PHILADELPHIA — The ball floated in the air for six seconds, so high that it fooled a cameraman trying to track its majestic arc, but not Gabriel Rincones Jr. The rookie Phillies outfielder had flicked his bat. He knew it. He rounded the bases and thought about all of the times he imagined this moment.He trotted to right field in the next inning and tipped his hat to the fans, who greeted him with a standing ovation.“I don’t want this feeling to get familiar,” Rincones said after a 7-0 win over the Miami Marlins. “I want it to be like it’s a new feeling. It’s kind of that fire. I don’t want that to go away. I want to give these fans all that I got.”They’d love some dingers from their right fielder. Rincones, 25, is the latest dart throw (and probably not the last) the Phillies will aim toward the general direction of right field in the wake of the torn shoulder muscle that will likely end Adolis García’s season.They have spent considerable resources on a position that has not yielded much production. They are now devoting $29.22 million to García and Nick Castellanos, two minor leaguers traded to the Chicago White Sox (to fetch Derek Hill), and a third-round pick (Rincones) on right field this season. It will never be confused with efficient roster construction.Phillies right fielders have combined to hit .206/.275/.351. That .626 OPS ranks 25th in MLB. It would be the lowest production by Phillies right fielders since 1942.Rincones will get all of the at-bats against righties; the Phillies are slated to face seven right-handed starters in their next eight games. Hill will be his platoon partner. The Phillies are in the trade market for an upgrade, but that probably has to wait until July.“Setting the table for those big guys,” Rincones said. “Putting together great at-bats against great competition. This is the big leagues now. So I’m the new guy around and I want to supplement these guys.”Adolis García would be done for the season if he elects to undergo shoulder surgery. (Chris Young / The Canadian Press via Associated Press)García is still weighing several medical opinions; he’ll probably need surgery to repair the lat muscle in his right shoulder that he tore while making a throw to home plate last week. If so, the club’s $10 million investment in him will be its latest disappointing one-year contract.Since Dave Dombrowski became the Phillies’ president of baseball operations in late 2020, the team has spent $103 million on one-year deals for MLB free agents. Those contracts have yielded a total of 2.3 WAR, according to FanGraphs.
Taking stock of the Phillies’ recent 1-year deals as another disappoints
Adolis García, who could miss the rest of the season with a torn lat muscle, is the latest example of a failed Phillies one-year deal.











