Phillies get encouraging news on Harrison Bader; status uncertain for Game 2

Lochlahn March, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Oct 5, 2025

Published in Baseball

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PHILADELPHIA — Standing in the quiet clubhouse after the Phillies’ Game 1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Harrison Bader was optimistic that he would be able to return for the rest of the National League Division Series.

And further imaging he underwent on Sunday confirmed that Bader had not suffered a tear or major strain of his groin, which tightened up during the fifth inning.

Bader continued to receive treatment on Sunday afternoon, and Phillies manager Rob Thomson said they would know more about his availability on Monday.

“After the game they stretched him out,” Thomson said. “They got him moving around a little bit, and I think he felt a lot better after that. We’ll know whether he’s available to start or at least to pinch-hit. We’ll know more [Monday].”

Bader was removed in the seventh inning for Nick Castellanos after he felt he could not do a full sprint in the outfield. He said after the game that he was confident he would return for the playoffs.

“In terms of my willingness to go out there and completely empty the tank, and give every last ounce of what I’ve got for this team, and for the baseball I have ahead of me, it’s absolutely something I’m going to do,” Bader said. “So if there’s an absolute chance in hell, you better be able to be in there. So, we’ll just go from there.”

But if the center fielder is not able to go, the rest of the team is confident it will find a way to carry the load, both offensively and defensively.

“It’s next man up,” Brandon Marsh said. “You know, we’ve done it all year. Trea [Turner] went down, [Edmundo] Sosa stepped up. I can go on and on, in other positions as well. [Alec] Bohm went down, Otto [Kemp] stepped up. It’s just what this team is.”

Suárez back in bullpen

Ranger Suárez was available in the bullpen on Saturday, but Thomson opted to use David Robertson, Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering as a bridge from Cristopher Sánchez to Jhoan Duran instead.

Thomson said Sunday he did not have regrets about how he deployed his bullpen. Robertson secured the final out in the sixth but then came back out for the seventh. He allowed two runners to reach, setting the table for Teoscar Hernández’s three-run home run off Strahm.

“No, I think we played it exactly the way I wanted to play it,” Thomson said. “We talked about that situation going into the game, and D-Rob in my mind was the guy to go to there, and stay with him, even though he hadn’t done an up-down all year.

“He’s an experienced guy. Felt like he should be able to get through it. A long at-bat to [Andy] Pages and unfortunately the hit batsman. So that put us behind the eight-ball a little bit. Like I said, Strahm, for the most part, did his job. He got the strikeout and the pop-up and made a mistake, just didn’t hit his spot. That’s going to happen every once in a while.”

Suárez will be back in the bullpen Monday. Thomson said all pitchers other than Sánchez would be available for Game 2, which Jesús Luzardo will start.

“And then we’ll figure out Game 3 if we use everybody,” Thomson said. “But I would think, if we were going to use some sort of — I’m talking about Ranger and [Aaron] Nola being available — probably only use one of those guys, unless we absolutely had to, just so that the other guy can start Game 3.”

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