After last night’s 5-1-win, manager Rob Thomson joked and said he was going to call Major League Baseball to ask for a 10-man lineup to ensure the red-hot Edmundo Sosa could be penciled in for today’s game against Colorado as the Phillies go for their first sweep of the season.
Despite being the hottest hitter in all of baseball to open up the season, Sosa is not in the starting lineup. Bryson Stott is back in at second base and hitting eighth. Sosa has opened up the season with four multi-hit games, the first time he’s done that in his big-league career and among qualified hitters, leads MLB with his .600 batting average starting off 9-for-15 at the plate including four doubles and five RBI.
Love, Sosa
The Phillies are facing a right-hander on the mound today with Antonio Senzatela (0-0, 2.54 ERA) so that could be a deciding factor as Thomson wants to get the left-handed Stott back in the lineup. Comparing the two against righties, it’s not that much of a difference.
Sosa in his career is slashing .259/.318/.378 against right-handers. Stott has similar numbers at .255/.308/.390.
No one is off to a better start than Sosa across the league, but Stott is off to a slower start, hitting .200 (3-for-15) through the first four games as he looks to bounce back after a down season a year ago. Of his three hits, two have gone for doubles, including the one with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning in Monday’s game that set up Sosa’s two-run double to give the Phillies their first lead of the game, igniting the offense late in a 6-1 win.
The Phillies look for the sweep this afternoon before welcoming in the defending World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers to town.
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
