PHILADELPHIA — Brandon Marsh made the turn around first base, nodded his head and strolled back to the bag with his fourth single of the afternoon. Facing reliever Zach Agnos in the bottom of the eighth inning, the left-handed batter grounded a base hit up the middle to complete a 4-for-4 showing for the Phillies in a 6-0 win to secure a three-game series victory over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday at Citizens Bank Park.

Marsh has been playing some of the best baseball of his entire career so far this season. He extended his career-high hitting streak to 12 games on Sunday. He now leads all qualified major leaguers in batting average at .353, playing in 37 of Philadelphia’s 41 games.

“That’s pretty freaking cool,” Marsh said. “I feel like what’s helped me a lot is just really being stubborn to the routine and the preparation.”

Marsh credited those around him for their part in his success. He’s talked to veteran teammates to prepare for opposing pitchers. He’s worked with coaches on the club’s hitting staff. “Everybody but me is helping,” Marsh said. “It’s been a lot of fun. Just got to keep it going.”

Last year, Marsh did not record a single hit in the month of April. He was placed on the injured list with a hamstring injury on April 20 and went out on a minor-league rehab assignment four days later. Players at Triple-A Lehigh Valley at the time, namely Garrett Stubbs and Christian Arroyo, helped Marsh regain his confidence. He’s been productive ever since returning to the big leagues on May 3, 2025, and he’s been one of the most dangerous bats in Philadelphia’s lineup in 2026.

“I try to forget about last year,” the 28-year-old Marsh said. “But I feel like it taught me a lot, and it’s helped me get to where we’re at today.”

Historically, Marsh has been a hitter with pretty extreme platoon splits and a liability against left-handed pitching. But this season, he’s crushing right-handers to the tune of a .950 OPS and put up a respectable .680 OPS in limited plate appearances against lefties. He’s earned recent chances to play against lefty starters over rookie center fielder Justin Crawford, as the Phillies only have so many short-side platoon options they can deploy at once.

Interim manager Don Mattingly has expressed faith in Marsh to hit both righties and lefties. He likes Marsh’s swing and all-fields approach, and he’s been a fan for a long time. Mattingly first got to see Marsh play as an Angels prospect in the Arizona Fall League in 2019. When he was the manager of the Marlins, the club tried to swing a trade that would’ve sent Marsh to Miami, Mattingly said. Ultimately, the Phillies acquired Marsh during the 2022 season, and he’s continued to develop.

Mattingly, one of baseball’s icons in the 1980s with a legendary lefty swing, believes that Marsh can keep it rolling.

“Well, if he can do it for the stretch that he’s in, there’s no reason that he can’t continue on,” Mattingly said. “I think this guy’s a good hitter.”

Sure, Marsh probably won’t be a .353 hitter for the rest of the season; his career-high average was .280 last year. But how much of it can he keep up?

Marsh has used the whole field his entire career, but he’s truly spraying the ball around the diamond this year. He’s pulling 33.7% of his batted balls, going up the middle on 33.7% and going the other way on 32.7%. That makes it hard for opposing defenses.

The outfielder is running a .413 batting average on balls in play this season, a number that would usually indicate unsustainable results. But Marsh has always had an absurdly high BABIP. His .375 career mark ranks second in big-league history among hitters with at least 2,000 plate appearances, sandwiched in between Ty Cobb (.383) and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson (.366).

Can Marsh explain why he has better fortune on balls in play than anyone since the start of the Great Depression?

“I don’t know,” Marsh said. “I’ve been talking with some of the guys about it. It just makes me think I strike out way too much.”

Luckily for Marsh, he’s cut his strikeout rate to a career-low 20%. He knows good things happen when the ball’s in play, and there’s no living player for which that rings truer. If he can keep the strikeouts away — which will be a big test — it will make a major difference.

“A lot of luck comes into play, for sure,” Marsh said. “But really just trying to hit the ball hard, forward, like Bryce (Harper) says. And whatever happens after that happens. I can’t control much after that. So really, just trying to hit the ball hard, forward against a lot of tough pitching and just let the baseball gods handle the rest.”

While Marsh has been a revelation and a breakout performer, it’s hardly been a one-man show for the Phillies, who have reached an 18-22 record after winning 10 of their first 13 games since Mattingly took over for the recently fired Rob Thomson.

Left-hander Cristopher Sánchez delivered seven shutout innings on Sunday to extend his scoreless-innings streak to a career-best 20 2/3. Slugger Kyle Schwarber is tied for the major-league lead in home runs with 16 and has homered in his last four games, hitting two on Sunday. Harper also homered on Sunday and has a .938 OPS.

But Marsh has certainly been a crucial contributor in his sixth big-league season.

“We knew what we had in house,” Marsh said. “We knew what type of team we were. We knew we’re an explosive team with really good pitching. We didn’t show that at the beginning of the year. And it’s nobody’s fault but ours. So it’s on us to turn it around and get to where we want to go. It’s a long hill we got to climb, but we’re built for it.”

The Phillies beat the Rockies, 6-0, on Sunday at Citizens Bank Park to extend their series win streak to four and to move to 10-3 under interim manager Don Mattingly.

Kyle Schwarber hit a pair of home runs in the first and second innings, giving him five in his last four games and 16 on the year. Starter Cristopher Sánchez provided much needed length, throwing seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts.

Schwarber’s solo shots were part of a five-run offensive effort by the Phillies in the first two innings. His first was the first in a pair of back-to-back homers with Bryce Harper. His second gave the Phillies a 5-0 lead and shortly put him atop MLB’s leaderboard (Aaron Judge also hit his 16th home run on Sunday).

