The slumping Phillies are looking for answers. Here are three ideas to help snap out of it.

Eighteen losses in 26 games, the last four by a combined margin of 31-8, can cause even the steadiest hand to tremble.

So, Rob Thomson, is it time to shake up the Phillies’ lineup?

“Getting close,” the even-keeled manager said Tuesday night after a flat-as-a-flapjack 5-0 humiliation by the Marlins. “I am.”

Swell. But even if Thomson is contemplating an uncharacteristic shuffling of the deck, how much can he actually do save for shifting chairs on the South Philly Titanic?

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Because although the lineup cards on Thomson’s desk are still made out of paper, he might as well carry a stone tablet to home plate before each game. The Phillies have five position players who make at least $20 million per year and have commensurate track records. They don’t come out of the lineup often, nor should they.

The Phillies won’t emerge from the quicksand by benching, say, Trea Turner or J.T. Realmuto, even though their OPS numbers since the All-Star break are .463 and .567, respectively, and they made errors Tuesday night. It’s silly to even entertain the idea.

Any changes that Thomson could make, then, would be more short-term than drastic. But consistency is his managerial calling card, so perhaps even a one-day departure from the norm would have a shock-to-the-system effect.

Not that Thomson asked, but here are three suggestions for how to snap the Phillies out of the worst 26-game stretch in the Bryce Harper era (since 2019):

Everyone recalls the standing ovation for Turner last August amid the worst slump of his career.

But before the cheers, he tumbled in the batting order.

After weeks of sticking with Turner in the No. 2 spot behind Kyle Schwarber, Thomson dropped the star shortstop to seventh and eventually eighth, the lowest he hit since he was a rookie in 2015. And although the fan support was widely credited with extricating him from his malaise, the move down in the order surely helped, too.

Turner batted sixth or lower in 17 of 20 games from last July 29 to Aug. 19. During that stretch, he hit .295/.353/.539 with four homers. He returned to the No. 2 spot for the final 34 games and finished on a .324/.379/.655, 12-homer kick.

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This season, Turner’s tailspin has lasted about four weeks, not four months. He went into the All-Star break with a .349 average and .947 OPS. Since then, he’s 16-for-95 (.168) with 20 strikeouts in 100 plate appearances.

Off-speed pitches down and away have been Turner’s Kryptonite. But as bad as some of the swings have looked, his body language has been worse.

Before Tuesday’s game, Thomson said he hadn’t considered taking Turner out of the No. 2 spot because the Phillies lack hot-hitting alternatives. Don’t look now, but Nick Castellanos is batting .301 and slugging .518 with an .875 OPS since the break and has long said he enjoys hitting higher in the order. Besides, it wouldn’t be permanent.

It helped kick-start Turner last season. Maybe it will work again.

When reserve infielder Edmundo Sosa plays, he usually brings emotion. And after the lowest-energy loss of the season, the Phillies could use an infusion, if not an outright intervention.

In 55 starts, mostly while Turner missed six weeks with a strained hamstring, Sosa has batted .280 with an .808 OPS. He started twice last week at second base and notched two hits in each game, including a three-RBI performance last Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.

Sosa will play later this week, if only because the Nationals are scheduled to start lefties Mitchell Parker, Patrick Corbin, and MacKenzie Gore on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

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But why wait until then?

In a move that would be attention-catching, Sosa could spell Turner at shortstop on Wednesday night against the Marlins before taking lefty-hitting Bryson Stott’s spot at second base against Washington’s trio of lefties.

Sosa is a free swinger who rarely walks, so when he plays too much, he tends to get exposed. His value is mostly his versatility, but also his vigor. If he’s able to provide a short-term jolt, it could help ignite the rest of the offense.

Brandon Marsh has struck out in 17 of his last 36 at-bats, including twice Tuesday night. But the surge in swings and misses only highlights a recurring problem.

The Phillies hoped Marsh would cut down his strikeout rate this season. Instead, it’s sitting at 33.1%, up from 30.5% last season and consistent with his 32.9% career mark.

“He needs to make more contact,” Thomson said. “Sure.”

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For most of the season, Marsh has started strictly against right-handed pitching. But he got a few hits lately against lefties, so in turn, Thomson gave him more opportunity to play every day. But the lack of overall contact has left him with a .235 average and .710 OPS. The Phillies need more from Marsh, especially when light-hitting Johan Rojas is in center field.

Instead, Marsh has regressed.

It would be easier to sit Marsh if Austin Hays wasn’t sidelined until at least Sunday by a strained hamstring. In the interim, the Nationals’ lefty-leaning rotation should be a perfect time to give Weston Wilson an extended look in left field and Marsh a chance to regroup.