Lineup Changes Could Be Coming for Phillies After Latest Brutal Loss

Some changes could be coming to the Philadelphia Phillies lineup in an effort to figure out what has gone wrong for this team.

Jul 21, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson (59) prepares in the dugout to play the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Coming out of the Philadelphia Phillies' 10-game road stretch where they were completely dominated at points by different teams, the off day on Monday seemed like it would provide a reset.

Getting a break and heading back home to face the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals for six contests seemed like the perfect way for this team to flush what has been happening in the second half of the season and get back on track.

Instead, the disaster continued.

The Phillies were shutout 5-0 in a loss that saw them manage to only produce four hits against a pitcher who had made just four Major League starts prior to this outing.

Saying the lineup was lackluster would be an understatement.

Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm, and Nick Castellanos went a combined 2-for-18, while Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott continued to struggle at the plate.

Not many games can be won when the best hitters aren't able to get on base, and that's been the exact issue that has plagued Philadelphia during this prolonged slump.

So, are any changes going to be made to this lineup to try and get things going again?

It sounds like manager Rob Thomson is getting close to making that decision.

"I'm getting close. I am," he said per Tim Kelly of Phillies Nation. "But we'll see [Wednesday]."

What those changes might look like are unknown. Even when Schwarber was struggling the past couple seasons with a horrendous batting average, Thomson kept him at the top of the lineup instead of potentially using Turner there.

How willing he is to tear this entire thing down right now and start over isn't clear.

But something needs to be done, and the skipper is starting to sense that. Just throwing the same lineup out there repeatedly and hoping things magically turn around hasn't been helped so far.

It's time they become aggressive.

Put Tuner in the leadoff spot with Bohm behind him. Have Schwarber at No. 3 and Harper at 4. Rotate a hot-swinging bat at the fifth spot and have Castellanos be the cleanup man for the back-half of the order.

Just do something.

Because what they are doing right now is not working, and if they continue to play the way they have, the Phillies are going to squander all the work they did in the early portion of the year by limping their way into the playoffs and potentially blowing the NL East division.