The Phillies moved Kyle Schwarber to the leadoff spot Tuesday night against the Padres, putting Trea Turner second in a lineup shuffle designed to jolt an offense that has not been producing enough runs. Brandon Marsh hit cleanup and moved to right field, while Edmundo Sosa batted ninth and played left field as Philadelphia tried a different look against right-hander Randy Vásquez.
The change came one night after the Phillies beat San Diego 3-0 on three hits, with Schwarber hitting a solo home run and a single and Marsh adding a two-run homer. Even with that win, Philadelphia entered Tuesday at 27-27, with a.681 team OPS that ranked 26th in the major leagues and an average of 4.00 runs scored per game, 22nd in the majors. The numbers help explain why the club was willing to alter a batting order that had been relatively fixed for much of the season.
Turner’s move was the most notable part of the shuffle. He had hit.221 with a.608 OPS in his first 53 games this season after winning the National League batting title in 2025 with a.304 average and an.812 OPS. Don Mattingly said the club wanted something different for him, saying, “We’re just looking for a little different feel for him.” He added that the team had already talked it through and that the idea was to help Turner get going.
Schwarber, by contrast, had occupied the first spot in 395 regular-season games since signing in Philadelphia, and he entered Tuesday as the major league leader in home runs. Moving him down one spot did not reflect a loss of trust so much as a search for more traffic ahead of him and more chances for him to drive in runs later in the game. Mattingly said Schwarber has hit first often and Turner has filled a range of spots before, adding that he did not think the batting order change was a major issue.
The manager’s view was that Turner will come out of the slump because this is not unfamiliar territory for him. “Trea’s gonna get it together,” Mattingly said, adding that this was probably not the first time Turner had struggled for a stretch. He also pointed to the value of keeping a dangerous bat near the top of the order, saying the first spot comes up again and again and that in a one-run game, the ninth spot could set up another chance for Schwarber to swing instead of waiting for the traditional cleanup role. He cited examples such as the Braves with Jorge Soler during a World Series run and the Dodgers with Shohei Ohtani, calling it “not a bad thing.”
That is the tension for Philadelphia now. The Phillies have one of the game’s most productive power bats in Schwarber, but they also have an offense that has been too uneven to let the season breathe. Monday’s three-hit win showed how quickly one swing can change a night. Tuesday’s lineup change showed the club is still searching for a shape that works over months, not just innings. If Turner can find a rhythm, the Phillies may have more than a temporary fix. If he cannot, the batting order may be only the first of several moves.