The Phillies scored two other runs in the second inning before Schwarber’s second long ball. Bryson Stott scored on a throwing error by Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman. Alec Bohm, who picked up an RBI in the sixth inning, scored on a sacrifice fly by Trea Turner.

Across his seven innings, Sánchez ran into trouble twice, getting out of trouble twice. In the third inning, the Rockies started with back-to-back singles by Ezequiel Tovar and Jake McCarthy. But a lineout and back-to-back strikeouts of Tyler Freeman and Hunter Goodman kept Sánchez’s line scoreless.

The left-hander found himself in a jam four innings later after facing just 10 combined batters in innings four, five and six. A one-out single by Mickey Moniak and two-out single by Tovar put a pair of runners on with Sánchez at 99 pitches. On pitch No. 103, McCarthy lined a ball out to the right-center field gap, but it was tracked down by Adolis García to preserve Sánchez’s scoreless line and scoreless innings streak (20 2/3).

Sánchez’s efforts gave the Phillies’ bullpen some rest after a busy three days. Between Thursday and Saturday, none of Andrew Painter, Jesús Luzardo and Aaron Nola pitched more than 4 2/3 innings. Phillies relievers pitched more innings (17 2/3) than those three combined (11 1/3) during that time.

Jonathan Bowlan pitched the eighth and Jhoan Duran pitched the ninth to secure to the win.

Now 19-22, the Phillies will have Monday off before starting a three-game series on Tuesday in Boston against the Red Sox.

PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper moved in to field a ground ball off the bat of his former teammate Mickey Moniak on Saturday night and stepped on the first-base bag to record the opening out of the game. That’s when the discomfort suddenly began to set in

The Phillies star suffered an ocular migraine, something that he deals with about three times a year, Harper told Phillies Nation on Sunday. This type of migraine only takes about an hour to subside for Harper, but it impairs his vision. He was removed from the game in the bottom of the first inning and replaced by rookie reserve Felix Reyes.

Harper said he felt better by the fourth inning of the Phillies’ 9-3 win over the Colorado Rockies, but he obviously could not return at that point. He was back in the lineup for Sunday’s series finale at Citizens Bank Park and hit a home run in his first at-bat.

Down on the farm

Right-hander Alan Rangel was scheduled to start for the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Saturday at Coca-Cola Park. Instead, he pitched the final five innings of the club’s 9-7 loss to Buffalo out of the bullpen.

The Phillies organization wanted to keep their options open as they headed into the night. After short starts from Jesús Luzardo and Andrew Painter put a tax on the bullpen in the previous two games, the team wanted to wait and see how Aaron Nola fared on Saturday before allowing Rangel to take the mound. If Nola had gotten hurt or exited early, Rangel would have been needed in Philadelphia as a long reliever on Sunday.

“If Noles would have, like, got hit in the ankle with a line drive in the first and we got to go through our ‘pen,” interim manager Don Mattingly said, “then you would have wanted to be able to have some length the next day.”

Once Nola went deeper into his start, the Phillies sent Rangel out to pitch. Nola allowed three runs across 4 2/3 innings against the Rockies. Rangel surrendered three runs in five innings of relief.

“He was great,” IronPigs manager Chris Adamson said of Rangel. “He picked us up. It was obviously a different situation for him, having to come out of the ‘pen. But he adapted really well and saved us, which was huge. He’s been huge for us all year and continues to do so.”

Rangel has a 2.95 ERA in seven Triple-A outings this year. He’s had a handful of call-ups to the majors in the past two seasons when the Phillies have been in need of a long man. He’s a serviceable depth piece with a 2.57 ERA in 14 big-league innings. The team does not have many choices behind him.

Jean Cabrera is the one other Lehigh Valley starter on the 40-man roster, and he has a 9.32 ERA. The only IronPigs starter besides Rangel with an ERA below 5.27 is Connor Gillispie, but he was recently placed on the full-season injured list with an elbow issue. If the Phillies need a pitcher to come up and throw more than two innings, Rangel is the clear pick right now.

Staying in rotation

The Phillies do not play on Monday before heading to Boston for a three-game series at Fenway Park, but Mattingly won’t use the off day to adjust his rotation. The starters will stay in turn; Zack Wheeler will pitch Tuesday, Painter will start Wednesday and Luzardo will go on Thursday.

The Red Sox have not yet announced their starters for the series.

Notes

• Reliever Zach Pop (calf strain) threw a scoreless inning for the IronPigs in his first minor-league rehab appearance on Saturday.
• Kyle Schwarber hit a home run in the first inning on Sunday, making it the fourth game in a row with a homer for the Phillies slugger. It was the second time he’s reached that mark in his career.
• Brandon Marsh singled in the first inning on Sunday to extend his career-long hitting streak to 12 games.

— Phillies Nation’s IronPigs beat reporter Dan Sullivan contributed to this report.

PHILADELPHIA — Alec Bohm responded to two days off with two home runs.

The Phillies third baseman hit two solo home runs against Rockies starter Kyle Freeland in the Phillies’ 9-3 win on Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park. Both were pulled fly balls. Both had to feel good after a brutal slump to start the season.

Bohm entered the game with a .433 OPS. After homering twice in two at-bats, Bohm’s season OPS rose by 71 points to .504. That’s just how it goes in baseball.

“If you were going to draw it up, I guess that’s how you would draw it up,” Bohm said after the game.

It was Bohm’s first multi-home run game since April 19, 2024. He also doubled in his fourth at-bat. He entered the game with four extra-base hits all year. He had three on the night to increase his total to seven.

