WASHINGTON -- It wouldn¡¯t be a surprise to see Trea Turner and J.T. Realmuto on the bench for Sunday¡¯s series finale against the Nationals at Nationals Park.
Turner was scratched less than an hour before Saturday¡¯s 11-6 victory because of back spasms. Realmuto then left the game in the seventh inning because of a bruised left foot. X-rays were negative after he fouled a ball off his foot in the sixth inning.
¡°I¡¯m not going to put them in any type of danger,¡± Phillies manager Rob Thomson said after Saturday's game. ¡°We¡¯ll know more tomorrow, but I¡¯m going to be really careful.¡±
Turner¡¯s back might be more of an issue than Realmuto¡¯s foot in that Turner¡¯s back has been bothering him for about a week. Turner said his right hip ¡°locked up a little bit¡± three or four days before the end of Spring Training. Turner jokingly blamed the bed in Bryson Stott¡¯s guest bedroom. They were roommates in the spring.
¡°It felt good playing,¡± Turner said. ¡°It was more so sitting down or sleeping, stuff like that. It felt a little weird, I guess. When I would play, it felt fine. I think that kind of turned into this a little bit.¡±
Turner said his back tightened up toward the end of the Phillies' 7-3 Opening Day win on Thursday. Thomson said it then ¡°locked up¡± while Turner was fielding ground balls during batting practice on Saturday.
¡°I¡¯ve never had anything like this,¡± Turner said. ¡°I¡¯d think it¡¯s day to day. I feel way better now than I did a few hours ago. I just basically got treatment all day. I don¡¯t know a timeline or anything, but hopefully [Sunday]. If not, the next day.¡±
If Turner can¡¯t play Sunday, Edmundo Sosa would start at shortstop. He went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI on Saturday. Rafael March¨¢n would start in Realmuto¡¯s place.