Phillies’ ‘10th man’ Edmundo Sosa does whatever it takes to get in the lineup. It’s been that way since he was 15.

ST. LOUIS — Edmundo Sosa stroked two doubles, including a gap-splitter that drove the go-ahead runs home, and the sold-out crowd crazy as he stomped on second base and swiped his hands across the “Phillies” script on his chest.

With that, a sub became the star of the home opener.

Later, Sosa provided insight into not only his big day, but also his scorching start to the season. In an on-field postgame interview on NBC Sports Philadelphia, he explained how he views his status within a $307 million roster dotted with marquee names.

“There’s a sixth man in the NBA,” Sosa said through a team interpreter. “So why can’t I assume that role here and contribute whenever the team needs me?”

» READ MORE: Takeaways from the Phillies’ start: ‘Concerns’ for Jordan Romano, Edmundo Sosa’s ‘real’ production

It was a rhetorical question. In the Phillies universe, Trea Turner is the shortstop equivalent of Allen Iverson. But the 2001 Sixers don’t get to the NBA Finals without Aaron McKie, who started only 33 games but averaged 11.6 points in 31.5 minutes and was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year.

Every good team needs its McKie. In baseball, the best bench players always were pinch-hitting specialists, especially in the National League. The Phillies had Del Unser in the ‘70s, Greg Gross in the ‘80s, and Matt Stairs and Greg Dobbs in 2008-09. But since the advent of the universal designated hitter, NL teams don’t pinch-hit as much as they used to.

These days, a super-sub — a “10th man,” if you will — plays three or four times a week at three or four positions. It’s a valuable role amid the grind of 162 games in 186 days. Even so, excelling in that job means accepting it, and players who get even semiregular at-bats tend to prefer the comfort afforded by sticking to one spot on the field.

Sosa, 29, doesn’t mind ping-ponging all over the place. Through Thursday, he started 166 games at four positions since the Phillies acquired him in July 2022 from the Cardinals for reliever JoJo Romero. The reserve infielder recently added left field to his portfolio and robbed a home run Tuesday night in the first inning of his first career start in the outfield.

Entering the weekend series in St. Louis against his former team, Sosa started six of the Phillies’ 12 games at four positions — and was 11-for-24 (.458) with four doubles and six RBIs in seven games.

Sosa is bound to cool down, of course. But when a bench player makes so much of his opportunities, it’s natural to want to find him more playing time. In Sosa’s case — barring an injury to Turner, second baseman Bryson Stott, or third baseman Alec Bohm — the path to more at-bats might be competence in the outfield.

» READ MORE: Everyone is intrigued by the torpedo bat, including the Phillies. Will it be a revolution or a fad?

Whatever it takes, according to Sosa.

“When the Phillies brought me here in 2022, I was having a little bit of a tough stretch in my career,” Sosa said. “I didn’t have many opportunities with [the Cardinals]. The Phillies embraced me. They treated me like a superstar from my first day, and I think that’s played a lot into embracing this role and giving the best of myself.

“It may be in another organization that I’d have more playing time. But I’m playing here, I’m focused here, and that’s all I’m thinking about.”

And if he can handle the outfield, Sosa has a chance to contribute in a way that few Phillies reserves ever have.

José Oquendo carved out a 12-year major league career, mostly with the Cardinals, by playing everywhere.

A natural infielder and especially sure-handed second baseman, Oquendo started at every position, save pitcher and catcher. In 1988, the peak of his versatility, he got into the lineup for 123 games, including 64 at second base, 40 at third, 10 at shortstop, and seven in the outfield.

Oquendo, a Cardinals instructor since 1997, worked with Sosa after St. Louis signed him as a teenager out of Panama. Early in Sosa’s career, the Cardinals viewed him strictly as a middle infielder and primarily a shortstop.

But when Oquendo flipped on the television this week and saw highlights of Sosa reaching over the 6-foot bullpen wall in left field in Atlanta and bringing back a homer by Marcell Ozuna, well, let’s just say he wasn’t surprised.

» READ MORE: https://www.inquirer.com/phillies/phillies-2025-season-preview-questions-andrew-painter-20250327.html

“Edmundo, he can play every day,” Oquendo said by phone from Florida. “It’s just sometimes the situation doesn’t dictate that. It happened to me when I was here. Ozzie [Smith] was there, and some of the other Gold Glove [infielders] that we had. So my only way to get in the game was by playing different positions.

“Sosa realized that and prepared himself so that he can help the team and get himself in the lineup.”

It has been that way since Sosa was 15.

When the Cardinals first saw him in 2012 at a national youth tournament that’s held every January in Panama, he was on the bench behind the coach’s son for Panama Metro, one of the country’s top under-16 programs. He came in as a defensive replacement at second base late in a game and made an eye-catching athletic play on a bad hop.

