PHILADELPHIA — Harrison Bader was not in the Phillies lineup for Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Monday after groin tightness forced him to leave Game 1 early.
Manager Rob Thomson said that Bader is available to pinch hit and maybe play the field. The biggest limitation is defensively.
“I think he’s going to test it out,” Thomson said pregame. “The only thing that is hindering Bader right now is just being able to run 100%. We think he can hit and run at 75-80%, so it really affects his defense more than anything.”
In his place, Thomson started Otto Kemp in left field against lefty Blake Snell. Brandon Marsh started in center, with Nick Castellanos in right. Edmundo Sosa swapped in for Bryson Stott at second base in the normal platoon.
The moves re-work the entire bottom of the lineup, with Marsh, who was 1-for-3 in Game 1 batting fifth before being pinch hit for against lefty Alex Vesia, dropped to eighth. J.T. Realmuto hit fifth. Castellanos, who grounded into a double play while pinch hitting for Marsh, was sixth, Sosa seventh, Kemp ninth.
Kemp is making his postseason debut. He got the nod over Weston Wilson. Both went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts on Sept. 17 when Snell threw seven shutout innings against the Phillies at Dodger Stadium, allowing two singles, two walks and striking out 12.
Thomson said he liked the quality of Kemp’s at-bats slightly better.
The current Phillies have a career .168 average and .299 slugging percentage against Snell. Sosa, at 3-for-8, is the shining light. Bryce Harper is 2-for-13 with a homer, Kyle Schwarber 2-for-14 with a homer, Castellanos 2-for-21.
Wilson is a career .250 hitter against lefties, though he’s hitting just .194 against them this year. Kemp hit .231 against lefties in his first major league season. He hit .250 in 16 games since being called up in September.
“He was struggling a little bit before we sent him down, and then I think he understood that there’s a whole bunch of things you can’t control,” Thomson said. “And the second time he came up, he was really good and really consistent. He’s a gamer, and he’s an even-keel guy. Nothing really affects him too much.”
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Thomson fielded criticism for his bullpen choices in Game 1. For Game 2, he seems more determined to use Ranger Suarez.
“He’s available, and I’ll use him,” Thomson said. “I could use him at any point.”
Thomson had said before Game 1 that Suarez would be an emergency bridge guy if Cristopher Sanchez’s day ended early. After both David Robertson and Matt Strahm faltered in Game 1, Thomson is viewing Suarez as a leverage option.
Pitching Monday wouldn’t necessarily rule out Suarez from a Game 3 start in Los Angeles. More likely would be using Suarez out of the bullpen Monday and then again Wednesday at Dodgers Stadium with Aaron Nola starting. Nola is available for emergencies like a long extra-innings affair.
This comes against the backdrop of the Dodgers getting five priceless outs from prospective Game 4 starter Tyler Glasnow.
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Thomson used Jhoan Duran in the ninth inning down 5-3 Saturday for three outs. Asked if he might use him earlier or for more outs in a vital Game 2, Thomson was brief: “Yes.”
Duran elaborated.
“If it’s to help the team for winning, every day,” he said.
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Dave Roberts stuck with Ben Rortvedt at catcher, batting ninth Monday. He gave Rortvedt one at-bat Saturday before pinch hitting Will Smith, who went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts. Smith was hit by a pitch by David Robertson and scored on Teoscar Hernandez’s home run.
The at-bats were the first for Smith since Sept. 9.
“Will hasn’t had much of a workup coming back from the IL,” Roberts said. “So catching the five innings, whatever it was, to then build up tonight, to then feel like he’s in a better spot — we got three at-bats under our belt, which is also a positive — came out of it feeling good, which is encouraging. And then if we continue to trend, then having him start Game 3, if it still looks good.”
Roberts made one lineup change with a second straight lefty on the mound. Miguel Rojas started at third base, Kike Hernandez moving to left field in place of Alex Call. That lineup spot seems earmarked for a Max Muncy replacement once Jesus Luzardo is out of the game.
Roberts also said Muncy is dealing with some “physical things” from the regular season.
“I think right now for these first two games, in particular, having guys that have a lot of success against lefties, I really like the bullet, the silver bullet to deploy at any given point in the game, which we did in Game 1 versus Robertson,” Roberts said.
Glasnow, who recorded five outs out of the bullpen, is unavailable Monday. He’s the likely Game 4 starter, if necessary. That puts Clayton Kershaw and Emmet Sheehan in play as length options.