“Baseball is a hard game,” Bohm said. “It just kind of reinforces that the things I’m doing and things I’m working on are right.”

Bohm wasn’t the only Phillie who saw Freeland well. Kyle Schwarber hit his third home run in as many games. His three-run home run into the second deck of right field made it 4-1. Edmundo Sosa, making his first start in left field since April 8, 2025, drove in a run on an RBI single. He was replaced by Justin Crawford in the sixth. Sosa did not catch a single fly ball in left, but the first two fly balls came right to Brandon Marsh, who moved from center to left when Crawford entered the game.

Marsh extended his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games with a single in the eighth.

After going 0-for-6 in Friday’s game, Trea Turner went 4-for-5 with four singles. Per the radio broadcast, he is the first player in MLB to go hitless in six at-bats and record four hits the next day since Mookie Betts on June 14, 2017 as a member of the Red Sox against the Phillies.

Turner said he may have taken “350” swings yesterday. He did not swing a bat at all before Saturday night’s four-hit game.

“That’s how dumb this game is,” Turner said.

Aaron Nola labored through his start, allowing three earned runs over 4 2/3 innings. Interim manager Don Mattingly pulled Nola in the fifth to match up against platoon bat Troy Johnston. Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer opted to keep Johnston in the game. He grounded out against lefty Tim Mayza to end the inning with two runners stranded.

The Phillies bullpen allowed zero hits in 4 1/3 innings pitched. Orion Kerkering pitched a scoreless ninth to end it. He hasn’t allowed an earned run in 11 straight appearances. He has allowed only one earned run in his last 14 games.

The Phillies and Rockies will wrap up the series on Sunday. Left-hander Cristopher Sánchez will take the mound against right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano.

PHILADELPHIA — Phillies star first baseman Bryce Harper exited Saturday’s game against the Colorado Rockies at Citizens Bank Park with a migraine, the home club announced.

Harper appeared in the field behind starting pitcher Aaron Nola for the top of the first, but he was replaced by reserve Felix Reyes when his No. 3 spot in the batting order came up in the next half-inning. The Phillies went on to win, 9-3, as third baseman Alec Bohm went 3-for-4 with two home runs and a double after sitting for two days amid a long slump.

The migraine seemed to have started suddenly, as the Phillies were not aware of Harper having any symptoms prior to the start of the game. Interim manager Don Mattingly said that Paul Buchheit, the team’s director of medical services and head athletic trainer, thought that Harper would be available on Sunday for the series finale against Colorado, but the club will have to wait and see for sure.

This is now the third migraine-related change the Phillies have had to make this season. Rookie pitcher Andrew Painter was scratched from a start last month with a migraine but improved enough to enter the game in the third inning; first-year outfielder Justin Crawford was taken out of the lineup for a game due to a migraine last weekend.

The two-time National League MVP Harper is batting .282 with nine home runs and a .929 OPS in 2026. He has not missed a game yet this season.

PHILADELPHIA — Edmundo Sosa’s one and only start in left field last season was a roller coaster. With the Phillies lacking a productive short-side platoon outfielder, they’re giving him another shot out there.

Sosa will make his first appearance in left field since April 2025 on Saturday night, batting fifth for Philadelphia against left-hander Kyle Freeland and the Rockies at Citizens Bank Park. He took balls in left field during the club’s early work on Friday afternoon, his first reps in the outfield of the year. Interim manager Don Mattingly observed from the warning track in left-center and deemed Sosa’s defense passable enough to play.

“Just watched him kind of run down balls,” Mattingly said. “I talked to Paco (Figueroa), our outfield (coach), and he felt comfortable with him. So I thought we might as well go for it and get started. It’s a way to kind of feel like we put the best guys on the field at least and give us some versatility out in left field to be able to mix and match with our lefties.”

In his lone start in left last season, Sosa robbed a home run, then had a miscommunication with center fielder Johan Rojas that allowed a fly ball to drop. He didn’t start in left field after that. There has been discussion about putting the utility infielder in the outfield for years, but it has never stuck outside of a handful of appearances.

Mattingly sounds willing to give Sosa some run, even if it might mean sacrificing a bit of defense in exchange for the presence of Sosa’s bat against lefties.

“I think it’s something we should at least give some time, right?” Mattingly said. “… So for me, you’re trying to put your best club out there, as far to get your best guys in the lineup. And you’re never going to be perfect, right? You want to do the best you can, play the best defense you can possibly play.”

Sosa has mostly platooned at second base with Bryson Stott, who has hit for extra bases of late and has spoken about wanting everyday chances. But Stott will be in there against the lefty, batting ninth on Saturday. The struggling Alec Bohm will also return to the lineup in the No. 8 hole after a two-day “reset.” Sosa played third base over Bohm on Thursday and Friday.

With Stott and Bohm both starting, Sosa will get a chance in left field. The 30-year-old veteran does not have his own outfielder’s glove, so he’ll borrow designated hitter Kyle Schwarber’s red and brown Wilson A2K with blue piping and the slugger’s full name stitched on the ring finger. Sosa did drills with Brandon Marsh on Saturday afternoon and commended his teammate for his pointers and positivity. He didn’t get a chance to talk to his good friend Adolis García during his pregame work, but he was sure the right fielder would have some advice about playing the outfield before first pitch.

“Honestly, if he doesn’t give me something today, I’ll just smack him in the head,” Sosa joked through a club interpreter.

