The Philadelphia Phillies will begin a three-game home series against the Miami Marlins on Monday.
Philadelphia is coming off a series loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, where outfielder Derek Hill played in the final two games of the series following the trade from the Chicago White Sox. Yet, in the series opener against the Marlins, Hill won’t be in the lineup.
The Phillies lineup in the series opener is as follows:
- K. Schwarber DH
- T. Turner SS
- B. Harper 1B
- B. Marsh LF
- B. Stott 2B
- J. Realmuto C
- G. Rincones Jr. RF
- J. Crawford CF
- E. Sosa 3B
Instead of Hill playing center fielder, Justin Crawford will get the start in center, while Gabriel Rincones Jr. will get the start in right field.
Hill went 2-for-8 in his two games, while he struck out five times, which is a concern. So, he’ll take a seat on the bench as the Marlins start right-hander Ryan Gusto.
Hill is hitting .216 with 4 home runs and 8 RBIs this season and should be available off the bench in the series opener for the Phillies if he’s needed.
White Sox Were Sad to Trade Hill
Hill was beloved in the locker room in Chicago, so when the trade was announced, the White Sox were sad to see him go.
White Sox manager Will Venable had nothing but positive words to say about Hill after the trade was announced.
“I have thanked him and want to thank him publicly for his contributions here, because he was such a great player for us, a great person in the clubhouse. Made an impact on the field,” Venable said of Hill. “Really just a situation where we were in a little bit of a roster crunch there.
“It speaks to D. Hill and his performance and who he is that there was a lot of interest in him, and it also speaks to where our club is at that we are able to, or really needed to push a really good player off our roster. So, one of those things you don’t love because you feel so strongly about the player, but it’s a necessary thing to do.”
The White Sox originally claimed Hill off waivers from the Miami Marlins last September.
Phillies Have Plan for Outfield
Philadelphia will have some questions to answer about how they will handle their outfield.
The Phillies have Marsh, Crawford, Rincones Jr., Edmond Sosa, and Hill now as options. Yet, the addition of Hill allows Philadelphia to pick the right matchups for Crawford, which interim manager Don Mattingly believes will be helpful.
“I kind of rely on my own history, because when I first came up, I platooned — and it wasn’t a terrible thing for me,” Mattingly said. “I probably would have struggled with the lefties. [Crawford] is a guy who I think is going to get lefties, but with the amount of lefties you see — we don’t see a ton — it gives him days where he can step back, keep working on his swing and keep doing things.”
Regardless, it’s all hands on deck in the Phillies outfield as Mattingly has options on how he want to deploy his outfield and bench.
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