PITTSBURGH — Bryson Stott was out of the Phillies' lineup for the second time in three games, both against left-handed starting pitchers.
Edmundo Sosa received another start, his fourth in a row against a southpaw and third straight at second base.
Has second base with Stott become a platoon just like left field with Brandon Marsh?
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"It looks like it, but I don't see it moving forward," manager Rob Thomson said Sunday morning. "I think Stott, once he gets going, he can hit left-handers. I think he's an everyday guy for the most part."
Stott has struggled mightily over the last two calendar months, hitting .200/.261/.259 in 188 plate appearances since May 21. He is down to .235 on the season with a .669 OPS, the lowest it's been since the final day of April.
Sosa, meanwhile, has heated back up in limited playing time in July, going 7-for-20 (.350) with a double and two RBI. He's done big damage against lefties this season, hitting .315/.390/.575 in 82 plate appearances.
"Trying to get Sosa in, he's been swinging the bat well," Thomson said. "We've got to keep Stott going because he's gonna hit, it's just a matter of when. But Sosa's really swinging the bat. We're gonna face a ton of righties coming up after this, so good time to get him in."
Philadelphia Phillies
The next team on the Phillies' schedule, the Twins, had not named their probable starters for the series as of Sunday morning but at least two of them will be right-handers: Bailey Ober and Simeon Woods-Richardson. Then the Phillies are tentatively set to face a right-handed starter in five of the six games of their homestand against the Guardians and Yankees, so it could be eight of nine against a righty once the Phillies leave PNC Park.
With the trade deadline nine days away, the Phillies are currently platooning Marsh and Weston Wilson in left field, Johan Rojas and Cristian Pache in center, and temporarily, Stott and Sosa at second base.
"Kinda the same thing with Stott and Sosa," Thomson said, "Pache's hitting better right now against lefties than Rojas, and Rojas actually has a better OPS against righties than he does lefties."
It would be a surprise if both Pache and Wilson are on the Phillies' active roster come July 31. The two areas the Phillies could stand to upgrade most are the outfield (with a right-handed bat) and bullpen.
It's one thing to run three platoons during a portion of the regular season but another entirely to do so in the postseason. Starting all of Sosa, Wilson and Pache in Game 1 of a playoff series against a left-handed pitcher would not be an ideal lineup.
"I can see it on TV, who's out there and what's going on," Thomson said of the trade deadline. "I know (the front office is) grinding on it, working at it, and to tell you the truth, I'd rather not be in the conversation. My relationship with these guys, does that affect what I think about who we're talking about? So I'd just rather trust them and let them do their thing."