Phillies unveil new outfield design, but same outfield defense hurts them in 3-0 loss to Padres

The Phillies unveiled a new design Tuesday afternoon in the grass at Citizens Bank Park as an outline of the Liberty Bell covered a large swath of the center-field expanse and provided a fresh look. But the fielders who covered the outfield in a 3-0 loss to San Diego continued to leave plenty to be desired.

The Phils — just as they have in recent seasons — were plagued again by their outfield defense. Roman Quinn couldn’t corral a fly ball in the sixth that fell in shallow center. And Kyle Schwarber provided the crushing blow in the seventh when a ground single skittered under his glove in left field, allowing a runner to score all the way from first as the ball trickled to the warning track.

The Phillies did not do much offensively as they had just five hits and were shut out for the fourth time this season. It marked the second straight game in which they did not score an earned run as all four of their runs in Sunday’s loss at Dodger Stadium were unearned.

“We didn’t have a whole lot to hit and we didn’t necessarily swing the bats great,” manager Joe Girardi said. “We didn’t walk tonight and it was just one of those nights.”

Schwarber’s error in the seventh not only allowed Wil Myers to score but also enabled Robinson Cano to reach second on his single, which became important two batters later when Trent Grisham hit a double to score Cano.

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The Phillies entered Tuesday with the third-worst outfield Defensive Runs Saved in the majors after finishing with the sixth-worst mark in 2021 and the fourth-worst in 2020. They knew their outfield defense would continue to be limited this season when they constructed their roster by signing Schwarber and Nick Castellanos. Those limitations will become magnified as long as Bryce Harper remains limited to being used strictly as a designated hitter because of a torn elbow ligament in his throwing arm.

The offense wasn’t able to overcome those defensive shortcomings on Tuesday. And a new grass design failed to help, either.

The Phillies scored at least eight runs last week in their first three wins at Dodger Stadium as the offense produced the way it was drawn up. But the firepower they showed out West was absent in South Philadelphia for the first game of a six-game homestand.

Rhys Hoskins, batting leadoff for the fourth time in five games, went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Schwarber struck out four times and Castellanos (2-for-4) was the lone Phillie to have more than one hit. Padres starter Mike Clevinger limited the Phillies to just one hit in five innings.

“Definitely just felt overall a little bit flat,” Castellanos said. “I don’t know if it was from the long travel and then the off day but you also have to give it to Clevinger because he has good stuff.”

The lineup was stagnant without Harper, who missed his second straight game since receiving an injection on Sunday to help heal elbow. Harper is hopeful to return on Wednesday.

“I don’t want to say. ‘Well, we can’t win unless he’s playing’ because everyone in this clubhouse is capable of playing well,” Castellanos said. “But missing a guy who just won Player of the Week hitting .600 does hurt. Bigger picture, we need him to be healthy and good and feeling right. He has to handle his stuff.”

Myers’ one-out single in the fifth inning wasn’t hit particularly hard, but it didn’t matter as the grounder was enough to beat the defensive shift.

Second baseman Jean Segura was aligned on the shortstop side, allowing Myers’ hit to roll into right field. Two batters later, Myers scored on a groundout by Austin Nola that would have been the third out had the Phillies retired Myers.

“It’s baseball,” Eflin said. “Nine times out of 10, he’s going to pull the ball, but I thought I could freeze him because I got him there earlier. He’s a good hitter, so he did what he had to do.”

That was the only run given up by Eflin, who allowed five hits over six innings. Eflin threw 84 pitches and the Phillies did not seem comfortable pushing him deeper into the game after he was activated earlier in the afternoon from the COVID-19 injured list.

“I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t pretty tired out there, but I was happy with the way the ball was coming out,” Eflin said. “I was locating in to lefties, which has been something I’ve been working on before I got COVID. I was happy to kind of just pick right back up on that and get some early contact.”

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The ball that dropped in front of Quinn in center field did not prove as costly as Schwarber’s error, since the Phillies were able to escape it unscathed. Jake Cronenworth’s pop fly to lead off the sixth had an expected batting average of just .100, but it fell to the grass as Quinn, Schwarber, and shortstop Bryson Stott watched it.

The play belonged to Quinn, who charged in from center but pulled up short. Eflin maneuvered out of the jam by retiring three of the next four batters.