Turner scratched from Phillies' second game with back spasm originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

WASHINGTON — Trea Turner was initially second in the Phillies’ lineup Saturday after leading off on Opening Day, but he was scratched an hour before game-time with a low back spasm.

The severity of Turner’s injury wasn’t immediately clear, but he was replaced at shortstop by Edmundo Sosa.

The Phillies intend to lead Turner off against lefties and Kyle Schwarber against righties. Turner led off on Thursday against Mackenzie Gore and went 0-for-4 with a walk, seeing 28 pitches. He was scheduled to lead off again Sunday vs. Mitchell Parker but that’s TBD.

Here was Saturday’s lineup against Nats right-hander Jake Irvin:

1. Kyle Schwarber, DH (L)
2. Alec Bohm, 3B
3. Bryce Harper, 1B (L)
4. J.T. Realmuto, C
5. Max Kepler, LF (L)
6. Nick Castellanos, RF
7. Bryson Stott, 2B (L)
8. Brandon Marsh, CF (L)
9. Edmundo Sosa, SS

Jesus Luzardo, LHP

Whether it’s Turner or Schwarber up top, it’s important for the Phillies to alternate lefties and righties in the first six spots. On Thursday, Harper made the Nationals pay with a game-tying homer for using a right-handed reliever to try to navigate the right-left-right section of Turner-Harper-Bohm. Ideally, they get that sort of opposite-handed production to keep opposing managers honest in their late-game decision-making.

If this is merely a one- or two-day absence for Turner, there should be a good mixture of both batting orders over the first few weeks with the Phillies drawing two lefties in the opening series in Washington, Kyle Freeland in their first home series and then likely Blake Snell and Chris Sale in the two to follow.

There may be challenging shadows again during the first half of Saturday’s 4:05 p.m. game, but fortunately for the hitters, it’s a cloudier day than Thursday which could nullify the disadvantage.

At least on paper, it should be a better day for the bats. The Phillies faced Irvin four times last year and scored four-plus runs off him each time, winning three of the games. Five different Phillies — Turner, Kepler, Realmuto, Stott and Marsh — have taken him deep.

Luzardo makes his Phillies debut. He feels healthy after missing a bulk of last season with a back injury, and though he had a couple of shaky spring outings, the much more important sign was his four-seam fastball and sinker averaging 96 mph.

Luzardo debuts, Schwarber leads off for Phillies in Game 2 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

WASHINGTON — Facing a right-handed starting pitcher in Game 2 of 162, the Phillies went with a different lineup than Opening Day.

Get used to the back-and-forth. Manager Rob Thomson plans to lead Trea Turner off against lefties and Kyle Schwarber against righties.

Turner led off in Thursday’s opener vs. Mackenzie Gore and is likely to do so again Sunday afternoon when the Phillies see southpaw Mitchell Parker. Saturday’s opponent was Jake Irvin, thus the different arrangement.

1. Kyle Schwarber, DH (L)
2. Trea Turner, SS
3. Bryce Harper, 1B (L)
4. Alec Bohm, 3B
5. Max Kepler, LF (L)
6. J.T. Realmuto, C
7. Nick Castellanos, RF
8. Bryson Stott, 2B (L)
9. Brandon Marsh, CF (L)

Jesus Luzardo, LHP

Whether it’s Turner or Schwarber up top, the important part is being able to alternate lefties and righties in the first six spots. On Thursday, Harper made the Nationals pay with a game-tying homer for using a right-handed reliever to try to navigate the right-left-right section of Turner-Harper-Bohm. Ideally, they get that sort of opposite-handed production to keep opposing managers honest in their late-game decision-making.

There should be a good mixture of both batting orders over the first few weeks with the Phillies drawing two lefties in the opening series in Washington, Kyle Freeland in their first home series and then likely Blake Snell and Chris Sale in the two to follow.

There may be challenging shadows again during the first half of Saturday’s 4:05 p.m. game, but fortunately for the hitters, it’s a cloudier day than Thursday which could nullify the disadvantage.

At least on paper, it should be a better day for the bats. The Phillies faced Irvin four times last year and scored four-plus runs off him each time, winning three of the games. Five different Phillies — Turner, Kepler, Realmuto, Stott and Marsh — have taken him deep.

Luzardo makes his Phillies debut. He feels healthy after missing a bulk of last season with a back injury, and though he had a couple of shaky spring outings, the much more important sign was his four-seam fastball and sinker averaging 96 mph.

Giants' Encarnacion to miss several weeks after hand surgery originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

CINCINNATI — The Giants got a game-winning homer from their designated hitter on Thursday, but it’ll be a while before they see the other right-handed hitter who was supposed to get at-bats in that spot. 

Jerar Encarnacion had surgery on his fractured left hand Friday in Los Angeles and will be in a splint for the next two weeks. The Giants are estimating an eight-week return to play, which manager Bob Melvin said was the expectation all along. 

Encarnacion was headed for a lot of DH time and would have started against every lefty, either as the DH or an outfielder. Without him, Casey Schmitt is the DH on Saturday against Cincinnati Reds lefty Nick Lodolo. Wilmer Flores is the first baseman and Luis Matos is in right field. Schmitt has a .725 OPS against lefties in the big leagues and hit them well this spring. 

“You look at the history and he does some damage there,” Melvin said of Schmitt. “It’s one of the reasons he made the team.”

