SAN DIEGO — The Phillies heard the jokes at the beginning of the year. They read the critiques, and they saw the replays, and they looked up the statistics. But they didn’t need any of that to confirm what they already knew: Their infield defense was dreadful.
It’s still not perfect. (They got a ninth-inning reminder of that in Game 1.) But the jokes no longer really apply in the same way. For those who never updated their original perceptions of this defense, it’s time for a revision: This Phillies infield truly is better than it was at the start of the season.
To start, it’s not quite the same group of players. One weak defender was released (Didi Gregorius), while other, better ones have locked in their playing time (Bryson Stott) or been acquired via trade (Edmundo Sosa). The team has also changed its positioning: While they used the shift heavily in the spring, they did so far less down the stretch, trying to find a strategy that better fit their players. And one of the biggest factors, they say, is the impact of continued time with infield coach Bobby Dickerson.
