that McCutchen’s backup has the sixth-most home runs of any player since 2008.

Remember Jay Bruce? He started only four of the final 66 games last season because of injuries, including a strained flexor tendon in his left arm that prevented him from throwing. But he’s healthy now and back in the Phillies’ outfield mix (with the Seattle Mariners picking up all but $1.375 million of his $14 million salary), and he has every intention of adding to his total of 312 career homers.

"I'm definitely not just settling in as, 'Oh, I'm going to be the fourth outfielder,' or whatever," Bruce said the other day. "I want to give myself the best opportunity to do my job as I've always done it."

One problem: The Phillies might not have many opportunities for him.

Bruce, who turns 33 on April 3, plays the outfield corners and a smidgen of first base. The Phillies are covered there, with McCutchen penciled into left field and Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins written on manager Joe Girardi’s lineup cards in permanent marker at right field and first base, respectively.

So, what does that mean for Bruce, who averaged 581 plate appearances per year from 2008 to 2017 and has hit at least 20 homers in 10 of his 12 major-league seasons?

Bruce isn’t sure, but experience tells him not to sweat it, either.

“Yeah, if things stand, it might be a little bit [of a different role],” he said. “But in baseball things are usually pretty fluid.”

Take last season, for example. The Phillies acquired Bruce from Seattle for a single-A infielder on June 2 to provide left-handed pop off the bench. A day later, McCutchen blew out his knee and Bruce took over in left field.

The point is, stuff happens. McCutchen is not yet playing in spring-training games. Maybe he’s ready for the season-opener March 26 at Marlins Park. Maybe he needs more time. When he does return, he will need periodic rest, even if he doesn’t think so.

“Whatever they need me to do, I’ll be ready to play,” said McCutchen, who averaged 155 games per season from 2010 to 2018. “I’m stronger. When I come back I’ll be stronger.”

Regardless, Bruce will prepare for regular at-bats and adjust accordingly. Besides, it’s not as if he can’t still play every day. He hit 24 homers and slugged .575 in 268 at-bats before the All-Star break last season. In his first two weeks with the Phillies, he had four doubles and seven homers and slugged .662 in 68 at-bats.

"In Philly, before I got hurt, I was like supremely myself," Bruce said. "I was playing every day. I was getting an opportunity to get consistent at-bats. I was basically what I've always been."

Bruce doesn’t see any reason that he can’t keep right on going. He would like to play three or four, maybe even five more years. The only active players with more homers are Albert Pujols (656), Miguel Cabrera (477), Edwin Encarnacion (414), Nelson Cruz (404), Ryan Braun (344), and Robinson Cano (324). Bruce is younger and has fewer career at-bats than all of them.

But of his 6,500 career plate appearances, only 75 have come as a pinch-hitter. He’s 16-for-65 (.246) with three homers and a .462 slugging percentage in that role, including 4-for-21 (.190) with two homers and a .476 slugging percentage last season.

Although Bruce conceded that he has sought advice from some former teammates about finding a routine that works for coming off the bench, he isn’t dwelling on it.

Bruce is more eager to continue getting to know new hitting coach Joe Dillon. He worked with Kevin Long, Dillon's mentor, for two seasons with the New York Mets and sees similarities in their philosophies on hitting.

“The thing I’ve liked about him so far is he’s wide open for conversation,” Bruce said. “That’s not saying that any other [hitting coaches] are not that way, but it’s a good energy.”

Hitting has become “much more technical,” Bruce said, since he broke in with the Cincinnati Reds in 2008. There were times last season, particularly while he was still with Seattle, that he dug into Statcast metrics to determine why he was among the league leaders in home runs despite batting less than .200.

"It's much more numbers-driven now and I think sometimes a little tone-deaf, honestly," Bruce said of modern hitting instruction. "It's like a create-a-player kind of deal rather than taking the numbers that apply to you best and trying to apply them to yourself, not changing yourself as a player to suit the numbers. I think the goal is to marry what the eyes sees and what the numbers say."

But if Bruce sounds like a future hitting coach, he isn’t particularly interested. He believes he still has too much left to do as a player.

“Think about what Jay Bruce did in a month,” Girardi said, referring to his success after the trade, “and how important that would have been down the stretch.”

Indeed, Bruce remains an important piece of the Phillies offense, even if his role is not yet defined.