[ad_1]
Grapefruit League play begins for the Phillies on Saturday and Rob Thomson laid out the pitching plans for the first four games.
As I had previously said, left-hander Kolby Allard will start Saturday in Dunedin against the Blue Jays and Aaron Nola will start the spring home opener on Sunday against the Yankees. Each is expected to pitch two innings.
David Buchanan will start on Monday and Cristopher Sánchez on Tuesday. The games are against the Red Sox and Twins in Fort Myers, a 140-mile drive from Clearwater.
Despite the good season he had in 2023, Sánchez barely had a spring training session. He pitched only three innings due to triceps soreness and then slowly ramped up. He comes into camp in a completely different place: healthy, confident and knowing his spot in the rotation is solid.
Injury updates
• Alec Bohm won’t play until at least one of the Fort Myers games. He is dealing with neck spasms.
• Third catcher Rafael Marchán is dealing with a lower back injury. “It’s just caution, shut it down and see if we can calm it down,” Thomson told reporters.
• Brandon Marsh, who underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee on Feb. 9, ran Friday without taping his knee.
“They told him to go at 60 percent,” Thomson said. “I said if that’s 60 percent, you’re a world-class runner.”
The team set a 3- to 4-week timeline for Marsh’s return on the day of surgery and expects him to be ready for Opening Day on March 28 in Philadelphia.