The Phillies are making a change in their lineup going into Friday night’s return to Citizens Bank Park against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Brandon Marsh is moving up to the cleanup position as the Phillies attempt to spark an offense that has been scoreless for over 20 innings of baseball.
The top three of the lineup began to show signs of life over the away trip. Bryce Harper led the team across the slash line with a .350/.480/.650 trip. Trea Turner hit .333 on the trip while Kyle Schwarber racked up eight walks and one home run. Schwarber’s average of .211 on the stretch is low; Schwarber has always been a low-average type of hitter.
Beyond the top three, however, things begin to dissolve quickly. Alec Bohm hit a respectable .273 average on the road trip but was followed by Bryson Stott, who nearly halved Bohm’s average at .143.
The bottom four of the order in Adolis García, Brandon Marsh, J.T. Realmuto, and Justin Crawford hit for a combined .211. To add to the difficulties, bench pieces such as Otto Kemp and Edmundo Sosa have failed to get it going at the plate as well.
According to Phillies manager Rob Thomson, the main issues plaguing Phillies bats are impatience at the plate and a tendency amongst the lineup to pull contact, not utilizing the entirety of the field.
Brandon Marsh will bat cleanup for the Phillies to kick off the Diamondbacks series. Alec Bohm, meanwhile, will swap positions in the lineup with Marsh, dropping down to the seventh position.
“Ever since May last year, he’s swinging the bat well,” Thomson said pre-game on Marsh. “Now that doesn't mean he's gonna stay in the four spot… They got three right-handed starters. Unless they move a lefty up there, they'll probably go with the same lineup.”
Thomson also noted the Diamondbacks do not currently have a left-handed pitcher in their bullpen, an oddity that the Phillies hope to take advantage of with a left-hand-heavy lineup.
Marsh has a .275 average so far this season, with the average creeping right below .300 at .294 against right-handers. Since Marsh returned from injury in May 2025, he has been one of the hottest bats in the Phillies’ lineup.
Thomson also announced that Zack Wheeler is scheduled for two additional rehab starts before he makes his season debut with the Phillies. The next two starts will be with Double-A Reading, as they are on the road in Somerset next Tuesday and Sunday.
Pleased with what he is seeing from his off-speed pitches, the last barrier for Wheeler seems to be his velocity, a barrier Thomson is unconcerned by.
“He touched 94 a few times the other day,” Thomson elaborated. “I think that's pretty much normal for him this time of Spring Training, so I'm not really concerned about that. I think that it's still gonna go up. Adrenaline will kick in when he gets here, that'll help. but he's still building some arm strength.”
