You dance with the date that brought you.

At this point of the season, the Phillies are looking like they are stuck with the date of a lineup that has a combined .229 batting average, second last in all of baseball.

They have a putrid on-base percentage of .298 along with slugging (.389) and an OPS (.687) that are both in the bottom tier.

At the center of it all is right fielder Adolis Garcia, who was perceived as the right-handed-bat solution to the lineup. Guru of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was confident he found a bargain basement pickup with Garcia with his one-year, $10 million price tag.

Entering Tuesday’s play, Garcia had a .200 batting average with a .274 OBP, a .338 slugging percentage, and a .612 OPS with 80 strikeouts and 20 walks.

Those numbers are actually not bad on this team. Garcia is 13th in baseball in punchouts, and is among the top 25 in lowest batting average among starters.

On the plus side, Garcia has a rifle arm, and is a solid defensive outfielder.

The Phils and their fanatical faithful saw a glimmer of hope when Garcia hit .273 on the recent homestand with a pair of homers. Yet, he struck out eight times in 22 at-bats.

During April, Garcia hit .237, but slumped terribly in May. He finished the month with a .125 average, with one homer and four RBIs and 38 strikeouts in 88 at-bats.

This may have been expected for Garcia this month. His worst month last season was May when he hit .189 with three homers and 12 RBIs along with his highest amount of monthly strikeouts (29).

Phillies’ brass is optimistic that the upcoming dog days of summer can work in his favor.

Garcia did hit .250 in June last year for Texas with three homers and 18 RBIs, and he followed that with a .233 July with five homers and 17 RBIs.

In August last year, Garcia had his best month with a .288 average with three homers, 11 RBIs, and 17 strikeouts in 80 at-bats. He posted a season-best .313 OBP and a .500 slugging percentage for the month.

Dombrowski saw Garcia’s 2023 record-breaking postseason appearance as an incentive to bring him on board. Garcia was the ALCS MVP with his record 15 RBIs, and hit .323 with eight homers and 22 RBIs and an OPS of 1.108 coupled with a .726 slugging percentage.

Garcia cranked a career-high 39 homers and drove in a career-best 107 runs that year during the regular season. His strikeout totals dipped down to 175 from 194 and 183 the previous two seasons. He drew a career-high 65 walks for a season.

The following year, Garcia’s power outage dropped to 25 homers and 85 RBIs, and his average slumped to .224 from .245. With his strikeout propensity, Garcia’s highest average was .250 during his six years in Texas.

In 2025, Garcia’s numbers again dropped with 19 homers and 75 RBIs with a .227 average. He had his lowest OBP (.271), slugging (.394) and OPS (.665) in his Texas time.

At 32, Texas saw a declining player who didn’t fit into its future plans. It didn’t want to give him a big pay day, and didn’t offer him a contract in his final year of salary arbitration.

Now, Garcia is looking more like the backup quarterback coming into a starter’s role. You know the backup can only carry you so far, and he shows why he is a backup.

Phillies’ fans are looking for the second half of the season as a saving grace for Garcia.

Unless Dombrowski pulls a trade — the Mike Trout rumors are still swirling — there is little, in-house relief. Either Felix Reyes and Steward Berroa don’t look like the solution, and there is little at Lehigh Valley.

With seven homers and 21 RBIs over 65 games, Garcia will be in the range of 20 homers and roughly 50-60 RBIs projected for the season. If it happens, that’s about what you can expect for $10 million.

By recent indications, Dombrowski will stay the course with Garcia, and will hope that his frugal pickup can keep the Phils in playoff contention.

It will be Garcia’s dance into the fall.

Doing It With Mirrors ... Garcia is certainly under the microscope, but the rest of the lineup could easily be scrutinized. Looking at the numbers, you have to wonder how this team is six games over .500 (36-30), and 27-11 under Don Mattingly.

That answer is obvious — its pitching staff led by Cristopher Sanchez, Zach Wheeler, and Jhoan Duran. If it wasn’t for them and some other arms, things would be a lot worse.