The Phillies (17-22) have failed to find someone to succeed in the role that they’re now letting Sosa try. Otto Kemp opened the season as the team’s right-handed hitting option in left field, but he was swapped out for Felix Reyes after a poor start. Reyes hit a home run in his first plate appearance, but he’s hitting just .156 overall. While Sosa has never established himself as an outfielder, Reyes is not much of a defender either. The team will see if Sosa’s bat can separate him as a better short-side contributor at the position.

Because the Phillies lack a natural center fielder that hits right-handed on the roster, it’s impossible for them to both fully platoon Marsh, their regular left fielder, and hide rookie center fielder Justin Crawford from lefties without playing someone out of position. On Saturday, Marsh will slide over to center in place of Crawford and bat sixth against Freeland.

Lately, the Phillies have leaned toward sitting Crawford versus southpaws. Marsh is batting .333 on the season and picked up three hits off a lefty on Wednesday. Despite Marsh’s career .218 average versus left-handers, Mattingly likes his swing and believes “there’s no reason he can’t hit lefties.”

But the Phillies also have faith in Crawford to produce against lefties in the long run as well, even if he has just one hit off a left-handed pitcher this year. Mattingly will want to give all of Marsh, Crawford and Stott chances to face lefties, while also preventing them from being overexposed. If Sosa can hold his own in left field, it will allow the team to rotate their opportunities.

“With Sos out there, it gives me three spots,” Mattingly said. “It gives us Craw, Marsh and Stott to pick to give one guy a day off. A bad matchup, swing wise, it gives you a chance to change it up a little bit. So I think we’re just trying to maximize our lineup, be versatile from what we can do, things like that.”

In a season that has already had plenty of ups and downs, one of the most encouraging developments has been Brandon Marsh’s emergence as one of this Phillies squad’s best hitters.

He enters Saturday hitting .333/.368/.500 for the season, leading the team in hits with 42. These numbers are backed by a .388 batting average on balls in play, or BABIP, which might usually suggest a hitter has gotten lucky… unless that player is Marsh.

BABIP measures how often the balls put into play by a hitter result in hits, excluding other outcomes such as walks, strikeouts, and home runs. League-wide, BABIP rates stay fairly consistent over time, usually hovering around .300. In 2025, league BABIP was .291. So far in 2026, it is .290. A lucky hitter may reach a higher mark across a season, and an unlucky hitter may reach a lower mark, but over the course of a career, most players tend to level out not far from the average.

In this respect, as X user @TheWARmonger_ pointed out Tuesday, Brandon Marsh is not most players.

Among players with at least 2,000 PA, Marsh sports the second-highest career BABIP – not of all active hitters, but of all hitters ever. To be positioned atop the leaderboard between two all-time greats from a century ago in Ty Cobb and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson is an auspicious place for the Phillies outfielder. 

Through Friday, this career mark for Marsh has increased by another point, to .373. By comparison, the active hitter with the next-highest BABIP (min. 2,000 PA) is Detroit’s Riley Greene at .350.

So what explains Marsh’s historically great ability to translate batted balls into hits? The answer may be found in the contact he doesn’t make.

Marsh has been a very good offensive contributor throughout his career, particularly against right-handed pitching. But the main factor that has kept him from becoming a truly elite bat has been his strikeout rate. Among all players with at least 2,000 PA since 2021, Marsh has the highest strikeout percentage at 30.6%.

Of course, BABIP doesn’t take into account how often a player strikes out. It only cares about what happens when contact is made. And it is when he’s been able to make contact that Marsh’s abilities truly reveal themselves. 

Among players with at least 2,000 plate appearances since 2021, Marsh has the fifth-highest line-drive percentage at 24.1%. Line drives, as opposed to ground balls or fly balls, are the most likely type of batted ball to fall for a hit. 

And while his career average exit velocity has simply been very good, ranking 42nd out of 154 players since 2021 (min. 2,000 PA), he has been elite at avoiding weak contact. Marsh’s 8.6% soft contact rate since 2021 is second-lowest among 376 qualified hitters, behind only Aaron Judge’s 8.3% soft contact rate, and a full percentage point ahead of third-place Corey Seager (9.6%) and fourth-place Shohei Ohtani (9.8%). By limiting weak contact, Marsh ensures that the balls he puts into play are rarely easy outs for opposing defenses.

Put simply? When Brandon Marsh hits the ball, he is elite at making medium or hard contact. He is similarly elite at hitting line drives, which guarantees that balls fall for hits at a higher rate. He may swing and miss a lot, resulting in a lot of strikeouts, but that has been the trade-off for not making weak contact, which fielders could more easily turn into outs.

Except there’s one more detail to note: So far in 2026, Marsh isn’t striking out as much either. He’s still chasing pitches outside the zone a fair bit, as he always has, but he isn’t swinging and missing as often as previous years. As a result, his 2026 strikeout rate sits at 19.1%. As opposed to the near-worst in the league marks of seasons past, his strikeout rate this year is now middle-of-the-pack among qualified hitters, at 69th-best out of 177. This rate would be by far the best of his career, beating out his previous single-season low of 25.9% last year.

All the evidence points to one conclusion: What we’re seeing from Brandon Marsh is no fluke. He has always been immensely skilled at turning contact into base hits – historically so. And if he’s found a way to limit his strikeouts without sacrificing the quality of his swings, as seems to be the case so far this season, then there’s no reason to believe we won’t continue to see this new level of performance from the Phillies outfielder.

PHILADELPHIA — Justin Crawford’s first major league home run was a big one.

Entering the eighth inning down five runs, the Phillies scored five runs against Rockies reliever Brennan Bernardino and right-hander Jimmy Herget. Bryce Harper got the best of the lefty vs. lefty matchup with a single and Adolis García worked out his 13th walk of the year. Brandon Marsh singled against the lefty to drive in the first run.