“It sort of opened my eyes with the way he recovered and showed instincts and athleticism,” said Cardinals assistant general manager Moisés Rodríguez, then the club’s international scouting director. “He was engaged, hollering, high-energy, and I’m like, ‘Man, this is the eighth inning of a game. This guy comes in, and he’s like the most energetic guy on the team.’ ”

Rodríguez met with Sosa and his mother the next day. Sosa didn’t impress the Cardinals in a subsequent workout, but Rodríguez made a note to keep following him.

Eventually, the Cardinals invited Sosa to their academy in the Dominican Republic for a more private tryout. They liked his athleticism and his actions at shortstop. Even when he looked overmatched at the plate by higher velocity, he found ways to put the ball in play. They figured he would get stronger as he matured.

And in July 2012, they signed him for $425,000.

“We stuck with him, hung in there, because we liked him and got to know him,” Rodríguez said. “You were just drawn to him watching him on the field.”

» READ MORE: The Bryce Harper conversation: Why he’s open to an outfield return, his love of Pilates, playing past 40, and more

More than 10 years later, that’s still the case.

Sosa played well in a middle-infield utility role for the Cardinals in 2021. But the infield got more crowded in 2022. Unable to find adequate playing time for him and seeking relief help, they dealt him to the Phillies, who quickly began getting calls about his availability, according to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.

But instead of flipping Sosa, the Phillies fit him into their infield mix. Last year, he played well for six weeks when Turner was sidelined by a strained hamstring. He’s a .271 hitter with 16 homers and a .760 OPS in 152 starts since 2023. But he’s also a free swinger who rarely walks. There’s a risk, then, of overexposure, as pitchers tend to take advantage of his aggressiveness.

But one thing is constant: Sosa plays like a human espresso shot. With extra caffeine.

“He was always just worried about his career, baseball,” Rodríguez said. “A lot of young kids are distracted by whatever off-field stuff comes with being in pro ball. I never had a conversation with him talking about girlfriends or anything. He was just always about baseball.

“So it doesn’t surprise me that he’s sort of accepting whatever [role] he can get his hands on right now.”

The Phillies told Sosa early in the offseason to prepare for reps in the outfield in spring training.

He heard that before.

Sosa played three innings in left field in 2022 and two in center in 2023. It didn’t come naturally. He needed more training on judging balls off the bat and taking better routes. Eventually, the Phillies tabled the experiment.

Now, though, they were more serious. Left fielder Max Kepler, their lone position player addition, bats left-handed. And when utilityman Weston Wilson strained a muscle in his side early in camp, Johan Rojas was left as the only righty-hitting reserve outfielder on the roster.

» READ MORE: Do Phillies hitters have to change their approach? Here’s Kevin Long’s plan for each.

It created another potential lane for Sosa to see the field.

Sosa worked in spring training with outfield coach Paco Figueroa and would track down fly balls during one round of batting practice each day. He got time in left and center in the Grapefruit League. When camp broke, manager Rob Thomson said he felt confident about Sosa starting in the outfield.

Then, Sosa all but forced his hand with five consecutive two-hit games to open the season.

Last Saturday against the Dodgers, Sosa hit for Marsh in the ninth inning, stayed in the game in center field, and made plays on Tommy Edman’s sharp liner and a fly ball by Enrique Hernández.

And there he was Tuesday night in Atlanta, waving his glove with a flourish after his home run thievery.

But one inning later, Sosa yelled “Tua! Tua! Tua!” — Spanish for “Yours! Yours! Yours!” — on a fly ball to left-center field. Experienced outfielders know not to call out if they don’t expect to make a catch. Rather than taking charge in center field, Rojas seemed spooked. The ball fell between him and Sosa.

It was a novice mistake.

“He needs reps,” Thomson told reporters, noting that Sosa is still getting acclimated to judging fly balls at night and in ballparks that have a third deck as opposed to matinee exhibition games in minor league parks. “That’s what it is. It’s experience.”

The Phillies are paying $10 million for Kepler to be the primary left fielder. They’re hoping Marsh will hit lefties enough to play every day. If not, Rojas would play center field against most lefties. This week, Wilson began a minor league assignment that can last for 20 days and end with an option to triple A.

» READ MORE: In Year 7 of the Bryce Harper era, the Phillies have one last chance to get it right with this core

Nobody expects Sosa to be in the regular outfield rotation. But he also has made himself an option there. If Thomson wants to give a breather to Kepler or Marsh — or Stott or Bohm in the infield — Sosa could fill in for any of them.

In Phillies history, which dates to 1883, 43 players got at least 200 plate appearances in a season in which they played second base, shortstop, third base, and the outfield. In the last 100 years, only four — Scott Kingery in 2019, Freddy Galvis in 2013, Michael Martínez in 2011, and Russ Wrightstone in 1925 — played at least 10 games at all four positions.

Could Sosa join the club?

“I always told him, ‘Take your ground balls, do your double plays, learn how to turn the double plays at second base, at third because you never know what can happen,’ ” Oquendo said. “He’s a good athlete. He stays sharp and understands being ready. He’s always been one of those guys like that to help out in any part of the game or whatever is needed.”

Like a true 10th man.