‘He’s a one-of-a-kind, special talent’: Edmundo Sosa steps up for Phillies once again
The Phillies’ home opener, a day meant to bring the energy of a baseball season back to Citizens Bank Park, lacked much life for almost seven full innings. That’s when Edmundo Sosa brought exactly what he brings.
Philadelphia’s extra man and spark plug, Sosa stepped to the plate with two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh against Colorado Rockies reliever Victor Vodnik. And the right-handed hitter delivered the blow that kicked off a parade of late Phillies runs in his third straight start at shortstop in place of Trea Turner.
Sosa lined a gapper into right-center field, driving home two runs and giving the Phillies the lead in an eventual 6-1 victory on Monday afternoon. The infielder pulled into second base and turned to the first-base dugout. He pumped his arms and flexed his muscles. Sosa, once again, had come through.
“It’s important for me to get this many shots early on,” Sosa said through a team interpreter, “and I’m just having fun on the field. I’m optimistic about it, and I’m having fun on the field, too. I had a lot of at-bats in spring training, so I’ve been in the groove. And I’m just going out and doing what I need to do and whatever they need from me.”
Sosa went 2-for-3 with two doubles on Monday as he continued a hot start to the 2025 season. He’s had two hits in each of the three games he’s played to begin the year, going 6-for-11 with a walk and three doubles. He’s succeeding in a role that he’s taken advantage of during his time in Philadelphia.
“He’s extremely important because you’re gonna have injuries over the course of the year,” manager Rob Thomson said, “and he can fill in almost anywhere other than first base, anywhere in the infield. And when he gets a chance to play, he plays well.”
Sosa isn’t a perfect player and probably wouldn’t fare as well as a starter. He’s a free swinger at the plate, which can lead him to being overexposed in too many at-bats. But he’s carved out a niche with the Phillies, and he’s helped the team off the bench. He spelled Bryson Stott against left-handers during the club’s run to the 2022 World Series after coming over in a trade from the Cardinals. He can give players around the infield a day off their feet when the matchup is in his favor, and he can take on a bigger role for stretches when a player hits the injured list.
Sosa knows he’s not a regular, but he still prepares every day and wants to contribute. He feels the trust that the Phillies have in him to produce in the chances he gets.
“The Phillies brought me here in 2022,” Sosa said. “I was having a little bit of a tough stretch during my career, not getting as many opportunities with my previous organization. And the Phillies just embraced me, and they treated me like a superstar from the first day. And I think that’s something that played a lot into embracing these roles, giving the best of myself here and working every day.”
On Monday, the Phillies (3-1) needed Sosa to extend the seventh inning as they trailed by a run with two outs. He did his job and plated two runs with a 103 mph line drive, igniting a rally. The next at-bat, Kyle Schwarber smoked a two-run shot off the batter’s eye in center field to score Sosa. Max Kepler and Nick Castellanos then hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth. The Phillies blew it open, and it all started with Sosa.
“He’s been doing such a fantastic job,” Schwarber said of Sosa. “Obviously, with Trea going down, it’s not ideal. When you feel like you have a guy that can step right in and feels like not missing a beat and performing the way that he’s performing on the offensive side of the ball, defensive side of the ball, it’s key. It’s huge.”
These at-bats from Sosa will likely be slowing down shortly. Turner (low back spasm) could be back in the lineup soon. He pinch hit during that seventh inning, drawing a walk, and was one of the runners Sosa drove home. But the Phillies believe Sosa is suited to stay ready and keep playing well, even as the playing time diminishes.
“He’s such a great player, such a great person,” Schwarber said. “He goes about it the right way. He’s a one-of-a-kind, special talent.”