The Rockies went to the bullpen, but the Phillies kept the rally going against the righty Herget. Bryson Stott doubled into the gap to score García and Marsh.

With two outs, Crawford pulled a 1-0 sweeper into the right field seats to tie the game. It took a while for him to get that first home run out of the way, but he has racked up a few big hits late in games. Crawford already has two career walk-off hits. Add a game-tying home run for his first as a Phillie to the list of moments for Crawford in his rookie season.

“He’s kind of a little bit of a hit collector,” “The Hit Man” Don Mattingly said. “He gets them somehow, someway.”

Crawford said after the game that he got the ball back. All it took was a signed bat and a couple of pictures.

Per the radio broadcast, it was the first Phillies comeback down five runs in the eighth inning or later since August 15, 2019, when Harper won the game in the ninth on a walk-off grand slam against the Cubs.

This one, however, did not end in a walk-off victory. Colorado scored two in the 11th inning against Brad Keller to win it 9-7. The win is the first one for the Rockies at Citizens Bank Park since April 20, 2023.

The Phillies were down as much as 6-0 early. Starter Jesús Luzardo struggled again with the big inning, allowing six earned runs over three innings. The first seven batters he faced in the fourth reached base safely. He left the mound without recording an out in the fourth.

In his four worst starts, Luzardo has allowed a combined 25 earned runs. In his four best starts, Luzardo has allowed a combined four runs in 25 2/3 innings.

“Obviously, I would like to right the ship ASAP,” Luzardo said postgame. “I feel like I made some good pitches. The hits today were on some really good pitches that they put some good swings on. Obviously, the results have to be there. That’s what we’re chasing.”

The late comeback wouldn’t have been possible without the bullpen limiting the Rockies to just one run over seven innings. Jonathan Bowlan relieved Luzardo and pitched two shutout innings. Lefty bullpen workhorse Tim Mayza allowed a solo home run over two innings. Jhoan Duran, pitching before the ninth inning for the first time in his Phillies career, allowed only a leadoff single. José Alvarado, who has looked better in recent outings, threw a shutdown inning in the ninth, striking out two. Orion Kerkering continued his strong season with a scoreless tenth inning. The streak of good bullpen performances ended with Keller in the 11th.

PHILADELPHIA — Former No. 1 overall draft pick Mickey Moniak rode into Citizens Bank Park on Friday afternoon with old friend Alec Bohm. Once a prized prospect in the Phillies organization, he never found a consistent role or sustained success. But he’s back in Philadelphia in his second year with the Colorado Rockies, standing as one of the top offensive performers in the National League so far in 2026.

As it currently holds, Moniak leads the NL in slugging percentage (.700) and OPS (1.067). He’s hit 11 home runs in 30 games. Sure, he’s much better at the hitter-friendly Coors Field, but his ballpark-adjusted 178 OPS+ is fifth in the big leagues. Moniak has found a home, and he’s cashing in on his opportunities.

“I think it just kind of goes back to last year, really” Moniak said Friday inside the visitors’ clubhouse. “The start of June, I kind of found something here, mostly mental. Just kind of playing free, letting it go and just kind of letting the talent that God gave me take over.”

Moniak, 27, was selected out of high school with the first pick by the Phillies in a weak 2016 draft. He struggled in the lower minor leagues, but he eventually made his major-league debut in 2020. After brief cameos for parts of two seasons, Moniak seemed destined to become Philadelphia’s starting center fielder in 2022. Then, he was hit by a pitch in the final game of spring training, breaking his right hand.

It never clicked with the Phillies after that. He batted .130 in 50 plate appearances, and he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels for rental swingman pitcher Noah Syndergaard at the deadline. The Phillies made a surprise NL pennant run that October.

But Moniak, who said he’s a firm believer in everything happening for a reason, has no hard feelings toward the Phillies organization. He was drafted by Philadelphia, spent seven formative years with the club and broke into the majors as a Phillie. He enjoys returning to the city and catches up with former teammates and coaches every time he’s back. Ultimately, the Phillies were looking to contend that season, and Moniak needed to continue developing.

“The team was in a place where, clearly, they were trying to compete for a World Series,” Moniak said. “They went to the World Series that year, and it was win-now mode. So I wasn’t given the leash to go out and get the at-bats a young guy needs to do it, and rightfully so. I totally understood. It’s just one of those things where, at the time, it was best for both parties kind of go separate ways.”

The outfielder’s time with the Angels was inconsistent, and he was released prior to the start of the 2025 season. Moniak signed with Colorado last March, and he made his Rockies debut on April 3 on the road in Philadelphia during the Phillies’ home opener.

He hit 21 home runs with an .824 OPS in 135 games last year, with a .917 OPS in 81 games following the end of May. Moniak spent the winter trying to build off the strong showing, ready to “ride the wave” into 2026. He’s done that and more in the early parts of the season.

“I don’t know what’s inside his brain, but he seems awfully comfortable,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “He’s a grinder. He gets after it every day. For me, it’s no wonder that he’s doing the things that he’s doing. He’s a really good hitter and a really, really good hitter against right-handed pitching, specifically.”

At this point in his career, Moniak is a different player than when he was with the Phillies. He arrived in Clearwater, Fla., at 167 pounds as a teenager back in 2016. His left-handed bat did not have that much pop, never hitting more than 15 homers in a minor-league season. Now, his 6-foot-1, 209-frame has filled out, and his game is predicated on extra-base hits into that spacious Colorado outfield.

