The Phillies will have to wait at least one more day for their first Grapefruit League win following Monday’s seven-inning game against the Orioles that ended in a 4-4 tie.

No big deal.

In fact, the biggest Phillies news of the day had nothing to do with what happened in Clearwater. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf paved the way for meaningful attendance at Citizens Bank Park next month by announcing a relaxed 20 percent outdoor capacity limit across the state (more on that below).

As for the second game of the spring, there were some notable moments, so let’s jump right into it.

Aaron Nola Gets First Work

We got our first look at Aaron Nola this spring.

There was some good and some not-so-good as he shook off the rust in his first game action.

He worked two innings and topped out at 92.7 mph with his fastball. Given he averaged 92.8 mph with the pitch a season ago, his velocity was of no concern and where you would expect it to be at this point.

Rather than work on one specific pitch as many pitchers do in their first appearance, Nola used his full compliment of pitches with mixed results.

He missed with a hanging two-strike spinner to DJ Stewart, who promptly deposited the mistake 376 feet away, easily clearing the right field wall:

 

Nola would limit the damage by holding the next seven Orioles hitters to just a pair of singles. He also recorded his first strikeout of the spring by beating Rio Ruiz with a fastball:

“I kind of just want to work on keeping all of my pitches sharp and working on my repertoire and really try to fine tune it and fine tune my delivery,” he said briefly after his exit. “First day out there, the delivery sometimes feels off, but it felt good today. That’s just kind of the main focus right now.”

Front and Center

A day after Adam Haseley made a strong opening statement in the battle for center field, Roman Quinn responded by reaching base two times in three plate appearances.

Quinn got things going with a run-scoring single during his first trip by taking a 3-1 sinker through the right side with a rip that registered a 102.7 mph exit velocity.

He followed with a third-inning walk before scoring on this mammoth two-run blast off the bat of Matt Joyce:

Like a young Matt Stairs circa October of 2008. Just as important, too, obviously. Add some bonus points for the bat transfer — smooth transfer and disposal. That’s the type of work you like to see early on.

Speaking of which:

Just excellent execution.

Anyway, as manager Joe Girardi noted on Sunday, guys can’t hurt their cases this early in the spring, but they can help it. It’s nice to see the center field and bench competitions spur some early quality ABs.

Fan Update

Fans last watched a Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park on Sept. 29, 2019. Those hoping to see the team in-person on Opening Day next month — 550 days after that last game — received some good news on Monday.

Kevin Kinkead covered the story in greater detail, but here are the key points:

  • PA Governor Tom Wolf raised outdoor event occupancy to 20 percent.
  • This means roughly 8,600 people could assemble at Citizens Bank Park on April 1. Subtract players, media, team employees from that number, and you’re talking about 8,000 fans watching Braves-Phillies.
  • That will happen if the city of Philadelphia follows suit by also relaxing current restrictions.

After his appearance, Nola was asked about the possibility of pitching in front of fans on Opening Day.

That’s normal to us. That’s what we know as baseball. That’s what we know sports as. I know myself playing with no fans in the stands last year really made us appreciate them. You really don’t realize it until you don’t have what you don’t have. For them to be in the stands at Citizens Bank would be awesome. They kind of get you more in the zone. You hear the crowd get loud, most of us play off that. We feed off the fans. We feed off the energy.

Quick Observations

  • Nice spring debut for second baseman Jean Segura. He tagged two different pitches with a 106.1 mph exit velo.
  • Bryson Stott, who teammate Bryce Harper last week compared to former Angels outfielder Garret Anderson, singled in his lone at-bat.
  • Excellent ball placement by Andrew Knapp on this two-run double:

  • Zack Wheeler will start for the Phillies tomorrow. Zach Eflin will debut on Wednesday.