Bryce Harper’s numbers (14 homers, 37 RBIs, .261, .866 OPS) are All-Star worthy, and Brandon Marsh (.333, 8, 30) is having a banner year. Kyle Schwarber is batting just ,234, but had 22 homers.

From there, Bryson Stott (.220), Justin Crawford (.234), J.T. Realmuto (.211), Alec Bohm (.226), and Trea Turner (.226) are closer to the Mendoza line than respectability.

However, Bohm has been surging over the past five weeks. Bohm couldn’t get over .155 in each of the first two months before he hit .277 in May with five homers. So far in June, he’s hitting .348.

He’s Back ... Everyone has forgotten outfielder Johan Rojas, who will begin a minor-league stint Wednesday after his 80-game performance-enhancing drug suspension.

Rojas, who has never been a strong righty bat, can rejoin the Phils June 25. He could be part of an initial platoon with Crawford, unless the rookie starts to hit.

Quick Fix ... Besides Trout, the Phils could look to Giants’ second baseman Luis Arraez, who is among the league leaders in hitting (.323) and is on a skimpy, one-year $12 million deal. The three-time batting champion can also play first base (Do the Phils talk Harper into moving back to the outfield, here?).

Baltimore right-handed hitting outfielder Taylor Ward was on the radar in the offseason, and is off to a slow start hitting .255 with three homers. But Ward hit a combined 98 homers over his four previous seasons with the Angels.

Fingers Crossed ... In a recent Times News Lehighton Sports Facebook poll, 83 percent believe Garcia can turn it around, while 17 percent want him shipped elsewhere.

Readers Write

Any Garcia Takers?

Dear Jeff,

They should (trade Garcia). The issue is he is playing so horribly, who’s gonna take him. They’re gonna be paying Casty (ex-Phil Nick Castellanos) $19 million and Adolis $10 million for someone else to play in right?

You just have to pay and hope that he can somehow turn it around after he had back-to-back games with a home run on both June 4th and 5th. Maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel?

Tyler Scheuer

Newtown Grant

“Tyler’s Amazing Balancing Act”

Give Him Time

Dear Jeff,

Phillies announcer Tom McCarthy said he has been really working on his hitting, and he has had some success recently. He is a great fielder. Hopefully, he can turn it around.

But he is not the only hole in the lineup. Look at the millions Turner is being paid for weak ground balls, and he is not able to get on base.

Melissa Hager

Lehighton

Give Him Time

Dear Jeff,

Don’t trade Garcia yet.

Bob Scheuer

Newtown

Defensive Stalwart

Dear Jeff,

He (Garcia) never drops any flies or misjudges on defense.

Mark Keip

Chipley, Florida

Tuning Up The Burner

Dear Jeff,

He (Garcia) is warming up now.

Chris Hoseman

Slatington

No Good Solutions In Right Field

Dear Jeff,

(Mike) Trout spends more time in the IL than on the field, and Harper isn’t returning to the outfield. As Jayson Stark said, there is no solution out there who’s available.

And Bohm is just as big of a problem as this guy (Garcia) as long as he’s batting fourth. (Garcia) did have two homers over four games recently, and had hit in four straight games.

Vic Monaco

Philadelphia

Scrapbook ... In each column, I will look back at a former standout from the area.

Tyler Schreiner was a stellar four-year player at Northwestern, where he was a designated hitter and outfielder. He followed in the footsteps of his father, John, who was the head coach at Emmaus and played college baseball.

In his senior year at Northwestern, Schreiner hit .434 with 28 RBIs and 34 hits. He was named the team MVP and was a Colonial League all-star.

Schreiner continued his career at Lehigh University, where he played 69 games and hit .233 overall with 36 RBIs. His best season was his sophomore year when he hit .275 with a homer, 28 RBIs, 28 hits and 14 runs. He had a .723 OPS, a .350 OBP, and a .665 OPS.

Your thoughts are always welcomed and will be published; email them to tnsports@tnonline.com.