Rob Thomson’s lineups work
The weird and wacky lineups manager Rob Thomson is marching out there aren't having a problem putting runs on the board. It doesn’t seem to matter who he pencils in and in what order. At least right now.
The ever-changing lineups have been partly by choice and partly out of necessity. The Phillies faced three left-handers in Miami, so the right-handed hitting Edmundo Sosa and Cristian Pache came off the bench to start all three games.
With Trea Turner already out, Kyle Schwarber missed Saturday and Sunday with back soreness after being lifted in the ninth inning on Friday. Whit Merrifield led off both days. J.T. Realmuto sat out Sunday's affair with a sore knee.
Regardless of who was in, it was the bottom of the lineup that was bonkers in the first two games over the weekend. The rotating cast hitting in the six to nine spots kept delivering. In the three games, those spots in the Phillies lineup went 14-for-46 (.304) with 13 RBI and 10 runs scored.
It must be a good feeling for Thomson, to know that every spot is going to put up a battle at the plate and deliver a quality at-bat. Pache went 5-for-13 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored. Sosa went 3-for-9 with a double, a triple, four walks and four runs scored. Johan Rojas went 4-for-8 with a home run, four RBI and two stolen bases in his two games.
“The bottom of the lineup has done a great job the last couple of days,” Thomson said after Saturday’s win (subscription required), per Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “It’s good to see. We’re getting guys time off. And the guys who don’t usually play are performing. And we’re winning. So it’s really a perfect storm.”