Thomson explains the significant change to Phillies' lineup

Thomson explains the significant change to Phillies' lineup originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

ST. LOUIS — The 8-4 Phillies made a significant change to their lineup to begin a weekend series with the Cardinals, moving Bryson Stott up to the leadoff spot and Kyle Schwarber to cleanup, behind Bryce Harper.

The primary reason behind the move is to give Harper more protection. Through 12 games, the Phillies led off Schwarber against right-handers and Trea Turner against lefties, but Schwarber has been their most productive hitter and his power bat is more meaningful right now behind Harper than a couple spots in front of him.

“Just trying to protect Harper as best as we can and not get into a situation where they’re intentionally walking him, where you’ve got to pitch to him,” manager Rob Thomson said pregame from the visiting dugout at Busch Stadium. “Stott’s on-base percentage against righties is .375, .380 so he’s getting on base against righties. That’s really what it’s all about.”

Harper was intentionally walked twice in Thursday’s extra-inning loss — in the fifth inning with two outs and runners on second and third, and in the 10th inning with two outs and Johan Rojas on third. Both times, the Phillies failed to score.

Alec Bohm had been hitting cleanup behind Harper against righties but he’s mired in a 4-for-40 slump without an extra-base hit or walk. Bohm was moved down to seventh in the order Thursday night in Atlanta and remained there Friday in St. Louis.

Nick Castellanos occupied the cleanup spot Thursday but had one of the roughest nights of his career, going 0-for-5 with five strikeouts.

This was Friday’s lineup against cutter-based Cardinals right-hander Andre Pallante:

1. Bryson Stott, 2B (L)
2. Trea Turner, SS
3. Bryce Harper, 1B (L)
4. Kyle Schwarber, DH (L)
5. Nick Castellanos, RF
6. Max Kepler, LF (L)
7. Alec Bohm, 3B
8. Brandon Marsh, CF (L)
9. Rafael Marchan, C

It’s unusual for Thomson to bat three lefties in the top four spots given the Phillies’ preference to alternate sides but part of it is the ability of Harper and Schwarber to hit same-handed pitching.

Harper has hit .291 vs. lefties since 2023 with an OBP over .370.

Schwarber has been even better than that since the start of last season, hammering southpaws to the tune of .313/.422/.542.

The Cardinals will still likely attack that part of the lineup with a left-hander and have three in their bullpen in former Phillie JoJo Romero, Steven Matz and John King.

“We’ll see how it works out,” Thomson said when asked if he might continue to hit Harper and Schwarber back-to-back.

Bohm and Castellanos were a combined 0-for-10 in the series finale in Atlanta but Bohm did smash two balls. He lined out over 100 mph to second base in his first at-bat and lined out 380 feet to deep right-center late in the game. His slump has been a mixture of bad luck and a couple of poor nights. Combine them and the result is a fortnight of frustration.

“Played well defensively, hit two balls right on the screws,” Thomson said of Bohm’s game Thursday. “That’s all you can do. Once it leaves the bat, there’s not much you can do about it. But the swings were good. He’ll come out of it. You look at the back of their baseball card, that’s probably where they’re going to end up.”

As for Castellanos, Thomson isn’t worried about one brutal night affecting his confidence.

“I don’t think you have to worry about Nick spiraling,” he said. “He’s a veteran and today will be a brand new day for him. He’s probably forgotten all about last night.”