“I guess you could say I was a little bit of a late bloomer as far as the power goes,” Moniak said.

That’s not to say he’s become a perfect player. Moniak is firmly a short-side platoon outfielder. He lost his career-long 18-game on Thursday, then was out of the lineup on Friday because left-hander Jesús Luzardo was starting for the Phillies. He’s batting .150 with no walks and 10 strikeouts in 20 plate appearances against lefties this season.

Moniak’s defensive metrics have also been poor since joining the Rockies, with -23 defensive runs saved in the outfield last year and -3 so far in 2026.

However, Moniak has excelled in his role as a righty masher, and he’s posting gaudy rate stats at the plate. Maybe he’s due to regress since he’s running a .343 batting average on balls in play and does not have the track record of a star. But this red-hot stretch should provide a high floor for his end-of-season numbers. And if he can remotely keep it up, there’s a real chance he’ll be making another trip to Philadelphia in July to represent the Rockies in the All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park.

“I will cross that bridge when we get there,” Moniak said. “I think my main focus right now is just one day at a time. It’s always been a goal to be an All-Star, and I definitely know it’s going to be here in Philly. I think it’d be really cool. I think it’d be awesome, full-circle moment.

“But again, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Still got a couple more months to go, and just looking to do what I can each and every day.”

PHILADELPHIA — Interim manager Don Mattingly sat Alec Bohm on Thursday and encouraged the struggling Phillies third baseman to take it easy during a “reset day.” Bohm, still out of the lineup on Friday, was out on the field doing early hitting the next afternoon.

Edmundo Sosa will play third base against a right-hander for the second game in a row as the Phillies take on the Rockies in the opener of a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park. Bohm will be back in the lineup for Philadelphia versus left-hander Kyle Freeland, Mattingly said.

Bohm is batting just .159 with a .443 OPS on the season. His lone home run came on Opening Day. He’s not hitting for average or power in a Phillies lineup that is short on right-handed production. But Mattingly has maintained confidence in Bohm’s ability to turn his season around after this two-day pause.

The 29-year-old Bohm has often been a player who displays his frustrations through a helmet toss or bat slam, and he’s dealt with a lawsuit against his parents off the field. But Mattingly still feels that Bohm is in the right headspace to be able to bounce back.

Edmundo Sosa takes fly balls

Sosa emerged from the first-base dugout on Friday afternoon with a brown and red Wilson outfielder’s glove that he borrowed from Kyle Schwarber. He trotted out to left field and shagged while Bohm, J.T. Realmuto and Bryson Stott took early batting practice.

You’ve heard this one before: The Phillies want Sosa to get some work in the outfield. This has been happening for years, and it’s never really stuck. He started one game in left field in Atlanta last season and robbed a home run, and then he never played the position again after a miscommunication with center fielder Johan Rojas.

But Mattingly wants to add as much versatility as possible, so the team decided to have Sosa take fly balls for the first time since last season.

“He’s a good athlete,” Mattingly said. “Sounded like there was one play the last time he played out there that went bad, and then we abandoned it. So for me: Put him out there, let him get some work out there if he’s comfortable.”

The Phillies have not yet found an ideal platoon partner for Brandon Marsh in left field. Otto Kemp was sent down to Triple-A after a rough start to the year, and Felix Reyes is batting .156 through 10 games. If the Phillies are willing to start second baseman Bryson Stott, who’s been swinging it well and recently talked about his preference to play every day, against lefties and Sosa looks passable during his pregame work in left, maybe they could try him in that role.

Sosa’s reps in the outfield haven’t always been the smoothest, but Mattingly was pleased with what he saw while standing in left-center field on Friday.

“He looked good out there,” Mattingly said. “We’ll see where it goes.”

Phillies notes

• Former No. 1 overall pick and Phillies outfielder Mickey Moniak is in town with the Rockies. He’s not starting on Friday against lefty Jesús Luzardo, but he currently leads the National League in slugging percentage (.700) and OPS (1.067)
• Phillies rookie Justin Crawford ranks as the worst defensive center fielder in the major leagues, according to defensive runs saved (-8), and he’s tied for the worst mark among center fielders in outs above average (-4).
  
  He’s one of the fastest players in the big leagues, but his speed hasn’t made up for inefficient routes.
  
  “I know some of the numbers haven’t come back very well,” Mattingly said, “but our job really is just keep getting better and keep working and keep trying to get him better in every area. And that’s it. He’s a guy that — we love his attitude, he’s a good kid, he works and we got to do the best we can to get him to be the best player he can be out there. He is still a kid. He has not played a ton of center field, but we know he has the capability.”

PHILADELPHIA — No need to overthink Alec Bohm’s slump. They have an in-house replacement at the hot corner who should have gotten an extended look a long time ago.

Utility man Edmundo Sosa is making a second straight start at third base on Friday night against a right-handed starting pitcher. So far this season, Sosa is batting .278 with a .692 OPS in 56 plate appearances. His defense at second has been shaky so far this season, but he has a lengthy track record of strong defensive play around the infield. According to defensive runs saved, Sosa at +9 was by far the Phillies’ most valuable defender in 2025.

Since he was acquired via trade with the St. Louis Cardinals in July 2022, Sosa has usually been the next man up when either Bohm or Trea Turner are on the injured list, but maybe it’s time to finally think of Sosa, who is in a walk year, as more than a valuable 10th man.

Interim manager Don Mattingly is adamant that Bohm will eventually hit. Bohm will be back in the lineup on Saturday. Bohm is knee deep in the worst slump of his career. Mattingly is committed to giving him a chance to hit his way out of it.

