PHILADELPHIA — Trea Turner and Edmundo Sosa faced live pitching at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday before the Phillies’ series opener with Miami.

Turner, who has been out since Sept. 8 with a hamstring strain, will go through the same routine again Wednesday. Sosa, placed on the IL last Tuesday, came through well enough to likely be activated on Wednesday. Sosa was eligible to come off the IL Tuesday, but the team went through an extra day of conditioning.

Both players hit off minor leaguers Andrew Walling and Danny Harper, shuttled to Philadelphia for that purpose. Manager Rob Thomson was happy with how Turner’s timing looked, and he’s hopeful Turner could be activated before the end of the regular season on Sunday.

“I’d like to see him get some at-bats, for sure,” Thomson said. “But he simulated some at-bats today and looked like his timing was OK. But getting him on his feet would be good for him, for sure.”

Thomson said Turner is at about 70 to 75 percent on his Grade 1 hamstring strain and that he came through running drills well on Monday.

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Major League Baseball announced it would implement the automatic ball-strike challenge system in the 2026 regular season.

The system, which allows in-game challenges on ball/strike calls at home plate, has been used in the minor leagues for several seasons. It was piloted for big-league clubs in spring training this year and was used in the 2025 MLB All-Star Game.

Thomson is among those in favor.

“I love it, and I loved it in spring training,” Thomson said. “I think not all the players, but I think most of the players, if you ask them, they really liked it, too. I think it keeps everybody accountable. It keeps everybody on their toes. I do like the added challenge during extra innings. I thought umpires were really locked in in spring training. Hitters were really locked in during spring training. I thought it worked great.”

The system is akin to the automatic line-calling system in tennis, with an array of cameras and a tolerance of one-sixth of an inch on a zone tailored to each player’s height. Challenges can be made by pitchers, hitters and catchers, with two challenges per game, essentially two wrong challenges per game, since you retain a successful one. An additional challenge will be added for extra innings.

The move was approved by the Joint Competition Committee. Owners were overwhelmingly in favor, the players less so. New Phillie Walker Buehler offered an unsolicited slam of the system after experiencing it in his one game at Lehigh Valley before being called up.

“I think it’s inaccurate,” Buehler said on Sept. 11. “I think most of the stadiums, it’s not even actually on the plate. I think it shifts certain directions in certain ballparks. I think the human element is a huge part of this game. I think starting pitchers that have pitched for a long time deserve certain parts of the plate that other guys don’t get. When I got to the big leagues, I didn’t get every part of the zone that other guys did. And I think that’s part of our game and should be. I think the punishment for challenging something that’s clearly a strike is not big enough.”

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NOTES >> Bryce Harper was out of the lineup Tuesday due to illness. Thomson couldn’t say pregame if the slugger would be available to pinch hit. Otto Kemp started at first base. … Zack Wheeler had successful thoracic outlet decompression syndrome in St. Louis with Dr. Robert Thompson. He’ll remain there most of this week to recover. Wheeler is done for the season and faces six to eight months of recovery to get back on the mound. … Jordan Romano hasn’t yet begun to throw. He was placed on the IL in late August with middle finger inflammation, then experienced neck stiffness and numbness in his finger that slowed his recovery plan. … Kemp Monday was named one of the recipients of the 2025 Paul Owens Award as the top minor league player in the Phillies system. The top pitcher was Griff McGarry, who went 2-5 with a 3.44 ERA in 21 starts, 17 of them at Double-A Reading. Fightin’ Phils manager Al Pedrique won the team’s John Vukovich Award, while Texas-based area scout Tommy Field was named the Dallas Green Award winner.

Originally Published: September 23, 2025 at 5:34 PM EDT