The Philadelphia Phillies are locked into the National League’s No. 2 seed for the postseason and will face the winner of the Los Angeles Dodgers series against either the New York Mets or the Cincinnati Reds.
But, before the Phillies head on their well-deserved bye, and before they play an intra-squad game benefitting Phillies Charities, the Phillies have one final game this regular season. While it’s a meaningless game, there’s still a huge reason to watch.
Matt Gelb of The Athletic shared an announcement from Rob Thomson that makes the Phillies’ regular-season finale a huge deal. According to Thomson, the Phillies, for the first time in weeks, will have Trea Turner in the lineup.
Rob Thomson announces incredible Trea Turner news ahead of the Phillies’ regular-season finale
“Phillies will activate Trea Turner for Game 162,” Gelb reports. “He’ll play a few innings at shortstop Sunday. Phillies medical staff has deemed him healthy, Rob Thomson said.”
This update on Turner is some incredible news for the Phillies heading into the final game of the regular season. While it’s been reported that Turner will be ready to go by the NLDS, seeing him suit up in the regular season finale is a huge deal.
After injuring his hamstring against the Miami Marlins earlier in the month, there were fears he’d miss the postseason, not just the rest of the regular season. Instead, not only is Turner going to be in the lineup for the NLDS, but he’s also going to be playing in the regular season finale.
Even though he’s only slated to play a couple of innings, it’s still a huge deal to have Turner healthy and ready to go before the postseason begins. If only a little, shaking off some rust in Game 162 should help Turner be ready for the NLDS.
More: Phillies ‘thrilled’ with Trea Turner’s injury recovery progress
With this bit of incredible news, outside of Zack Wheeler, the Phillies’ ace, the team will be at full strength for October. Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm, Edmundo Sosa, and now Turner are all back and healthy for the Phillies.
Earlier in the week, Thomson was thrilled with Turner’s progress. While an encouraging report, knowing Turner is making progress, and getting him back in the lineup are two massively different things.
Turner’s return was the only thing separating this team from being at full strength. Instead of waiting until the NLDS begins for Turner to return to the lineup, the Phillies are set to get their NL-batting title champion back to close out the 2025 regular season.
