Bryson

Stott

Sosa was removed from Wednesday’s game due to a groin injury that he aggravated while hustling out an infield single. He’ll start at third base and bat seventh for the Phillies on Thursday evening. Bryan De La Cruz will start in left field in place of Brandon Marsh. Here’s the full lineup that the Phillies will use against Braves’ opener Ray Kerr to start Thursday’s game: Trea Turner (SS), Kyle Schwarber (DH), Bryce Harper (RF), Alec Bohm (1B), Bryson Stott (2B), Bryan De La Cruz (LF), Edmundo Sosa (3B), J.T. Realmuto (C) and Justin Crawford (CF).

This is not a major surprise after Arraez sprained his ankle just this week. Phillies manager Don Mattingly said, “We still get improvement every day, but not enough. He was going to try to hit today and just wasn’t able to do it. So, we kind of crossed that bridge today.” There’s a chance that Arraez will be able to return for the NLDS, but, for now, Triple-A Lehigh Valley utility player Otto Kemp will take Arraez’s place on the roster. The Phillies figure to move Bryson Stott back to second base, but it remains to be seen if they move Alec Bohm back to third and Bryce Harper to first or if they just insert Edmundo Sosa into the lineup at third base.

Arraez will sit out his second straight contest after suffering a left ankle sprain earlier this week. It’ll be Bryson Stott taking over once against the keystone in his absence. The contact-oriented 29-year-old’s status for next week’s potential NL Wild Card Series matchup appears to be in serious jeopardy. Of course, the Phillies need to hold off the Diamondbacks this weekend if they’re going to punch their ticket to the postseason.

The Phillies have spent weeks searching for a big hit and Stott failed to deliver it in this game. After reaching in each of his first two plate appearances, Stott came up with runners on first and second with one out in the sixth as the Phillies trailed 2-0. He wound up hitting a liner right to second base and that score held through the final. The Phillies’ magic number remains at two as things get even tighter between them and the Padres.

Stott led off the eighth inning with a double off of Tobias Myers — the only extra-base hit for either team in the ballgame — and then scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Justin Crawford. With his two-hit attack, the 28-year-old infielder is now hitting .250/.326/.390 with 10 long balls, 65 RBI and 25 stolen bases (in 25 attempts) over 571 plate appearances on the year.

Stott doesn’t sit against all left-handers, but he’ll find himself on the bench against one of the toughest in baseball on Friday night. Edmundo Sosa will man the hot corner in his absence and will bat sixth for the Phillies.

Stott was scratched from Friday’s lineup to be with his family for the birth of his daughter. He’s back at second base and hitting eighth following a one-game absence.

It was a little surprising to see Stott in the lineup versus Chris Sale in the first place, but the Phillies surely wanted his defense on the field. Bryan De La Cruz has replaced him, with Edmundo Sosa moving from left field to third base.

Stott appears to have checked out fine with precautionary X-rays coming back negative after fouling a ball off his right foot during Sunday’s game against the Cardinals. The 28-year-old second baseman has been swinging a hot bat recently, hitting .294 (20-for-68) with one homer, 10 RBI and five steals in 21 games since the start of August.

Yet another day-to-day Phillies player. Luis Arraez, who didn’t start after leaving Saturday’s game with cramping, replaced Stott.