PHILADELPHIA -- Gabriel Rincones Jr. was admittedly "thrown to the wolves" in his MLB debut on Friday.
Those were the words of president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski just hours before the Phillies' No. 6 prospect took his first career big league swings against Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski.
Well, Rincones got the chance to face an MLB pitcher other than Misiorowski for the first time on Monday night -- and he wasted no time making the most of it.
Making his Citizens Bank Park debut, the 25-year-old Rincones hit a towering solo homer off Marlins starter Ryan Gusto in the second inning of the Phils' 7-0 win over the Marlins for his first career homer -- and first career hit. The ball had a hang time of 6.4 seconds, the third longest on any Phillies home run this season.
"We like Rincones a lot," Dombrowski said over the weekend. "... We know he has power."
That raw power wasn't the only impressive part of Rincones' first at-bat in front of the home crowd. The homer came after he fouled off three straight two-strike pitches -- a four-seamer, a sinker and a changeup -- before teeing off on a sweeper in the seventh pitch of the at-bat.
"He's got a good swing," interim manager Don Mattingly said prior to Monday's game. "He's got a chance to help us, so he's getting an opportunity to see what he can do."
Rincones is expected to get the majority of the reps in right field in the absence of Adolis García, who is likely to miss the rest of the season with a right latissimus dorsi tear -- though his treatment plan has yet to be finalized.
The left-handed-hitting Rincones will start most games against right-handed pitchers, alongside Justin Crawford in center field and Brandon Marsh in left field. Against lefties, though, the Phillies will likely go with Marsh in right, newcomer Derek Hill in center and Edmundo Sosa in left.
Though Rincones slashed .240/.370/.430 (.800 OPS) with 18 home runs at Triple-A Lehigh Valley last season, he did nearly all of his damage against right-handed pitchers. Not only did all 18 of his home runs come against righties, but he hit just .107 (6-for-56) with zero extra-base hits against lefties. He hit .261 with an .873 OPS vs. righties.
"I just want him to be a player," Mattingly said. "He's not here to be the savior, he's not here to hit in the middle of the order and save us. He's here to be a player and contribute."
So far, so good.
Philadelphia could certainly use the contributions out of right field, a position that has generated little offensive production over the past few years. Entering Monday, Phillies right fielders were hitting .205 (26th in MLB) with a .616 OPS (25th).