Trea

Turner

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).

The homer off Hayden Wesneski’s was Turner’s first in a month, but he does now have five doubles in seven games in September. That can’t be a bad sign.

Turner was hitless for the third straight game. He’s hit .214 with just five extra-base hits this month, seeing his season overall OPS plummet to .677. It’s by far a career-low mark as he’s struggled at the dish. Still, the 33-year-old shortstop has managed to contribute for fantasy purposes with 17 homers, 86 runs scored, and 17 steals.

Turner got hot in the second half of July, but it didn’t last, and he is batting .167 in his last 10 games. His defense might be acceptable if he was hitting, and his lack of offense would be acceptable if he was showing a solid glove. As is, though, he’s a liability right now, and while it still seems likely that he’ll figure it out at some point, it’s really too late to salvage his regular season.

Turner left Saturday’s game after fouling a pitch off his right knee and didn’t play Sunday. He’s batting second tonight.

The 33-year-old shortstop exited Saturday’s game after fouling a ball off of his right knee. While the injury doesn’t appear to be serious, the Phillies will give him an extra day to rest just to be on the safe side. Edmundo Sosa will start in his place at shortstop and will bat ninth for the Phillies against Twins’ right-hander Dean Kremer on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.

Turner exited the game after getting hurt, but he was walking around fine after the game. Consider him probable for Sunday.

The Phillies were leading 8-1 at the time, so there was no big fight to keep him in the game. There’s a good chance he’ll be back out there on Sunday.

The Phillies had been shut out through five innings until Turner put the team on the board with a solo homer off Max Scherzer with one out in the sixth. The home run was Turner’s 17th of the season. He later scored a run in the 10th inning as the starting runner on second. The 33-year-old shortstop is hitting .251/.298/.405 with 80 runs scored, 47 RBI, and 17 steals across 510 plate appearances.

Turner has 11 hits in his last six games to raise his average to .252. We’re not testing any theories here, but his average hadn’t been this high since he went 0-for-4 on 4/20.