BALTIMORE — Trea Turner took a lead off first base and sprinted to third. He started and stopped. He held up at third base, then tagged up on a faux sacrifice fly and sprinted to home plate.
Four hours before Friday night’s game, he looked ready to play.
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The Phillies don’t plan to reinstate Turner from the injured list Saturday, according to manager Rob Thomson. They prefer that he go through the running program at least once more to test his strained left hamstring. Maybe he will return Sunday.
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“It’s not out of play,” Thomson said. “He’s doing well.”
Meanwhile, roughly 108 miles northeast of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, in Reading, Brandon Marsh was gearing up to play at least seven, maybe nine innings of center field — yes, center field — in a minor-league game after getting three hits as a designated hitter Thursday night.
And if Marsh’s strained right hamstring responded well, Thomson said “there might be a possibility” that he could be activated Saturday.
“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Thomson said.
But while Thomson wouldn’t reveal specifics on the timeline for Turner’s and Marsh’s returns, it’s clear that both are days away from rejoining the lineup, at which time the Phillies will have roster decisions to make.
Fill-in utilityman Weston Wilson almost certainly will return to triple A to open one roster spot. The other might come down to a choice between Johan Rojas and Cristian Pache, righty-hitting center fielders with similar skill sets as elite defenders and below-average hitters.
Rojas was a spring-training focal point. Despite struggling to remake his swing, he made the team as the opening-day center fielder and has started 54 of 69 games. But he was also batting .233/.270/.294 through Thursday and ranked 185th in OPS (.564) among 194 batters with at least 190 plate appearances.
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Pache has played sparingly as a reserve outfielder. But unlike Rojas, he can’t be optioned to the minors and likely would be claimed off waivers if the Phillies tried to send him down.
Therein lies the choice.
It’s notable that Marsh was playing center field Friday night in Reading. He has made only five starts in center this season and grades as a better defender in left field. But he also was the primary center fielder before Rojas got called up last season.
And without star catcher J.T. Realmuto, who’s sidelined for at least a month after having cartilage removed from his right knee this week, the Phillies might need more offense from center field than Rojas typically gives them.
Thomson downplayed Marsh’s appearance in center field, noting that it will cause him to test his hamstring more than playing left.
“There’s more space to cover,” Thomson said. “You’ve got to back up more bases. There’s a lot of things going on.”
Maybe that’s really all it was. Or maybe the Phillies were preparing to put Marsh back in center field, at least in the lefty-hitting side of a timeshare with Pache, who started in center Friday night against the Orioles even though he was batting only .217/.304/.283.
“He’s played great defense, and he’s come up with some big hits from time to time,” Thomson said. “It’s a tough role because you’re not playing every day. Guys that come off the bench, they play sparingly. That’s difficult.”
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If the Phillies moved Marsh to center field, Whit Merrifield and recently recalled David Dahl could share time in left. Dahl was 5-for-19 with two doubles and two homers in six games after getting called up last week. Dahl would also have to clear waivers to return to triple A.
Or maybe the Phillies will decide to move on from Pache and stick with Rojas.
Either way, a decision is coming, most likely within the next few days.
London fog
In dropping two of three games this week in Boston, the Phillies gave up at least eight runs in back-to-back games for the first time since the first series of the season.
But Thomson doesn’t think the duds thrown by Cristopher Sánchez and Aaron Nola were related to not having Realmuto behind the plate. If anything, they may have been adversely affected by having eight days’ rest because of the Phillies’ trip to London.
“I think it has more to do with being off schedule as opposed to travel,” Thomson said. “I think our energy levels have been good ever since we got back from London.”
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Extra bases
Two days removed from surgery, Realmuto pedaled an exercise bike at Citizens Bank Park, according to Thomson. “He’s walking around normal,” Thomson said, citing a report from the medical staff. … Reserve infielder Kody Clemens (back spasms) hit off a tee this week in Philadelphia but hasn’t progressed to full baseball activities. … Taijuan Walker (3-1, 5.40 ERA) is scheduled to start Saturday against Orioles righty Grayson Rodriguez (7-2, 3.27). The weekend’s marquee matchup will come in Sunday’s series finale: Zack Wheeler (8-3, 2.16) against Orioles ace Corbin Burnes (7-2, 2.08).
