ST. LOUIS – When Rob Thomson decided this weekend to protect Bryce Harper with Kyle Schwarber, the natural next question became, who protects Schwarber?
On Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium it was Nick Castellanos, who had three hits and a pair of doubles, the first of which scored Harper and Schwarber after both reached base in the opening frame for the second consecutive game.
If the Harper-Schwarber duo remains intact against right-handed starting pitchers, the hitter in the No. 5 spot will have plenty of RBI opportunities. Not only do Harper and Schwarber hit for power but both also walk a ton.
In Friday’s series opener against the Cardinals, Harper and Schwarber walked and singled but were stranded when Castellanos lined out to right field to end the top of the first. Saturday was a good example of how one early swing and a couple of early runs can change an afternoon. With a quick lead and an effective Cristopher Sanchez on the mound, the Phillies were in control the whole way and won, 4-1.
“He’s just driving the ball in the gaps,” Thomson said of Castellanos. “When he does that, he’s in pretty good shape. The five-strikeout game, you don’t see that too often, but like I said the other day, I don’t think a guy like Nick really thinks about it, it’s just a new day and he moves on.”
Castellanos was indeed 0-for-5 with five K’s on Thursday in Atlanta, but the Phillies have played 13 other games and he’s performed in most of them. He’s looked comfortable at the plate since Opening Day. His plate coverage has been solid. He had four at-bats Saturday and picked up hits on a pitch down-and-in, a pitch up-and-in, a pitch over the middle, and he lined out on a pitch just off the plate away. He’s also consistently driving the ball to right and right-center, which has always been his trademark when going well.
“It reassures that I’m in a good spot,” Castellanos said, “and I really like my work that I’m doing with (hitting coaches) Kevin (Long), Raffy (Pena) and Dustin (Lind).
“If you take out that one night in Atlanta, I just feel like I’ve controlled my at-bats decently for the most part.”
Sanchez dealt with traffic on the basepaths but induced double plays in four of the first five innings. Three of them weren’t even on particularly well-located pitches, but Sanchez has an elite changeup, a mid/high-90s sinker and a slider that continues to improve. The better the stuff, the more wiggle room a pitcher is afforded.
“That keeps me in the game, too,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons I was able to stay out there until the seventh inning. I love double plays. The defense did a great job today.”
Sanchez’ sinker averaged 96.1 mph in his first two starts but, curiously, he threw a couple at 91 in the first inning. The velocity was right back to the 96 mph range thereafter, including some 97s. Sanchez said his body just felt off on Saturday.
The results weren’t. The Phillies lefty is 1-0 with a 3.12 ERA through three starts after Orion Kerkering, Jordan Romano and Jose Alvarado recorded eight outs to uphold his win.
“The first inning, he looked a little lethargic but then he picked it up in the second and got back to normal,” Thomson said. “He was really efficient, which was something we needed today. We should, for the most part, have a full bullpen tomorrow.”
Thomson used the same top half of the order as in Friday’s series opener, leading off Bryson Stott, followed by Trea Turner, Harper, Schwarber and Castellanos. J.T. Realmuto was back after a night off, so Alec Bohm moved from seventh down to eighth. Bohm struck out looking and grounded out sharply in his first two at-bats before finally finding a hole in the seventh with an infield hit between short and third.
Stott, 0-for-4 on Friday in his first game out of the leadoff spot, made better contact on Saturday, lining out to begin the game and doubling home Brandon Marsh in the top of the fifth. Stott has hit .344 this season against right-handed pitchers and will likely continue to lead off against them. Marsh’s run came after a two-out walk and had to feel good given his recent lack of production. He also sacrificed Bohm to second base in the seventh inning, enabling him to score two batters later on a Turner single.
It will be interesting to see how the Phillies set the lineup Sunday against left-hander Matthew Liberatore. The top four could be Turner, Harper, Schwarber, Castellanos in that order. Bohm will likely move up a couple of spots, and Edmundo Sosa could start for Stott.
With Zack Wheeler on the mound for the rubber match, the 9-5 Phillies have a good chance to make it a .500 road trip and win their fourth series out of five.
“It gives us a lot of confidence knowing we don’t have to get it done the first time through the lineup, even second time through the lineup, that we’re still in the game,” Castellanos said of the Phillies’ top-tier rotation. “I think it also helps us relax a little bit because we do have an explosive group of guys that can put up runs pretty quick.”
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