Phillies Notebook: Phillies pick up veteran outfielder Bernadina

FOR TEAMS out of contention, the final 6 weeks of the baseball season are for evaluating the talent that has been on your roster all season, while also adding new players via the farm system, trades and free agency and taking stock of the roster in total.

The Phillies added an outfielder yesterday, marking the second time in 2 weeks they've added to a previously barren outfield depth chart.

Roger Bernadina, 29, is expected to see time in centerfield in the 36 games that remain on the Phillies' schedule. Casper Wells signed with the team on Aug. 8.

Bernadina spent his entire six-season major league career with the Washington Nationals before being released on Monday. Bernadina, a career .243 hitter, was hitting .178 with two home runs in 85 games this season.

His attractiveness to the Phillies comes in part because of his ability to play centerfield. When starting centerfielder Ben Revere broke his foot last month, John Mayberry Jr. was the only other player on the roster capable of playing center.

"He's an athletic guy with ability and tools," manager Ryne Sandberg said of Bernadina.

Since the Phillies know what they have in Mayberry, Bernadina could get regular playing time in centerfield. Bernadina, who made $1.21 million this season, is arbitration-eligible this winter and, thus, under the Phillies' control.

"No promises on lineups, but he'll get his opportunity and he'll get a good look," Sandberg said.

A native of Curacao originally signed by the Montreal Expos in 2001, Bernadina started 111 games for Washington in 2010. He hit .246 with 11 home runs that season.

Bernadina had his best season a year ago, when he hit .291 with a .372 on-base percentage in 129 games (48 starts).

If he impresses in the next month, the lefthanded-hitting Bernadina could work his way into playing time next year in a Phillies outfield that will likely include Revere, Domonic Brown and Darin Ruf.

"He'll have chance to play and an opportunity, with the way things are set up here personnelwise," Sandberg said. "He needs to look at that as an opportunity to show what he can do."

Bernadina's defensive ability could make him an option to play center even when Revere is healthy, but it's unlikely Revere would lose regular at-bats, from what Sandberg saw in him this season.

"I see Ben as an option in centerfield, depending on what happens in the offseason," Sandberg said. "Ben could also be used in leftfield. That's another option for Ben. The way that Ben performed before he got injured, he showed what he can do at the top of the order and applied his speed. His speed really played at the top of the order, with bunts and his approach, and he really found his swing and was staying on top of the ball.

"For a month, he made a big difference in the way the team went and that when the team got to where it did at the All-Star break. He was a big part of that."

Bernadina joined the Phillies just before last night's game against the Colorado Rockies. Reserve infielder/outfielder Michael Martinez was optioned to Triple A Lehigh Valley to make room on the 25-man roster.

Roy Halladay's minor league rehab tour will continue this weekend in Reading. Halladay will start for the Phillies' Double A affiliate on Sunday afternoon against New Hampshire.

Halladay, who had shoulder surgery on May 15, allowed one earned run on seven hits, while striking out four and walking three, in six innings at low Class A Lakewood on Tuesday night.

"He still has some work to do," Sandberg said of Halladay, who pitched for the Gulf Coast League Phillies last Thursday in his first game of any kind since May. "We'll wait and see how he progresses and see what the next step will be."

Jonathan Pettibone, meanwhile, had the brakes put on his own minor league rehab assignment.

"Pettibone is feeling a bit of soreness in the shoulder area," Sandberg said yesterday afternoon. "He'll have some tests and an MRI tomorrow."

Pettibone gave up three runs on 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings for Triple A Lehigh Valley on Tuesday. He has been on the disabled list since Aug. 2 with a right shoulder strain.

Ryne Sandberg said it was "undetermined" whether Tyler Cloyd would make his next turn in the rotation on Sunday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Cloyd gave up five runs in the first three innings of his start on Tuesday against Colorado before bouncing back with three shutout innings to complete his night . . . Chase Utley hit his 16th home run of the season last night, tying his highest home run output since hitting 31 in 2009. Utley has had his best power output since '09 when you factor in plate appearances. Utley's 16th home run came in his 389th plate appearance of the season, giving him one home run in every 24.3 plate appearance. It's his highest home run-per-plate appearance rate since 22.16 in '09 . . . The Phillies have lost 16 of their last 17 games when they scored three runs or fewer; they are 14-53 in such games this season. On the flip side, the Phils are 42-17 when scoring four runs or more.

Blog: ph.ly/HighCheese