NEW YORK — Add Bryce Harper to the list of banged-up Phillies.
With Trea Turner on the injured list and J.T. Realmuto dealing with a sore right knee, the Phillies scratched Harper a few minutes before Tuesday’s game because of a migraine, the team announced.
Kyle Schwarber did return to the lineup, in his familiar leadoff spot, after not starting three consecutive games because of a stiff lower back.
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It was unclear when Harper began feeling symptoms. He got grazed in the head by a stray throw back to the mound by Mets catcher Tomás Nido in the first inning Monday night but stayed in the game for the entirety of a come-from-behind, 5-4 victory in 10 innings.
Harper briefly stopped at his locker while the clubhouse was open to the media. He had been scheduled to play first base in the finale of the New York portion of a home-and-home series against Mets righty José Buttó.
Further details are expected after the game.
In Harper’s absence, the Phillies moved Alec Bohm to first base and inserted Whit Merrifield at third. Kody Clemens, in the original lineup at second base, stayed put, with Bryson Stott at shortstop.
Realmuto, who hasn’t played since Saturday in Miami, played catch and jogged on the field. Manager Rob Thomson is “hopeful,” though unsure, that Realmuto will be ready to play Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park.
In Realmuto’s absence, Garrett Stubbs started a third consecutive game behind the plate for the first time in his career. Realmuto was available to catch in an emergency, according to Thomson.
Realmuto’s knee flared up when he legged out a triple in the rain on May 4 at home. It didn’t bother him for a few days before the soreness returned over the weekend.
Neither the Phillies nor Realmuto believed there was a need to undergo diagnostic testing. But if Realmuto is unable to play in the next day or two, Thomson said the team might have to consider putting him on the 10-day injured list, backdated to Sunday, and calling up a catcher from triple A. Aramis Garcia would likely be the top candidate.
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“Stubby looks like he’s losing some weight,” Thomson joked about the popular but seldom-used backup catcher.
Realmuto plays more than any catcher in the majors. He started 130 games in each of the last two seasons and started 34 of the first 39 games this season.
Will the Phillies have to scale back his workload when he returns?
“It all depends on how he feels,” Thomson said, “and sometimes you’ve got to take it away from him just to protect him.”
Give him a hand
It was already shaping up as an eventful, if not straight-up bizarre, third inning Monday night when an athletic trainer visited the mound to take a look at Cristopher Sánchez’s left hand.
Sánchez felt what Thomson described as a “stinger,” a sensation that he has had before. It usually can be massaged away in a few seconds.
“No big deal,” Sánchez said through an interpreter. “With the treatment that they gave me right away, it’s not going to be an issue at all.”
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Sánchez began the third inning by throwing 24 pitches to four batters to load the bases and force in a run on a walk to J.D. Martinez. He struck out Brett Baty and Harrison Bader on a total of six pitches when his hand flared up.
After getting the issue cleared up, Sánchez notched another three-pitch strikeout of Jeff McNeil to complete the unusual inning. His secret: “I focused more,” he said after recovering to pitch into the sixth inning.
“That’s the growth in this guy,” Thomson said. “The biggest thing that I’m proud of him about is overcoming adversity. Long innings, the second and third, a lot of pitches put on him, and he just settled in and kept pitching.”
Extra bases
Rafael Marchán, the only other catcher on the 40-man roster besides Realmuto and Stubbs, was scheduled to begin a rehab assignment Tuesday night at low-A Clearwater. Marchán was sidelined by a back injury early in spring training. … Clemens’ ninth-inning single Monday night against Mets closer Edwin Díaz marked the Phillies’ first pinch hit this season, snapping an 0-for-14 skid. Every other team in baseball had at least one pinch hit. … Ranger Suárez (7-0, 1.50 ERA) is scheduled to start at home Wednesday night against Mets right-hander Adrian Houser (0-3, 7.63).
