Phillies Will Likely Feature Numerous Players At Designated Hitter This Season

It was a no-brainer for the Philadelphia Phillies to insert Bryce Harper as the designated hitter last season.

They had to.

Since Harper had a strained UCL and couldn’t throw, the Phillies were fortunate to take advantage of the new designated hitter rule in the National League.

It allowed Harper to play every day and ultimately help propel the Phillies to the World Series. Without that rule, the Phillies probably wouldn’t have gone that far.

Harper had offseason Tommy John surgery and he’s going to be out likely until the All-Star break.

Manager Rob Thomson will now have difficult daily decisions, especially at DH.

Look for Thomson to roll out a variety of lineups during the season. The DH spot could feature numerous players until Harper returns.

Kyle Schwarber (left field), Brandon Marsh (center field) and Nick Castellanos (right field) will probably handle the outfield spots for most of the season. Harper may not even be able to return to right field this season.

Schwarber and Castellanos are definitely candidates to serve as the DH and that would also allow Thomson to change up his lineup.

Rhys Hoskins, J.T. Realmuto and Alec Bohm could also be the DH depending on the matchups. Realmuto, for instance, could stay in the lineup and rest his knees in favor of backup Garrett Stubbs.

Don’t discount left-hander Darick Hall, who showed so much promise as a rookie last season.

“He did such a great job with Harp out last year that you can’t just throw him to the side,” Thomson told reporters recently of Hall. “He’s in the mix, for sure.”

The DH does provide options. It also can cause lineups to be altered quite a bit.

The Phillies appear to be in a good position since they have so many players who can be utilized as a DH. This will be worth watching closely as the season starts.

More From SI's Inside The Phillies:

Make sure to follow Inside the Phillies on Substack and Twitter!