With Trea Turner out, who will hit second for Phillies on J.T. Realmuto’s off days?

J.T. Realmuto will hit second for the Philadelphia Phillies for the third day in a row Monday, a spot he figures to occupy in manager Rob Thomson’s lineup quite frequently while Trea Turner recovers from a left hamstring strain that is expected to sideline him for “six weeks or so.”

However, the problem with having your catcher fill such an important role in the lineup is that the demand that comes with playing that position requires more frequent off days than other defensive spots. One of those off days will come Tuesday against José Berríos and the Toronto Blue Jays, when Realmuto is going to have an off day and Garrett Stubbs will be behind the dish for the Phillies.

So who hits second in the lineup when both Turner and Realmuto are unavailable?

“I don’t know,” Thomson said with a smile in his office Monday afternoon.

Thomson was willing to say that “I wouldn’t take him out of the cleanup spot” in regards to third baseman Alec Bohm. Over the first six weeks of the 2024 season, Bohm has been one of the best offensive players in the sport, hitting .360 with 32 RBIs and a 1.006 OPS. There isn’t any reason to mess with Bohm, who provides protection behind Bryce Harper, the No. 3 hitter.

But Thomson noted that unless the Phillies were playing a team who was starting a right-handed pitcher and didn’t have any left-handed relievers in their bullpen, he wouldn’t want to have another left-handed hitter between Kyle Schwarber and Harper. That eliminates both Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh as options Tuesday against the Blue Jays — who have lefties Génesis Cabrera and Tim Mayza in their bullpen — and just about every team in the league. Thomson pointed to the Washington Nationals as a team that doesn’t currently have a left-handed pitcher in their bullpen, but that’s almost unheard of in the game today. Most teams have multiple southpaws in their arm barn.

In theory, Nick Castellanos — a two-time All-Star on a $100 million contract — should be the answer to this question. Heck, in a perfect world, he would be hitting second in Turner’s absence over Realmuto. But Castellanos is hitting .185 with a .489 OPS. Even if it’s only once a week, it would be hard to justify Castellanos hitting that high in the lineup right now.

The best answer at this moment is probably to have Whit Merrifield hit second on days where Realmuto isn’t playing. Merrifield had an ice-cold start to the season, but has nine hits in his last 22 at-bats (.409). Obviously, this assumes that Merrifield is in the lineup on days where Realmuto isn’t playing, but whether it’s at second base, left field or even shortstop, the super-utility player might have to be automatically penciled into the lineup on days where the star catcher is off.

The entire debate is indicative of two things — Turner’s importance to the lineup and how badly the Phillies need Castellanos to get going at the plate.

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