Bryson Stott leads off in Phillies’ new-look lineup with Trea Turner second
The Phillies will score runs. They’re sure of it.
The Phillies will score runs because they have Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto and Nick Castellanos and Alec Bohm. They will hit because two-time MVP Bryce Harper is already hitting batting practice homers and could be back from Tommy John elbow surgery sooner rather than later. They know it in their hearts, feel it in their bones.
The Phillies will score runs, cross their hearts and hope to die.
Going into Monday night’s game against the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park, though, they were next-to-last in the National League with a total of 30 runs in nine games. And when manager Rob Thomson posted his lineup, there was a significant change at the top of the order.
Second baseman Bryson Stott led off while Turner, who had occupied that spot in every previous game this season, hit second. That also dropped Schwarber to third for the first time in 2023.
Thomson said the change was not a direct result of his team’s problems pushing runners across the plate in the early going. “You might do it, just because he’s getting on base,” he said.
Stott has opened the season by hitting in a career-high nine straight games and led the team with a .429 batting average and a .444 on-base percentage. Turner was hitless on Saturday and Sunday with three strikeouts.
“Doesn’t mean (Stott) is going to lead off (Tuesday) but for this game, it was the best thing to do,” Thomson said. “He’s had the best and most consistent at-bats so far. Changes it up a little bit.”
If possible, the manager prefers to stick with a set batting order as much as possible. “I always try to be as consistent as I can, especially the top of the lineup,” he said. “When you’re mixing and matching with right- and left-handed pitching, sometimes the bottom of the lineup moves around. I know that players like to know where they’re going to hit on a daily basis and I try to stay true to that.
“But I’m just seeing Bryson’s at-bats and saying, ‘Okay, he’s getting on base. He’s doing what Bryson can do.’ So let’s put him at the top. I’ve always thought he kind of fits the mold of a leadoff guy. Because he sees a lot of pitches. He knows the strike zone. He uses the field and gets on base.”
Stott led off five times in 2022.
In other lineup news, catcher J.T. Realmuto was rested for the second time this year.
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