Edmundo

Sosa

Sosa took Cubs reliever Colin Rea deep in the second inning for his first big fly of the season. Unfortunately, Philadelphia’s offense went completely silent afterwards, failing to score until the eighth inning in a one-sided loss to Chicago. The 30-year-old infielder finished 2-for-4 on the night. He could see an uptick in playing time if Alec Bohm’s early-season struggles persist.

Bohm has struggled to begin the year even with a two-RBI evening against the Cubs on Monday, and he’ll get a break with Edmundo Sosa getting the start at the hot corner.

Stott is back in there for the Phillies after sitting out back-to-back contests with left-handed starters on the bump. The 28-year-old second baseman figures to continue sitting against southpaws with Edmundo Sosa getting those early-season opportunities.

Crawford is the favorite to start in center field for the Phillies on Opening Day. He’ll need a strong performance in Grapefruit League action to lock up the spot but he doesn’t have a ton of competition. The 22-year-old former first-round pick batted .334/.411/.452 with seven homers and 46 steals in 112 games at Triple-A Lehigh Valley this past season. He’ll make a fantasy impact in the stolen base department, but counting on anything beyond that in his first taste of the majors might be too optimistic, especially since he’s likely to bat at the bottom of the order. Here is the full lineup: Crawford (CF), Adolis García (RF), Edmundo Sosa (SS), Otto Kemp (LF), Bryan De La Cruz (DH), Rafael Marchán (C), Dylan Moore (2B), Christian Cairo (3B) and Keaton Anthony (1B).

At 29, Sosa is now well established as one of the league’s better bench guys; he hit .276/.307/.469 in 261 plate appearances last season and is at .259/.310/.417 over the last five years. The Phillies will again pencil him in as a second baseman against lefties and will know they’re in safe hands if an injury opens up a full-time spot in the infield. Sosa will be eligible for free agency for the first time after the season.

Sosa took Joe Ryan deep in the fifth inning for his 11th home run of the season. The 29-year-old has filled in admirably when the Phillies have needed him to start, posting a .279/.311/.475 slash line; although, he is far better against left-handed pitching.

Sosa ended up missing just over the minimum 10-day requirement while dealing with a right groin strain. The 29-year-old will be a utility option for Philadelphia, and he’ll replace Donovan Walton on the active roster.

Sosa went through “strenuous workouts over the weekend” and clearly responded well to them. Trea Turner (hamstring) won’t be ready to return to game action until the end of the week at the earliest. That means that Sosa should have a full series as the starting shortstop for the Phillies.

Philadelphia is going to give Sosa some extra time off to rest after wrapping up the NL East division title earlier this week. The 29-year-old bench infielder has been battling a lingering groin issue that cropped up last Friday night. He figures to be ready for the postseason.

Sosa will sit out his third consecutive game since exiting last Friday’s game with right groin tightness. It’ll be Bryson Stott making another appearance at shortstop in his place with star Trea Turner (hamstring) on the injured list.