“You guys are going to forget what happened in May when he’s hitting down the stretch and driving in runs,” Mattingly said about Bohm on Thursday. “He’s part of our club. He’s gonna be a part of it and he’s gonna hit.”

If Sosa hits, more opportunities should come his way. He entered this season as part of a second base platoon with Bryson Stott. His natural position is shortstop, but he can play third base. Sosa took some fly balls in left field pregame with Mattingly watching not too far away.

The Phillies have flirted with Sosa in the outfield dating back to his arrival. A routine fly ball dropped in between Sosa in left and center fielder Johan Rojas in an April game against the Atlanta Braves last year. That effectively put an end to the experiment, until now.

“For me, I want as much versatility within our lineup, being able to get as many guys in the lineup as we can that we want in there,” Mattingly said. “He’s a good athlete. Sounded like it was one play the last time he played out there, went bad and then we abandoned it. For me, I’m putting him out there, letting him get some work out there.”

He has thrived over the years despite not having regular at-bats. How has he been able to do it?

“I think throughout the years, I’ve acquired a lot of experience on these kind of things,” Sosa said on Wednesday through a team interpreter. “Just come here every day, work and I’m a firm believer in my routine. I think my routine is a big part of it.”

While others have not been shy in voicing their displeasure over playing time, Sosa has been nothing but a great solider for the Phillies. It is time that the team rewards Sosa with an everyday opportunity.

It’s not only the right thing to do. It’s also the correct baseball decision. Bohm has spent the last six years as a regular in the Phillies lineup. We’ve seen the highs, from his hot start in the pandemic season to his incredible April in 2024 that led to his first career All-Star appearance.

There have also been plenty of lows, from getting sent to Triple-A in 2021, the three-error game in April 2022 and a benching two games into the postseason in 2024. Bohm has made himself into an above-average defensive third baseman, a pretty incredible development considering just how much of a liability he was at the position.

Bohm is what he is. When he’s at his best, he’s an impossible out. The balls are falling into the gap. When he’s struggling, pitchers are trying to jam him inside and induce an easy ground ball to shortstop. If this was a normal slump, he’d probably be out of it by now.

The Phillies can afford to be patient now that they have won eight of 10 and others up and down the lineup have been hitting. The two stars near the top, Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, have done their part. Brandon Marsh is off to an excellent start. Stott was in nearly as bad of a slump as Bohm, but has turned it around in May.

The most popular argument against Sosa playing every day is that he is at risk of getting exposed. He is not the only Phillie with a chasing issue. He is also prone to mental mistakes on defense. But he has speed and can hit the ball out of the ballpark, something the Phillies are just not getting out of Bohm.

Whatever his role is, Sosa will approach it with his trademark positivity.

“I remain optimistic every single time I’m on the field,” Sosa said. “At the end, you’re going to get a result, it can be positive or negative, but you’re gonna get a result nonetheless. It’s just trust my routine and stay calm and focus.”

The Phillies hope to continue their improved play this weekend in a home series against the Colorado Rockies.

Philadelphia currently sports a 17-21 record, but the team is 8-2 in their last ten games since Don Mattingly took over as Phillies manager. They are currently tied with the Miami Marlins for third in the National League East.

The Rockies, meanwhile, sit at 15-23, good for fourth place in the National League West. They have been scuffling lately, going 1-6 across their last seven games, including a six-game homestand against the Braves and Mets in which they won only Thursday’s finale against New York.

This will be the last time the Phillies and Rockies face each other this season. They previously played a three-game series at Coors Field in early April, in which the Phillies took two out of three.

The two teams play a pair of night games Friday and Saturday, with Friday’s game beginning at 6:40 and Saturday’s starting at a slightly earlier 6:05. The series concludes with a Sunday afternoon game, with first pitch scheduled for 1:35.

All three games will be broadcast locally. Here’s when and where you can watch the series on TV:

• Friday, May 8, at 6:40 p.m. ET: NBC Sports Philadelphia
• Saturday, May 9, at 6:05 p.m. ET: NBC Sports Philadelphia
• Sunday, May 10, at 1:35 p.m. ET: NBC Sports Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA — Thursday night’s game was essentially over when the first four batters came around to score against rookie right-handed pitcher Andrew Painter. Painter allowed eight earned runs on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings in a blowout 12-1 loss to the A’s.

For those that stuck around, the ending provided some comedic relief.

Down by 11 runs, the Phillies opted for a position player to pitch the ninth. That of course was catcher Garrett Stubbs, who entered the game an inning earlier as a defensive replacement for Trea Turner. Stubbs made his first career appearance at third base as Edmundo Sosa shifted from third to shortstop.

The defensive alignment behind Stubbs in the ninth was curious to say the least. Felix Reyes, who entered the game in the sixth as a defensive replacement for Bryce Harper at first base, moved across the diamond to third. Reyes played in four games at third base for Double-A Reading last season.

Interim manager Don Mattingly explained the timing behind Harper’s removal from the game. It wasn’t injury related.

“You don’t get many chance to get him just a little bit of a breather in a game like that,” Mattingly said. “Those are games that, for me, guys that play every day, those are really tough to be in. When the game is out of line and it’s getting out of hand, it’s just going to be pitch after pitch.”

Schwarber moved from designated hitter to first base. It was his first appearance at the position since the 2021 ALCS when he was a member of the Boston Red Sox. Schwarber played games at first base during Grapefruit League play in 2025. He has done some pregame work at the position.

