John Clark and Danny Pommells discuss who the more favorable matchup would be for the Phillies in the NLDS.
The Phillies held an intrasquad game Wednesday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park and treated it like a real one, with full uniforms, four umpires, walk-up music and stats on the scoreboard.
Kyle Schwarber captained one team, managed by third base coach Dusty Wathan, and Bryce Harper led the other, skippered by first base coach Paco Figueroa.
"I was really excited about the intensity of it," manager Rob Thomson said. "Guys really got after it."
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This was an important part of the Phils' bye week in terms of keeping up the intensity, giving the hitters a look at live pitching and the pitchers a chance to get their work in to avoid too long a layoff.
Everyone in the Phillies' bullpen appeared in the game except for their most important reliever, Jeff Hoffman. He woke up with a stiff neck but Thomson expressed no concern — "slept wrong, he's fine" — and said the right-hander would be good to go Saturday.
Ranger Suarez started for one team and threw 21 pitches over two innings, sitting 92-93 mph, according to Thomson. The game was not open to the media.
Suarez lines up to start Game 4 of the NLDS, if necessary. The Phillies have not revealed who will start Games 2 and 3. Zack Wheeler has Game 1 and the next two will be some combo of Aaron Nola and Cristopher Sanchez, Thomson just hasn't let on which way he's leaning. One of the key factors is the opponent. The Mets skew right-handed, while the Brewers are more balanced.
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Spencer Turnbull appeared in the game and was "a little bit erratic," according to Thomson. Turnbull could be in play in later rounds but does not sound like the leading candidate for the Phillies' final bullpen spot in the NLDS, which could go to Max Lazar or Kolby Allard.
"In my opinion, he still needs a little bit of work but you never know," Thomson said of Turnbull.
The intrasquad game ended in a 5-5 tie. Schwarber's team was up 5-3 going into the bottom of the eighth when Nick Castellanos hit back-to-back homers off of left-hander Tanner Banks to even the score. Weston Wilson also homered off of Allard.
Johan Rojas played after missing the final weekend in D.C. with an illness. So did Austin Hays, who sat out the final two games with back soreness.
The Phillies will hold a voluntary workout Thursday and another full team workout Friday around 4 p.m. ahead of Saturday's 4:08 p.m. first pitch.