PHOOD PHIGHT

Bread makers? Skittles aficionados? The PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES run the gamut, illustrating the divide that's prevalent in sports between healthy eaters and junk food lovers

- BY STEPHANIE APSTEIN

THE VISITORS' CHEESESTEAKS ARE BIGGER THAN THOSE IN THE PHILLIES' CLUBHOUSE. (PRESUMABLY CHEFS ARE TRYING TO SLOW DOWN OPPONENTS.]

ON ANY given day in the Phillies' clubhouse, one of the more impressive juxtapositions in sports unfolds.

In one corner sits first baseman Bryce Harper, eating organic, pasture-raised beef from a local farm, cooked without seed oils, perhaps with a side of bread he made himself from flour from a small operation in Texas or raw milk from Lancaster, Pa. As a snack he might mash a banana with protein powder and cashew butter, or occasionally indulge in freeze-dried strawberries.

Across the room, ace Zack Wheeler is digging his pitching hand into a bucket of Popeye's fried chicken.

And then Harper, 32, will go 2-for-4 with a double and a walk and Wheeler, 35, will strike out 10 over seven scoreless innings.

Many teams boast good players. It's unlikely that anyone else juggles the range of dietary habits the Phillies do.

“You can't possibly have a bigger separation than we do,” says catcher J.T. Realmuto.

It might seem indulgent to acquiesce to every player's request for his favorite food. How many of us were told as children to eat what was in front of us? But health is the next frontier in sports, and although good nutrition cannot on its own prevent injuries, Phillies director of strength and conditioning/nutrition Morgan Gregory says, “If it can lower the risk of injuries that could be incurred from improper fueling, then the risk is much too large to take to not provide every resource possible.” (Even if one of those resources is fried chicken for their ace.)