CLEARWATER, Fla. -- The Phillies told Didi Gregorius just days before the end of last season that he will need to compete for his job in 2022.

They also told him that he should prepare to play third base.

Gregorius endured the most frustrating season of his career last year. He battled a mysterious left elbow injury throughout and slashed .209/.270/.370 with 13 home runs, 54 RBIs, a .640 OPS and a 71 OPS+. It was his lowest OPS and OPS+ since he played eight games with the Reds as a rookie in 2012. His performance has him competing with No. 2 prospect Bryson Stott for the job at shortstop.

“It’s up in the air, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Gregorius said Monday morning at BayCare Ballpark. “Maybe they have plans. I don’t know. I’m just here to go. It’s going to be fun, Spring Training. Better team, better goals, get the ring at the end.”

Gregorius, 32, believes he knows why he struggled in 2021. He said he suffered from multiple bone spurs in his elbow, which required surgery in October.

“They told me first it was inflammation, and then it was gout, and then they tried to figure out what it is and they couldn’t,” he said. “I ended up having surgery because I had bone spurs the whole year. So the medication I was on wasn't needed. Throwing up and all that stuff throughout the whole year. Then with the [COVID-19] vaccine, everyone thinks that I made lies up, whatever. But I had a really bad reaction.

“There’s nothing else I can do. They didn’t want to miss [the bone spurs]. I wanted to know the whole time, but nobody knew.”

Gregorius flipped through his phone to show reporters a few photos that illustrated his health issues.

“They just tried to figure out what it was,” he said. “I had to play like that because I told them I didn't want to miss any games. I wasn't my best. … I couldn’t swing. I couldn't extend. I couldn't do anything. I couldn’t throw, so my throws were going all over the place. And swinging, if I can’t extend it, I couldn’t hit any pitch. The only pitches I was hitting were mostly pitches away. I even backed off the plate so I could kind of get extended. I was going through a lot last year, but that’s behind my back.”

Gregorius said he is healthy now. He is ready to compete, even if it means playing third base.

“I don’t really care, as long as I’m playing,” he said “I don’t want to stay on the bench, I want to be out there.”

“We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen,” Phillies manager Joe Girardi said. “We didn’t know the moves that were going to happen. If we acquired someone in a trade, we might move you to third, possibly try you there. It was more just being prepared for it, not necessarily that it’s exactly what will happen.”

Wheeler is OK following first bullpen
Zack Wheeler threw off a mound Monday for the first time since last season. He felt some soreness in his right shoulder in December, following a career-high and MLB-best 213 1/3 innings. He is scheduled to throw again on Thursday.

Girardi said he feels Wheeler’s shoulder issue is behind him.

“I think he ran through fatigue,” the manager said. “I don’t think we hid any of his fatigue at the end of the year. He was tired. It took time to get back. So we knew that it was possible that it would take more time. This rest might benefit him, in a sense. Physically, everything has turned out fine.”

Kingery is almost back
Scott Kingery is not on the 40-man roster, but he is in camp as a non-roster invitee. Kingery had the labrum repaired in his right shoulder last year, and he is still rehabbing the injury.

Kingery is hitting without issues, but he is working his way back to throwing. It is unclear if Kingery will compete for a job, but the Phillies still believe he can help.

“There’s a lot of things this kid can do if he gets right,” Girardi said.

Promotions
The Phillies announced several promotions and hires in baseball operations. Most notably, they promoted Corinne Landrey as director of baseball operations. Landrey joined the Phillies in 2017, working as an analyst.