Phillies’ Trea Turner gets first turn in leadoff spot against lefty starter

WASHINGTON — And the Phillies’ opening day leadoff hitter is …

Trea Turner.

Well, at least for one game.

After months of debate about who should bat atop the order — Turner or Kyle Schwarber, who handled the leadoff duties for most of the last three seasons — manager Rob Thomson went with Turner against Nationals lefty MacKenzie Gore. He had 13 strikeouts, including one against Turner.

» READ MORE: Predictions for the Phillies and MLB in 2025: Surprises, top stories, who wins it all, and more

But with the Phillies set to face a right-hander (Jake Irvin) in the season’s second game Saturday, Schwarber likely will bat in the leadoff spot.

“I’m just going to try and wiggle it with Trea leading off vs. lefties and Schwarber leading off vs. righties and see where we go from there,” Thomson said, reiterating the decision that he made late in spring training. “It’s somewhat of a big decision, but we can always switch, too.”

The Phillies hope batting leadoff causes Turner to swing at fewer pitches out of the strike zone. Thomson said he thought Turner was more selective in spring training.

“He controlled the strike zone a lot better,” Thomson said. “Everybody goes through times when they’re a little bit off balance and get out of the zone. But he did a really good job.”

— Lauber

Ranger Suárez, who is opening the season on the 15-day injured list with lower back stiffness, stayed at the Phillies facilities in Clearwater, Fla. to continue his rehab. Thomson said Suárez threw a “touch-and-feel” session on flat ground on Thursday and is scheduled to throw a 25-pitch bullpen session from the mound on Saturday. Suárez’s stint on the injured list was backdated to March 24, so the earliest he can be activated is April 8 in Atlanta.

» READ MORE: Meet the 2025 Phillies: Season predictions, key questions for every player

Suárez missed nearly a month last season with lower back soreness, though he said his current injury is not as severe.

“It’s different than last year, very different from last year,” Suárez said last week through a team interpreter. “I mean, it’s just mild discomfort compared to last year. Last year was a bigger deal.”

— March

Thomson conceded that it will be difficult for lefty-hitting Kody Clemens to get much playing time off the bench because five of the Phillies’ nine regulars are left-handed hitters. “It’s going to be tough to get him some at-bats, but we’ll try whenever we can to get him a pinch-hit here or there, maybe get him a start every once in awhile,” Thomson said. “We’ll just have to do what we can to keep him going because he’s a really good offensive player for sure.” … After a day off Friday, lefty Jesús Luzardo is scheduled to make his Phillies debut at 4:05 p.m. Saturday against Irvin. Luzardo’s final start of last season came in Washington for the Marlins. He didn’t pitch again after being diagnosed with a hairline fracture in the lumbar spine (lower back).

— Lauber