Phillies Announce Eyebrow-Raising Lineup Decision Before Do-or-Die Braves Game 2

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The Phillies announced an eyebrow-raising lineup decision before their do-or-die Game 2 against the Braves in the Wild Card Series.

The Philadelphia Phillies face the potential end of their season for the second time in four days Wednesday, when they face the Atlanta Braves in Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series.

The Phillies managed just three runs in the opener Tuesday, and despite leading 3-2 going to the bottom of the eighth inning, lost 5-3 when closer Jhoan Duran coughed up a three-run blast to Braves third baseman Austin Riley.

Now the Phillies face a do-or-die game in the best-of-three series, and the lineup that manager Don Mattingly announced for the game could raise some eyebrows.

Mattingly sent out the same nine Phillies hitters as in the lineup that clinched their playoff spot on Sunday, the final day of the regular season. The only difference is that Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott are flipped in the No. 4 and No. 5 spots. And Mattingly didn’t make that move until after the original lineup was posted.

With the Braves already up 1-0 and elimination now on the table, the lineup appears to reflect a manager who spent months hunting for the right combination simply reverting to what worked most recently.

Trea Turner is at shortstop, Kyle Schwarber at designated hitter, Bryce Harper in right field, Alec Bohm at first, Bryson Stott at second base, Brandon Marsh in left, Edmundo Sosa at third, Justin Crawford in center and J.T. Realmuto catching — the identical group Philadelphia ran out in Sunday’s 7-3 win over Tampa Bay that clinched a playoff berth, aside from that Bohm-Stott flip. Wednesday’s Game 2 assignment against Atlanta right-hander Tyler Mahle simply goes back to what worked before.

Schwarber and Phillies’ Late-Season Order Shift

This wasn’t the Phillies’ look all season. The exact nine, in this exact order, is a construction born in the campaign’s final days, not one Mattingly leaned on since taking over from the fired Rob Thomson on April 28.

The top three is what stuck. Turner, Schwarber and Harper settled in as the standard trio only once Mattingly repositioned Turner atop the batting order during the season’s closing days, a decision the manager addressed in his pregame press conference before Philadelphia’s Game 1 loss in Atlanta.

“Well, if he’s not, then it’s like any of our guys — we’re counting on them to be their best self,” Mattingly said, as quoted by ASAP Sports. “Trea has swung the bat good, he’s very in there. You look for everybody to get hot at this time. He’s one of our best players, so we just count on him.”

Schwarber’s move to second in the order wasn’t a full-season habit either. He served as Philadelphia’s primary leadoff hitter for most of 2026, shifting to the two-hole only once the regular season’s closing weekend arrived, then staying there through both playoff games since.

StatMuse counted 68 games in which Schwarber batted leadoff in 2026, with one home run to show for it from that spot.

Don Mattingly’s Plan for This Philadelphia Phillies Lineup

Mahle throws right-handed, same as Nick Martinez did Sunday, and that’s why Marsh and Crawford — both left-handed hitters — are back in the outfield instead of Derek Hill and Bryan De La Cruz, who started against Atlanta’s Chris Sale in Game 1. Mattingly had dropped Stott to seventh and slid Bohm into cleanup that night against the left-hander. Both moves reversed the instant a right-hander took the mound again.

Stott’s performance Sunday made the middle of the order easy to justify. He went 3-for-3 with an RBI double in the finale while Harper and Sosa each went deep, and Mattingly kept him in the fifth spot rather than sending him back to seventh.

“Always feel good with Cristopher out there,” Mattingly said of Game 2 starting pitcher Cristopher Sánchez, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia. “The playoffs are momentum-based it seems like, and really momentum starts with your starting pitcher.”

It’s the same logic driving the nine hitters behind him. Stick with what just worked, and let Sunday’s results walk right into Wednesday, with Philadelphia’s season now riding on it. Or so Mattingly, and Phillies fans, must hope.