Rob Thomson flips Kyle Schwarber and Bryson Stott atop the Phillies’ batting order

Rob Thomson is four weeks shy of the one-year anniversary of his becoming a manager, so the sample size is still too small to draw many conclusions about his tendencies.

One thing became clear Sunday: He isn’t overly stubborn.

Thomson prioritizes consistency atop the Phillies’ batting order. But what good is consistency when it isn’t working? And because Kyle Schwarber as the leadoff hitter wasn’t working, Thomson pulled the plug on his preferred alignment — and after only four games, no less.

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“I’ve been back and forth, back and forth,” said Thomson, who flip-flopped Schwarber and Bryson Stott in the leadoff and No. 5 spots before the series finale against the Red Sox. “Maybe it jump-starts them both.”

Well, guess what happened.

Stott, stuck in a 5-for-35 mini-rut, led off the fourth inning of a 6-1 victory with a single and scored the game’s first run against Boston starter Tanner Houck. Four batters later, Schwarber — 0-for-19 with seven strikeouts from the leadoff spot after Bryce Harper’s return Tuesday — notched a one-out RBI single to make it 2-0.

In the sixth inning, Schwarber cracked a two-run homer against Red Sox lefty reliever Richard Bleier.

“I’ll hit wherever they want me to hit,” Schwarber said. “I told people that I’ve got a lot of at-bats in the leadoff spot, and I’ve got a lot of at-bats in the five-hole, too. It doesn’t really change the approach except sometimes you’ll be coming up with guys on base in your first at-bat. That’s, I guess, the difference there.”

Schwarber, hardly a prototypical leadoff hitter, batted atop the order for most of last season and hit 38 of his league-leading 46 homers out of that spot. The addition of Trea Turner and the emergence of Stott, plus Harper’s absence for the first 30 games, prompted Thomson to put Schwarber in the No. 3 spot.

Thomson chose to lead off with Schwarber after Harper returned to the lineup Tuesday night in Los Angeles. He considered sticking with Stott but said he leaned on Schwarber’s track record from last season.

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But Schwarber is off to another notoriously slow start. Entering play Sunday, he was batting .176/.295/.376 with 42 strikeouts in 146 plate appearances.

In time, Thomson may turn back to Schwarber as the leadoff man again. But he indicated that he likely will stick with Stott for a while, even though Stott, who led off in 19 games earlier this season, has cooled since his season-opening 17-game hitting streak.

“I try to be as consistent as I possibly can because I think players like that and feel good about that,” Thomson said. “It makes them comfortable. You probably stay with this type of lineup for a little bit anyway, and then, if we see an adjustment we need to make, then we’ll do it.”

The plan, according to Thomson, called for Ranger Suárez to throw four innings and about 65 pitches for triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Suárez’s line Sunday in Syracuse, N.Y.: five innings, 48 pitches.

Based on those results, and assuming Suárez’s left elbow responds favorably in the next few days, he’s expected to rejoin the rotation and make his first start of the season next weekend in Colorado.

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It will be a boost to a rotation that has a 4.91 ERA after struggling Taijuan Walker’s six-inning, one-run revival against the Red Sox. Suárez will take the spot that has been occupied by reliever Matt Strahm.

Suárez has been sidelined since early March with a strained elbow.

Apropos with the Red Sox in town: right-hander Noah Song (back) continues to throw bullpen sessions, albeit abbreviated ones, at the Phillies’ spring-training complex in Clearwater, Fla., according to Thomson.

The Phillies selected Song from Boston in the Rule 5 draft in December, even though the 25-year-old prospect hadn’t pitched since 2019 because of military obligations to the Naval Academy. In March, Song was cleared to join the Phillies while serving in the reserves.

In compliance with regulations for Rule 5 draftees, the Phillies put Song on the 40-man roster before the season started, then placed him on the injured list. To remain with the Phillies, he must remain on their active major league roster for at least 90 days during the season. Otherwise, he would be placed on waivers and offered back to the Red Sox.

“I think he’s just starting to try to build arm strength,” Thomson said. “When they do get him up on a mound, it’s just 20-25 pitches.”

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Sunday’s sellout crowd of 44,669 was the largest regular-season audience at Citizens Bank Park since June 22, 2019, when the Phillies drew 44,722 against Miami. ... Reliever Andrew Bellatti (triceps) allowed one hit and one walk in a scoreless inning in his second minor league appearance at low-A Clearwater. ... After a day off, the Phillies will open a two-game series Tuesday against the Blue Jays. Aaron Nola (2-2, 4.64 ERA) is scheduled to face Toronto right-hander Alek Manoah (1-2, 4.71).

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