After signing a one-year, $10 million contract in the offseason, Adolis Garcia was supposed to bring power and defense to the Phillies. Instead, he has struggled to a rough .195 batting average. And now, a sudden injury has made things more complicated for him.

Garcia hurt his right shoulder during Wednesday’s 7-4 win against the Blue Jays. The outfielder hurt himself in the seventh inning while making a fast throw to home plate. He was in clear pain and had to leave the game immediately. Now, interim manager Don Mattingly faces a tough choice as the team waits to see how bad the injury is.

“We’ll see what happens. I’ll probably get some imaging tomorrow. We’ll find out where, you know, the true severity of it,” said Phillies manager Don Mattingly after the game.

The injury happened quickly. Garcia caught a fly ball in right field and threw the ball to home to get George Springer. Springer scored anyway, and García was left holding his right shoulder. A shoulder injury is a major scare for an outfielder. Outfielders need healthy shoulders to make hard, fast throws across the diamond to keep runners from moving up.

Even a small strain can completely ruin an outfielder’s arm strength and defense.

Phillies’ trainers came out quickly and didn’t want to take any risk, so they removed Garcia from the game. Steward Berroa then replaced Garcia in the outfield. Mattingly also said that he “hopes for the best” because we have seen how a shoulder injury can ruin a season for a player.

In 2020, Cody Bellinger hit a huge home run in Game 7 of the playoffs against the Atlanta Braves. While celebrating the hit, he dislocated his right shoulder. Bellinger played through the pain and helped the Dodgers win the World Series. However, he needed offseason surgery to fix torn ligaments.

That surgery changed his swing and ruined his hitting. Then, from 2021 to 2024, he struggled to find his old MVP power. During those four years, he batted just .244 and hit only 73 home runs.

But Bellinger had age on his side; Garcia doesn’t. He is 33 years old, so it will take his body longer to heal. Garcia is already struggling offensively, batting at .195 with seven homers and 21 RBIs. Garcia’s performance has been dropping over the last two years. He hit 25 homers in 2024, and that number dropped to 19. His overall hitting stats have also gone down, and this injury can make things even worse.

And with multiple injuries over the past few seasons, like an oblique injury and a knee injury, his fitness was already starting to raise questions. Now, with another injury creating uncertainty, a season that was already testing him has become even more difficult.

This injury will also test the Phillies’ defense.

The Phillies are going to miss Garcia defensively

The Phillies were hoping that Adolis Garcia would improve his offense, but were still managing without his bat. But without his glove, it might be a bit more of a problem. He already has four outfield assists this year, and without him, the Phillies’ defense looks weaker.

When asked about the defensive impact this is going to have on the team, Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said, “Well, obviously, you lose a defender like that. It changes things a little bit.”

The team does not have good backup players right now. They could use names like Steward Berroa and Edmundo Sosa. Berroa could get on the team, but the problem is that he is a left fielder. And fitting him in the team means moving Marsh to the right. And that might disrupt the defense.

They could also use Sosa, but his offense has been a very big question mark. In the 37 games he has played this season, Sosa has an average of .202 with just three homers. And his OPS is also very low at .569. That is why he is considered the fifth outfield option on the team.

They could also look into names in the minors like Otto Kemp or Felix Reyes, but none of them have been close to Garcia in numbers. The other major problem is that they can’t call upon Johan Rojas as well. MLB suspended Rojas for 80 games for using PEDs. However, while preparing for his comeback, he tore a ligament in his right elbow and now requires surgery, which effectively ends his season.

And this has raised major questions on the roster construction and how the Phillies are going to handle a tough stretch.