Adolis Garcia went 0-for-3 with a walk Sunday, and the Phillies fell 4-2 to Atlanta as his uneven stretch at the plate continued. He was hitless for the ninth time in his last 12 contests.
The loss came with Garcia still in the middle of a longer run of opportunity. He extended his on-base streak to six consecutive games and has hit cleanup in six straight outings, a sign the Phillies are still putting him in a run-producing spot even as the contact has not followed.
Through 85 plate appearances, Garcia is slashing.205/.306/.342 with two home runs, four doubles and five RBI. Those numbers leave little room for comfort, especially for a hitter batting in the heart of the order and asked to drive in runs.
The split between usage and production is where the story sits now. Garcia is getting the chances, but the results have not matched the role, and the latest 0-for-3 only sharpened that gap after another quiet afternoon against Atlanta.
For the Phillies, the question is not whether Garcia is part of the lineup. He is. The real issue is how long they can keep running him out in cleanup while waiting for the bat to catch up.
