PHILADELPHIA — The Bryce Harper leadoff experiment took a one-day sabbatical Tuesday, with Harrison Bader promoted to the leadoff spot.
The reason was Mets starter Sean Manaea, with the Phillies stacking righties in the middle of the order. Bryson Stott hit eighth, and the Phillies would’ve had three lefties in four hitters had Harper hit leadoff and Kyle Schwarber second, as they did Monday in the first game since Trea Turner was placed on the injured list.
Instead, Bader was promoted to leadoff against the lefty, and Harper, who has great lifetime numbers against the journeyman Manaea, was back in his normal three-hole.
Thomson said he wouldn’t go to this lineup against a righty, and that it’ll be a “case-by-case” effort to spell Turner, who was placed on the IL with a Grade 2 hamstring strain and is aiming to return for the postseason.
Bader is hitting .320 since the Phillies acquired him from Minnesota. He hit his fourth homer as a Phillie and 16th of the season in the second inning.
Edmundo Sosa started at shortstop for the second straight night in Turner’s absence. Otto Kemp, on his 26th birthday, started at third base again for Alec Bohm, who was placed on the IL Monday with left shoulder inflammation. Kemp hit his fifth homer of the season in the second inning.
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Zack Wheeler is back in town as he awaits surgery for his venous thoracic outlet syndrome. No date has been scheduled, with some medical clearances still to be ironed out.
But Wheeler was in the clubhouse briefly Monday and Tuesday, and Thomson is happy to see him and feeling good.
“Everybody was fired up to see him, because we haven’t seen him for a while,” Thomson said. “I think he’s feeling fine. He’s in good spirits. Obviously wants to be part of the club and pitch and do all that, but he understands how important this procedure will be.”
Wheeler has a procedure to remove a blood clot from his throwing shoulder. He’s out for the season, with a timeline of around six months to return to throwing. Wheeler was a Cy Young candidate, with a 10-5 record and 2.71 ERA in 149.2 innings before the blood clot was found.
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Walker Buehler will join the Phillies Thursday and start Friday’s game against Kansas City. He pitched Saturday at Lehigh Valley, throwing 78 pitches over three innings in which he gave up a homer, five hits, two runs (one earned), walked three and struck out five.
“He got better as the game went on,” Thomson said. “It was nice to see him in the third inning, he gave up the leadoff triple and went strikeout, walk, strikeout, popup to get out of the inning. So five punch outs. I think he walked three, so he’s a little rusty at the start of it, but I thought he got better as game went on.”
The plan is to start Buehler, Taijuan Walker – Thomson paused for laughter at that listing – and Aaron Nola against the Royals, then roll with the three lefties in Los Angeles against the Dodgers.
Source: Berkshire mont