Here is the full alignment for the ninth inning:

• P: Garrett Stubbs
• C: Rafael Marchan
• 1B: Kyle Schwarber
• 2B: Bryson Stott
• SS: Edmundo Sosa
• 3B Felix Reyes
• LF: Brandon Marsh
• CF Justin Crawford
• RF: Adolis García

Neither Schwarber nor Reyes needed to make a play at their new positions. Stubbs retired the side on only five pitches. Justin Crawford caught two routine fly balls in center and Brandon Marsh made a sliding grab in left for the final out. What was left of the 37,543 fans in attendance applauded Stubbs as he walked off the mound. It was his ninth career appearance on the mound and first since September 8, 2024.

Stubbs threw one of just two 1-2-3 innings for the Phillies all night. Jonathan Bowlan, who had the eighth inning, retired the middle of the A’s lineup in order.

The Phillies are 17-21 and still have a big hole to climb out of. They are 8-2 in their last 10 following the firing of manager Rob Thomson. Winners of three consecutive series, the Phillies will look to keep stacking up wins against the 15-23 Colorado Rockies this weekend.

The Phillies have played the better brand of baseball Mattingly wanted to see when he first took the job. But Thursday was a reminder of just how ugly it can get again.

PHILADELPHIA — Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers was just early on a hanging Andrew Painter sweeper in the top of the first on Thursday night, hooking a line drive only three seats wide of the left-field foul pole. The very next pitch, he kept it fair and cashed in.

Langeliers squared up an inside fastball to hit a towering two-run home run off Painter, one of two the starter surrendered in the first inning and three he surrendered in the game. The rookie gave up plenty of loud contact in a 12-1 Phillies loss at Citizens Bank Park. He was charged with eight earned runs in 3 2/3 innings, raising his ERA to 6.89 through seven outings.

“First time he’s kind of really gotten punched early in the face, as far as I’ve seen this year, where the game got out of hand early,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “But that’s a tough spot. But again, I think he’s a mature kid. He’s going to keep working, and he’ll be better.”

It was ugly from the get-go for Painter, who went walk-homer-walk-homer to begin the night. After Langeliers went deep in his first at-bat off the paternity list, Brent Rooker soon followed with another two-run shot to put the A’s up, 4-0. Painter did not have his best control and needed 37 pitches to escape the first inning.

Two frames later, the young right-hander gave up an RBI single to Carlos Cortes and two-run homer to Jacob Wilson. Mattingly offered to take Painter out after the third inning, but he insisted on staying in the game.

“I think you have to learn how to deal with that stuff,” Painter said. “Obviously in a hole, stuff wasn’t going my way. But I think just being a competitor, you want to go out there and just compete until you can’t anymore.”

Painter went back out for the fourth, but he was removed with two outs and two men on base; Tanner Banks allowed an inherited runner score the eighth run on Painter’s line.

While a Kyle Schwarber homer was the lone bright spot for the Phillies, the A’s tacked on two more runs in the fifth. Zack Gelof hit an RBI triple into deep center field as Justin Crawford lost the ball in the lights, and the Athletics third baseman came around to score on a Nick Kurtz single. Gelof then hit a two-run homer off Chase Shugart in the seventh.

After a rough season for Triple-A Lehigh Valley in his first year back from Tommy John surgery, Painter’s first taste of the big leagues has been fairly rocky so far. He’s had impressive flashes, but the results have been inconsistent, with Thursday as his worst showing yet.

“I think he’s been fine,” Mattingly said. “Obviously, you want him to keep getting better and keep improving. I think as the season goes, he just continues to gain confidence and command and things like that.”

PHILADELPHIA — Alec Bohm is not in the Phillies’ starting lineup for Thursday night’s series finale against the Athletics.

Don Mattingly’s lineup has Edmundo Sosa batting seventh and playing third base against right-handed starter J.T. Ginn. Sosa went 2-for-4 with a two-run go-ahead single in the bottom of the eighth inning of a 6-3 win. In 53 plate appearances, Sosa is batting .294 with a .733 OPS.

Mattingly called it a “reset day” for Bohm.

“I encouraged him not to hit today,” Mattingly said pregame. “Because he’s been working so hard, hitting extra all the time. You can never tell a guy you have to not hit because you still would use him today. … It encourages him to take a reset day from the standpoint of grinding, grinding, grinding, take a step back and get back after it.”

Bohm is in a deep slump. Since homering on Opening Day, the Phillies third baseman is batting .154 with three extra-base hits and a .398 OPS in 137 plate appearances. Bohm was replaced by a pinch hitter for the first time in his career on Wednesday. The left-handed hitting Bryson Stott batted for Bohm in the seventh.

Don’t call it a benching. Mattingly was adamant that Bohm will hit.

“I’ve said it probably a lot at this point that he’s gonna hit and I’ll believe that until the day I’m not on this Earth,” Mattingly said.

Mattingly was asked at the beginning of the A’s series if the Phillies were considering a change at third base.

“Whenever that is, it’s not now,” Mattingly said on Tuesday. “I’ve seen Alec. In a big sample, he’s always hit. Smaller sample, he’s not hitting right. I think last year, he started off really slow. It’s not like this is totally out of the norm.”

Bohm had a rough April in 2025, but he started to pick things up around this time. He ended March/April with a .526 OPS, but went on a hot streak from May 3 to May 27. In that span, Bohm batted .359 with four home runs and a .971 OPS.

Mattingly thinks that hot streak will come eventually.

“You guys are going to forget what happened in May when he’s hitting down the stretch and driving in runs,” Mattingly said. “He’s part of our club. He’s gonna be a part of it and he’s gonna hit.”