By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia Phillies' first three series are in the books. Six wins, a .750 winning percentage, 53 runs scored and jut 33 runs allowed — all good for best in the National League East.
Manager Gabe Kapler has not had to make many decisions early on, outside of pitching changes and pinch-hit scenarios. The club has used the same lineup in seven of their eight games, with the only difference being Saturday's game — when backup catcher Andrew Knapp started in place of J.T. Realmuto.
Now, with speedy outfielder Roman Quinn on the mend (right oblique strain) and poised to return to the major leagues as early as Monday — following his back-to-back minor-league games in Clearwater — the Phillies soon will have to decide who to send down to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to create room on the 25-man roster.
On paper, the decision would be easy; send down either Aaron Altherr or Nick Williams — an easy outfielder-for-outfielder swap. Neither Altherr, Quinn nor Williams would be starting, with Andrew McCutchen, Odubel Herrera and Bryce Harper locking down the roles in left, center and right. The Phillies could surprise everyone and trim their bullpen by one, however Kapler has shown to prefer having another arm in the bullpen over another bench bat in the dugout.
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Williams has logged seven at-bats with three strikeouts, while Altherr has five with two strikeouts. Both have just one hit, Williams' a RBI single, and Altherr's a RBI double. Neither have "hit the ground running," so to speak, so far off the bench. Down in Clearwater, Quinn went 3-for-3 with three runs, a home run, RBI, walk and stolen base on Saturday, and 0-for-3 with two strikeouts on Sunday.
Sending down Williams might be a detriment to his confidence, as since debuting with the Phillies in June 2017, he has yet to play another game at the minor-league level. In 230 games and 798 plate appearances in the majors, Williams has 26 doubles, seven triples, 29 home runs and 106 RBI (.269/.329/.444). Altherr, meanwhile, has been shown to be more injury prone since debuting in June 2014, but, when hot, is an "extra-base hits machine." Approximately 45 percent of his 218 career hits have gone for extra bases; 20 of his 33 hits in 2015 were either a double (11), triple (4) or home run (5).
Who should the #Phillies send down when Roman Quinn returns, possibly tomorrow? Altherr is out of options and could be claimed by another team.
— Philliedelphia (@Philliedelphia) April 7, 2019
It's a toss-up in choosing who should remain on the major league roster on the bench, complementing Scott Kingery, Knapp, and Quinn.
What could work in Altherr's favor is that he is one of six Phillies currently out of minor-league options; he could be claimed by another team off waivers before joining Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Quinn is among the other out-of-options Phillies, along with second baseman Cesar Hernandez, right-hander Hector Neris, and southpaws Jose Alvarez and Adam Morgan.
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Whether the Phillies keep Altherr or Williams, the silver-lining is understanding what got them to this point. The club added a two former MVPs in McCutchen and Harper to their corner outfield spots. Harper has right field locked down for the next 13 seasons, while McCutchen is signed for the next two seasons after 2019. The Phillies are in first place in the National League East and are among MLB's hottest teams.
The only real room for Altherr, Quinn or Williams, among other outfielders, to work themselves into a starting role is in place of Herrera. Space is limited.
