Phillies Wire Vol. 1 · No. 2 · 2026-03-28

1-0

Season

PHI 1-0 ■ Phillies vs Rangers - Game 2 · 4:05 PM ■ Aaron Nola vs Jacob Latz ■ NBCSP+ · 94.1 WIP ■ 46° · Clear · gusts 31 mph ■ signed free agent RF Óscar Mercado to a minor league contract. ■ signed free agent SS Sergio Alcántara to a minor league contract. ■ sent RHP Zack Wheeler on a rehab assignment to Lehigh Valley IronPigs. ■ sent C Garrett Stubbs outright to Lehigh Valley IronPigs. ■ PHI 1-0 ■ Phillies vs Rangers - Game 2 · 4:05 PM ■ Aaron Nola vs Jacob Latz ■ NBCSP+ · 94.1 WIP ■ 46° · Clear · gusts 31 mph ■ signed free agent RF Óscar Mercado to a minor league contract. ■ signed free agent SS Sergio Alcántara to a minor league contract. ■ sent RHP Zack Wheeler on a rehab assignment to Lehigh Valley IronPigs. ■ sent C Garrett Stubbs outright to Lehigh Valley IronPigs. ■

Live fallback Updated Mar 28, 2026, 5:14 PM ET

Injury report uses fixture baseline plus live transactions when the MLB injuries endpoint is unavailable.

Rehab assignment notes are refreshed from the MLB transactions feed.

Live

PHI 0, TEX 3

Bottom 4th · 0 outs

Kyle Schwarber is up against Jacob Latz. Series: PHI leads 1-0.

Matchup

Phillies vs Rangers - Game 2

Broadcast

NBCSP+ · MLB.TV · 94.1 WIP

Weather

46° · Clear

Tomorrow

Jesús Luzardo vs MacKenzie Gore · PHI vs TEX · Sun, Mar 29 · 1:35 PM

Kyle Schwarber at the plate

Jacob Latz on the mound

Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia

Matchup Phillies vs Rangers - Game 2

First Pitch 4:05 PM

Venue Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia

Starters Aaron Nola vs Jacob Latz

Series PHI leads 1-0

Broadcast NBCSP+ · MLB.TV · 94.1 WIP

Weather 46° · Clear · 13 mph · gusts 31

Giveaway Opening Night T-shirt (fans 15+)

SEPTA Sports Trippers from Fern Rock every 10 min from 2:40 PM

PHI 5, TEX 3. Key performers from the latest result:

Cristopher Sánchez · SP

6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 K · 87 pitches, changeup 54% whiff rate

Kyle Schwarber · DH

1-for-3, 2B HR, 2 RBI · Two-run opposite-field HR in 1st off Eovaldi

Alec Bohm · 3B

1-for-3, HR, 3 RBI · Three-run shot in 5th chased Eovaldi

Justin Crawford · CF

2-for-4 · Two singles in first two MLB at-bats

Jhoan Durán · CL

1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, SV 1 · Closed after Backhus surrendered 2-run HR

Sánchez retired 19 of the final 20 batters. His changeup had a 54% whiff rate.

Starting Rotation

Mar 28

Aaron Nola

vs TEX

Mar 29

Jesús Luzardo

vs TEX

Mar 30

Taijuan Walker

vs WSH

Mar 31

Andrew Painter

vs WSH

Apr 1

TBD

vs WSH

26-Man Roster Highlights

Justin Crawford

CF · Rookie · Made Opening Day club

active

Andrew Painter

SP · #28 MLB prospect · Starts Mar 31

active

Óscar Mercado

RF · signed free agent RF Óscar Mercado

milb

Sergio Alcántara

SS · signed free agent SS Sergio Alcántara

milb

Zack Wheeler · RHP

Thoracic outlet decompression surgery (Sep 23). sent RHP Zack Wheeler on a rehab assignment to Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Target return: Mid-April

15-Day IL

Orion Kerkering · RHP

Grade 1 right hamstring strain. 1 IP rehab outing today after Wheeler. First eligible: 2026-04-07

15-Day IL

Max Lazar · RHP

Left oblique strain (WBC). Minor per Thomson. First eligible: 2026-04-06

15-Day IL

All three IL stints retroactive to March 22. No 40-man pressure until Wheeler is activation-ready.

Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs

Lehigh Valley IronPigs open against Toledo Mud Hens at Coca-Cola Park. Game 1 of 3 runs Mar 27–29. Stream on MiLB.TV. Manager Anthony Contreras returns for Franchise-record 5th season.

Names to Watch

Zack Wheeler · RHP

Rehab start today — first live outing post-surgery

rehab

Orion Kerkering · RHP

1 IP rehab outing today after Wheeler

rehab

Christian Cairo · INF

Contract selected + optioned to LV. Near-term recall candidate.

new

Liover Peguero · INF

Established Triple-A depth piece

new

Chase Shugart / Seth Johnson · RHP

40-man experience · Near-term recall options

new

The storyline today is Aaron Nola making his first start since a career-worst 6.01 ERA in 2025. He showed genuine velocity gains this spring — 94.5 mph max — and dominated a Venezuela WBC lineup that reads like an All-Star ballot. He faces the same Rangers offense Sánchez carved up on Thursday.

deGrom went 12–8, 2.97 ERA last season but faces Citizens Bank Park for the first time as a Ranger. Schwarber and Bohm are both hot. A win today clinches the series before Luzardo even takes the ball Sunday.

The Phillies don't need Nola back in the low 3s. They need 20 quality starts out of 32.

Up Next

Sun, Mar 29 Jesús Luzardo vs MacKenzie Gore · 1:35 PM · TBD

Mon, Mar 30 Taijuan Walker vs TBD · 6:40 PM · TBD

Tue, Mar 31 Andrew Painter vs TBD · 6:40 PM · TBD

Tomorrow

Jesús Luzardo vs MacKenzie Gore · PHI vs TEX

Sun, Mar 29 · 1:35 PM

NBCSP · Citizens Bank Park