Adolis García reported to Citizens Bank Park on the Phillies' Monday off day to take extra batting practice after going 0-for-17 over six games on a West Coast trip, then hit early again on Tuesday and stayed in the lineup for the series opener.
Manager Don Mattingly said there was “some consideration of that” — referring to resting García — but that the Phillies ultimately decided to keep him in the field. “We talked about it. He came out and hit yesterday early, hit early again today. (Hitting coach Kevin) Long felt good about where he was at, so we’re going to hang with him right now,” Mattingly said.
The decision is rooted in a simple roster reality: García has been one of the team’s biggest offensive disappointments and one of its few outfield regulars at the same time. Entering Tuesday he was batting.191 with a.571 OPS across 58 games, had four home runs and was striking out 31 percent of the time. Mattingly had already benched García the previous Tuesday in San Diego, but chose to give him another chance at the top of the lineup for the opener at Citizens Bank Park.
Mattingly framed García’s desire to work on his swing as a positive. “Guys don’t like, in general, coming in on off days, try to take advantage of them,” Mattingly said, adding: “and the fact that he wanted to come in yesterday, we feel like is a positive. He came in again earlier today to do it. So again, I know he’s struggling. I think everybody obviously knows that. But the fact that he’s wanting to get better — and we need him. If we can get to his upside, then we’re a better team.”
That upside is the Phillies’ calculation. García was the club’s lone free‑agent addition in the offseason, signed to a one‑year deal after two down seasons with the Texas Rangers. The Phillies say they lack much depth behind him in right field, a shortage that made Mattingly reluctant to give another veteran day off while the club navigates injuries and suspensions elsewhere on the roster.
Those roster holes are real. The club finished its West Coast road trip Sunday in Los Angeles, J.T. Realmuto was out of Tuesday’s lineup with a bruised left wrist after being hit by a 97 mph fastball on Sunday, and Garrett Stubbs was penciled in to bat ninth and catch Aaron Nola on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Johan Rojas — a potential outfield option — was suspended for 80 games during spring training after testing positive for a performance‑enhancing drug and will not be eligible to return until June 25 in Washington.
All of which sharpens the friction: García’s glove and defensive value help the Phillies in the outfield, but his.191 batting average and.571 OPS provide little offensive offset. The club’s answer so far is patience backed by the belief that extra work may turn the slump around; Mattingly explicitly tied García’s continued starts to his willingness to grind through batting practice and regain form.
What happens next is immediate and narrow. The Phillies said they will “hang with him right now,” keeping García in the lineup while monitoring his swings and the roster picture. The next clear inflection point arrives when reinforcements become available — either a visible uptick in García’s bat or the return of depth on June 25, when Rojas will be eligible to rejoin the organization. Until one of those things happens, the club is relying on García’s extra work and its hope that he can climb back toward the upside that convinced them to bring him in on a one‑year deal.
