Phillies brace for games without Bryce Harper by moving Nick Castellanos into vacant spot in batting order

SAN DIEGO — The last 16 hours have not been kind to Phillies interim manager Rob Thomson. His best player, Bryce Harper, was hit by a pitch at around 8:05 p.m. on Saturday night. The designated hitter exited the game with a left thumb fracture. Harper will see a specialist soon, but for now, the Phillies don’t know how long he’ll be out or whether or not his injury will require surgery.

So, since Saturday night, Thomson has been saddled with an unenviable task: replacing a player who is irreplaceable. But even though he knows his efforts will be futile, Thomson has to try. Filling out his lineup card for Sunday’s game was the first step.

He gave it some thought and talked to hitting coach Kevin Long on Sunday morning. They’re still weighing their options, but for Sunday, they settled on moving Nick Castellanos up a spot to fill the three-hole in the lineup that Harper left vacant. Castellanos, who normally bats fourth, was replaced by Didi Gregorius.

The Phillies will keep playing around with different ideas. Moving lead-off hitter Kyle Schwarber down in the lineup is another possibility.

“[Schwarber] and [Rhys] Hoskins have been really good at getting on base,” Thomson said. “But we’re just trying to figure out how we can get the most runs out of the lineup.”

Castellanos will DH on Sunday and Matt Vierling will play in right field in Castellanos’ place. The one silver lining of this situation — if you can even call it that — is that Schwarber and Castellanos will be able to use the DH spot, which was occupied by Harper, to get some rest.

“I think they all could benefit from [the DH spot],” Thomson said. “It gives them a day off of their feet. But I know that both [Castellanos] and Schwarber like playing defense. It keeps them engaged in the game. But I think the DH spot, when you’re rotating it around, can help a lot of different people. Just to give them a little breather.”

Harper was officially placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday, ahead of the series finale against the Padres, and outfielder Mickey Moniak was called up from triple-A Lehigh Valley. Moniak will arrive in San Diego just in time for the 1:10 p.m. game.

After a torrid spring training that concluded with Moniak being hit on the hand with a pitch and having to go on the 10-day injured list, Moniak returned to the big leagues on May 30. He struggled to find his stroke, batting .160/.250/.160 over nine games this season.

Moniak was sent down to Lehigh Valley on June 14 and has found more success there.

“He went down, worked hard, got his swing back,” Thomson said. “He got three hits [Saturday], hit a home run the other day. He’s been slugging a little bit. He can play defense as well as anybody. So it’s good.”

In Harper’s absence, Moniak will get plenty of opportunities to show Thomson that he has fixed whatever was plaguing him earlier in the year. The left-handed outfielder will be penciled into Thomson’s lineup card more often than not as the Phillies face right-handed heavy pitching staffs in Atlanta, St. Louis, and Washington.

He isn’t the only one that will get more playing time. Vierling will too, all over the diamond, as well as some of the Phillies’ other younger players (the Day Care, if you will).

“We’ll match up a little bit, with Vierling against left-handers,” Thomson said. “Maybe that gives Moniak a day here and there. And Vierling, we’ll have to mix him in at second base, third base to give other guys a day off. I just like the energy those (younger) guys bring, everyday. I’m confident that they’re going to get this thing done.”

Eflin will undergo some testing on his bruised right knee by the Phillies trainers on Sunday afternoon. He said after his start on Saturday that he felt “gassed” after the fifth inning.