ARLINGTON -- “It’s a long season for a reason.”

That was Kyle Schwarber’s message after the Phillies were swept in their season-opening series with Sunday night’s 2-1 loss to the Rangers at Globe Life Field.

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Of course, this wasn’t the start anyone was expecting from the reigning National League champions. It also doesn’t mean the guys in the clubhouse aren’t upset -- “Who wouldn’t be upset?” Schwarber added. And it’s also possible things are being magnified a bit since it’s the opening series -- after all, it’s just 1.9% of the 162-game season.

Still, only six of the 118 World Series champions started 0-3. Only one team (the 2021 Braves) went on to win it all after starting 0-4.

The three-game sample from Arlington isn’t going to dictate the entire 2023 season, but it did leave a few questions unanswered that the Phillies will need to address as they head to New York for a quick turnaround against the Yankees.

What will the everyday lineup look like?
Rhys Hoskins’ season-ending injury obviously had a major impact on the lineup, and the timing of it couldn’t have been much worse.

With Hoskins going down just one week before the opener and the Phils acquiring center fielder Cristian Pache on the eve of Opening Day, manager Rob Thomson hasn’t had many chances to play with lineup combinations.

Schwarber served as the designated hitter on Thursday and Sunday. Jake Cave started in left field against right-handed Jacob deGrom on Opening Day, while Josh Harrison was there against left-handed Martín Pérez on Sunday.

Speaking of lefties, first baseman Darick Hall and center fielder Brandon Marsh also got the night off against Pérez, with Alec Bohm sliding to first and Pache starting in center. But the Phils have insisted they trust Marsh and Hall against lefties -- and they will get another chance to prove it in Monday night's series opener against Yankees southpaw Nestor Cortes.

Thomson will continue to tinker in the coming days, but does he plan to get to the point where he has an everyday lineup for righties and for lefties?

“Yes. Yeah. We'll get there,” Thomson said. “Sorting through your lineup early in the year is sort of like sorting through your bullpen earlier in the year. You have to get guys in different spots and see where they land for their role.”

How will they cover innings in the coming weeks?
It's not like the Phillies were going to deploy Aaron Nola or Zack Wheeler for eight innings right out of the gate, especially after playing into November last season -- but they were certainly hoping for more than eight combined innings from their co-aces in the first two games of 2023.

Bailey Falter helped ease the workload on the bullpen by taking down 5 1/3 frames on Sunday, but keep in mind Philadelphia will likely get only three innings from Matt Strahm -- who isn't fully stretched out -- on Tuesday. The club sent Taijuan Walker to New York ahead of the team on Sunday afternoon to prepare for his Phillies debut on Monday.

With Strahm still building up after the injuries to Ranger Suárez, Andrew Painter and Cristopher Sánchez this spring, Thomson was obviously prepared to ask for a little more out of his bullpen the first few times through the rotation. But through three games, the bullpen has worked nearly as many innings (10 2/3) as the starting rotation (13 1/3).

“Oh, it was huge,” Thomson said of Falter making the club’s longest start of the young season. “We got two short starts the last two nights, and we ran through our bullpen on both nights. So that was good. We should have pretty much everybody ready to go for [Monday].”

Who will get the first save opportunity?
The Phillies would love to provide an answer to this question on Monday. Thomson’s preference is to use a closer-by-committee approach -- and he has plenty of options in Craig Kimbrel, Seranthony Domínguez, José Alvarado and Gregory Soto (who bounced back from a rocky debut by striking out two in a perfect eighth inning on Sunday).

But with the Phillies not holding a lead at any point after the fourth inning on Opening Day, it remains to be seen who Thomson will call on first.

Fortunately, there are 159 more chances.

“I don’t think that we can look at this and try to drastically change things,” Schwarber said. “It’s the first part of the season, first three games. So not the way we wanted to start, but we’ve got to show up tomorrow.”