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It took Phillies manager Rob Thomson longer than normal to post his Tuesday lineup.

Typically, a delay means a health issue.

Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean an injury. But it might mean Thomson and his staff want to check in with a player or two before they put them in the lineup. Thomson acknowledged as much when he met with reporters in the visitors’ dugout at Truist Park in Atlanta.

“Just waiting on a couple guys to hit in the cage, and figure out where they’re at,” Thomson said. “This time of year, the wear and tear on guys have taken its toll. I just want to make sure they’re OK.”

Is Bryce Harper one of those guys?

“All of them,” Thomson said.

Thomson’s words brought back memories of Sunday afternoon’s 6-4 loss to the Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies put the leadoff man on base in the ninth inning, sending the tying run to the plate. Thomson had Harper and J.T. Realmuto on the bench available to pinch-hit, but he had Cal Stevenson and Garrett Stubbs hit as scheduled. Stevenson bounced into a double play. Stubbs grounded out to end the game.

Afterward, Thomson said he did not consider pinch-hitting Harper or Realmuto, because he was thinking about the long term, meaning the postseason.

Thomson has been criticized heavily for the decision and the explanation because one game could be the difference between the Phillies getting a first-round bye in the 2024 postseason and/or home-field advantage through the NL Championship Series.

“People have to understand the No. 1 thing we have to do here is win,” Thomson said Tuesday. “And I hate losing. I love winning. We’ve done a lot of it here in the last couple years. But part of that formula is to make sure everybody is healthy and that everybody can get through the end of the year, hopefully get into the playoffs and we make a long run. So there’s some tough decisions you have to make along the way to make sure that you stay healthy.”

Was one of those tough decisions what happened in the ninth inning on Sunday?

“Absolutely,” Thomson said. “But that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to win. It just means I want to take care of some people. Because if we lose some people in a manner where you’re not being very prudent in your decisions, that’s a problem.”

Two theories here:
1. Harper might have been banged up on Sunday and needed a break.
2. Harper was told he was getting Sunday off and did not go through his normal routine, meaning stretching, hitting in the cage, etc. In that case, Thomson probably felt it was too risky to send Harper to the plate.

Imagine an alternate universe where Harper did no pregame work, grabbed a bat in the ninth inning and pulled an oblique on a swing or a hamstring running hard down the first-base line. Afterward, it is revealed that Harper injured himself because he had not been prepared to play.

The criticism would have been off the charts.

“It’s all part of the job,” Thomson said about criticism. “It really is. And our fanbase is so passionate. I can’t control that, but the thing I don’t want to have happen [is] our fans lose their passion.”