⚾ Infield shuffle | Sports Daily Newsletter

Last week, I asked my fiancé, a Phillies fan, “Who’s going to struggle the most with the realignment?”

For context, after second baseman Luis Arráez was acquired at the trade deadline, the Phillies shuffled their infield with Bryson Stott moving from second base to third and Alec Bohm shifting to first with Bryce Harper going to right field.

He responded: “Trea Turner.” It was a fair answer. Turner is second in the league in committed errors with 18. The one infielder who didn’t switch positions happens to be among the worst defenders in the sport this season.

But there was never a discussion to move Turner off shortstop, according to interim manager Don Mattingly.

How come? Scott Lauber sat down with Kevin Stocker, the Phillies’ pennant-winning shortstop in 1993, to get his viewpoint on why Turner isn’t an outfielder, among other thoughts about this new look for the Phillies.

— Isabella DiAmore, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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Jake Elliott suffered a poor 2025 season by his standards.

The former Pro Bowler and two-time Super Bowl champion went 20-for-27 on field goal attempts, a 74.1% conversion rate that was the second-worst of his career. Meanwhile, his 76.2% clip (48-for-63) over the past two seasons rates as one of the worst marks for a primary kicker in the league. But Elliott is unfazed, speaking Monday about looking forward.

“I’m extremely confident in myself right now,” Elliott said. “I feel like I’ve had a great offseason, I’m putting together a good camp, I feel like I’m striking it best I have in a while. Every day is a new day. Just trying to build on it.”

Special teams coach Michael Clay noted that Elliott has responded well to whatever blips on the radar arose in 2025. Here’s more from Jeff Neiburg on Elliott’s rebound efforts.

And the first true fight of camp occurred on Monday. It came early in the first-team drill period, but it had been brewing for days. Jeff McLane fills us in on what happened, among other things, in his practice observations.

🤔 Wondering: What Michael Vick said about Jalen Hurts and how he’ll look with a new offensive scheme.

👏 Supporting: Drue Nicholas, a Drexel graduate, took the first drive of the U.S. Amateur on his home course.

🔍 Analyzing: Monday’s Temple football practice revealed more about how the starting lineup will rollout, but the quarterback competition continues.

🏈 Learning: About first-year coach Rick Santos and what changes he plans to bring to Penn football.

The Phillies announced Monday that right-handed reliever Caleb Kilian was placed on the 15-day injured list with a left oblique strain. To fill Kilian’s spot, the Phillies recalled right-hander Chase Shugart.

The bullpen has been extremely taxed in the last week. The club is in the midst of a stretch of 14 consecutive games before a day off Friday. Plus, the three extra-inning games during its homestand didn’t help.

Despite this shortcoming, Andrew Painter delivered the best performance of his young career and helped guide the Phillies to a 6-5 win in St. Louis.

The Union have a slim chance of advancing to the knockout stage of the Leagues Cup. Sitting on three points after two matches, they are not mathematically eliminated from advancing, but need a lot of help to jump from tied for tenth to inside the top four on the final match day.

Next is the Union’s assumed Cup finale against Santos Laguna at Subaru Park on Thursday. If they aren’t going to advance, what can the club bring back with them into the MLS schedule?

The most obvious answer is rest, but these games also helped interim head coach Ryan Richter gather more information about his personnel.

On Sunday, my family was in dismay when we tuned in to an afternoon game between the Aces and the New York Liberty and discovered that three-time league MVP A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, and five-time All-Star Jackie Young would not play. At. All.

From pitch counts to minute restrictions to scheduled losses, load management has become a distasteful aspect of professional sports. This was far more than load management, writes columnist Marcus Hayes.

We asked: How can the Phillies address their bullpen issues? Among your responses:

The bullpen is as inconsistent as the hitting can be. Kerkering should be sent down for a couple of weeks. Mattingly needs a dartboard to figure out who to put in. LUZARDO had another great start. All for nothing. — Tom G.

Now if Stubbs could only develop a sweeper he’d be my choice as our “set up” guy. His ERA is better than our #4 starter Nola and our #1 setup man Alvarado. Ranger would sure look good now but he’s having a blast in Boston. Most all of the free agent relief pitchers our chief of baseball operations hired over the past 4 years were stiffs. Sorry but as season 4 winds down you are asking the same question the last 3 years. — Ronald R.

Getting Arraez was great, but the bullpen should have been issue #1. Put Alvarado on waivers or drop him to Lehigh. Put Nola in as long reliever and go with a four man rotation. Robin Roberts and Steve Carlton pitched most of their carers in a four man rotation. — Everett S.

GET RID OF ALVARADO IMMEDIATELY. — Murray U.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Jeff McLane, Ryan Novozinsky, Jeff Neiburg, Scott Lauber, Marcus Hayes, Owen Hewitt, DeAntae Prince, Lochlahn March, Conor Smith, and Mike Livingston.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

Have a wonderful Tuesday. We’ll be back in your inbox with the latest sports news tomorrow. — Bella