With Schmitt and Matos in the lineup, only Sam Huff and Christian Koss haven’t played thus far. Huff will catch Robbie Ray on Sunday and Melvin said he’ll look for an opportunity on this trip to get Koss his MLB debut. 

Back to Sac

David Villar cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Sacramento. There wasn’t a spot for Villar this spring and he was out of options, so earlier in the week the Giants had designated him for assignment to clear a 40-man spot for reliever Lou Trivino. 

Melvin said multiple times this spring that he hoped Villar could get an opportunity in the big leagues elsewhere, but he’s now in limbo a bit. He returns to the River Cats, but without a spot on the 40-man roster, which makes it more difficult to get back to the big leagues. 

The River Cats were short on position players in their opener, carrying just 11 of them. Villar should be their starting third baseman. 

Hot Start

Marco Luciano got his Triple-A season off to a hot start, hitting a three-run homer in the opener on Friday night and walking twice. Luciano is playing left field this season and the Giants are hopeful that taking some defensive concerns off his plate leads to a surge in the batter’s box. 

“We saw some good at-bats from him when we were there for the exhibition game,” Melvin said. 

Nothing is imminent for the 23-year-old. The Giants optioned him early in camp and want him to play every day for several weeks at least and get comfortable in the outfield. 

It was a good night for a very deep River Cats pitching staff. Right-hander Carson Seymour struck out eight over four scoreless innings and hit 97 mph with his sinker. Joel Peguero, the last cut in the bullpen, pitched the ninth and averaged 99.8 mph with his fastball, which hit triple digits three times.

Going Viral

How popular is Jung Hoo Lee in his home country? Both Luis Matos and Mike Yastrzemski did interviews with South Korean reporters on Saturday morning, simply because they showed up in a video the Giants put out of the three outfielders enjoying Korean BBQ this spring. 

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

Tommy Lasorda had a lot of things to say, many of which still stick in our heads after all these decades.

He exulted in the fruits of victory. He dubbed Dodger Stadium "Blue Heaven on Earth." He warned you might not get into the real heaven if you did not root for the Dodgers.

He also had a simple formula for success.

“No matter how good you are, you’re going to lose one-third of your games,” Lasorda liked to say. “No matter how bad you are, you’re going to win one-third of your games. It’s the other third that makes the difference.”

If you believe the hype, these Dodgers are out to make a liar out of Lasorda.

Under Lasorda’s axiom, no team wins more than two-thirds of its games. For the Dodgers, that would be 108 games.

“117 would be a nice number,” former Dodgers pitcher and current broadcaster Orel Hershiser said. “Set the record.”

The record indeed is 116, set by the Chicago Cubs in 1906 and tied by the Seattle Mariners in 2001.

“There's just a lot of excitement,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, "probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base.”

Nine teams in history have won 109 or more games. One of those teams: the 2022 Dodgers, winners of 111 games during the regular season, eliminated by the San Diego Padres in four games in October.

Two Brooklyn Dodgers teams won more than two-thirds of their games: the 1953 team, which lost to the New York Yankees in the World Series; and the 1942 team, which lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League, at a time there were no divisions and the league champion advanced directly to the World Series.

These Dodgers enjoyed a ring ceremony Friday. They plan to enjoy another one this time next year.

“That’s our only focus right now, to go back to back,” Roberts said. “We have the best team.”

Hershiser pitched under Lasorda, who managed the Dodgers to two World Series championships in 20 years. In 1977, Lasorda’s first year, the Dodgers won 98 games. In 1978 they won 95. Never again under Lasorda did the Dodgers win so many games.

This is not a knock on Lasorda, who is in the Hall of Fame. Teams are not supposed to win two-thirds of their games, and yet here we are watching a team so talented and deep that not winning two-thirds of its games might be a letdown to its fans.

“It’s going to be really hard to continue to think of glowing things to say about this team,” Hershiser said. “I think the adjectives are going to get real thin.”

Hershiser has allowed himself a moment or two to have some fun with the anticipation of greatness. At the start of the season, he said, the Dodgers’ broadcasters had a group text for predictions about how many games the team would win.

Hershiser smiled as he told the story. The regular season features 162 games. His text read 162.

It was a joke. The fans, he said, should have some fun too.

“I would hope it’s fun,” he said. “I guess it’s less excitement when you win, and more disappointment when you lose. It’s not quite as balanced of a feeling.”

For fans of every other team, the exhibition season is over. For fans of the Dodgers, the exhibition season extends through September, and the meaningful games start in October. The last time the Dodgers failed to make the playoffs: 13 years ago.

Yet a baseball season is a book with 162 chapters. There is plenty to savor within, new players and surprise storylines, a bounty to celebrate and appreciate as the summer unfolds.

Read more:Mookie Betts' walk-off homer in 10th keeps Dodgers undefeated: 'We just don't quit'

This is not as easy as the Dodgers plan to make it look, even with their 4-0 start.

When I asked Roberts what he would suggest to fans already counting down to October, he channeled one of the greatest champions in our city’s history.

“My advice would be what Kobe said: The dream is a journey. And when we're in your living rooms every night, when you come to the ballpark — 4 million people come to the ballpark every year — enjoy the journey.

“If you're just waiting to win a championship, and that defines the season for you and your joy, then you might want to find something else to root for, because you're missing a lot.”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.