Adolis García is ‘a strong candidate’ to get a look in the Phillies’ search for a cleanup hitter

Over the last four seasons, Adolis García has the third-most plate appearances out of the cleanup spot of any hitter in baseball.

Get ready for him to reprise the role.

Brandon Marsh’s temporary run as the Phillies’ cleanup hitter — an alignment that bunches four left-handed hitters — is expected to end after Sunday’s series finale with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have an all-righty bullpen.

So, who will bat fourth when the Chicago Cubs arrive Monday?

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“I think García is a strong candidate,” manager Rob Thomson said, smiling.

Right now, he’s also the only candidate.

As long as the Phillies keep Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper in the two and three holes — and they banged back-to-back homers in the third inning of Saturday’s 4-3 victory — Thomson prefers a right-handed hitter in the No. 4 spot.

Through 12 games, it was Alec Bohm. But he got off to an 8-for-43 start (.186) and was dropped to seventh in the order Friday and eighth Saturday. It’s the second year in a row that Bohm has struggled early in the season.

“I think he knows that all we’re trying to do is help him and that he just needs to relax and be himself,” Thomson said. “Because he can hit. We all know he can hit.”

Until he does, García is the next right-handed hitter up for the Phillies, tied for 22nd in the majors through Friday with a .314 slugging percentage from the cleanup spot. Last year, they slugged .408 out of the cleanup spot, with Bohm, J.T. Realmuto, and departed Nick Castellanos taking up most of the at-bats.

“The numbers in the four-spot weren’t very good last year for our whole team,” Harper said in spring training. “Whoever’s in that four-spot is going to have a big job to do.”

García’s light-tower power makes him a more traditional cleanup hitter than Bohm. But over the last two seasons with the Texas Rangers, he swung at too many pitches out of the strike zone and was especially vulnerable to elevated fastballs.

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The Rangers didn’t tender a contract to García in the offseason. The Phillies took a one-year, $10 million flier in December and went to work on his plate approach. They also made a mechanical change, getting him to hold his bat upright rather than pointing it toward the pitcher.

It hasn’t translated in his overall numbers. García, 0-for-2 with a walk Saturday, is batting .220 and slugging .380 with two homers. But he’s trimmed his rate of out-of-the-zone swings to 31.3% through Friday from a career-high 35.8% last season.

“For the most part, he’s done a pretty good job at controlling the strike zone,” Thomson said. “There are times when everybody gets out of the strike zone. But he’s driven some balls the other way, too. So, his at-bats have been very good so far.”

Marsh moved into the cleanup spot Friday night and hit an opposite-field three-run homer in the first inning. But Thomson said it was only a short-term solution. Because the Diamondbacks lack a lefty reliever, Thomson didn’t mind a lefty-hitting bloc of Schwarber, Harper, Marsh, and Bryson Stott for three games.

The Cubs will come to town with three lefty relievers (Hoby Milner, Caleb Thielbar, and Riley Martin), which will cause the Phillies to split up the left-handed hitters.

And put García in the spotlight.

Outfield prospect Dante Nori is limited to designated hitting for double-A Reading because of what Thomson described as “a little shoulder thing” that arose last month at the World Baseball Classic.

Nori, 21, won’t be cleared to play defense until he completes a one-week throwing program that could begin next week, according to Thomson.

But Nori is off to a hot start at the plate following his breakout for Italy in the WBC. Through Friday, he was 10-for-26 (. 385) with two doubles and one triple.

Lefty reliever Tim Mayza retired 23 consecutive batters before allowing a two-out single in the sixth inning. He hasn’t given up a run in eight innings this season. … Injured reliever Max Lazar, who strained an oblique muscle in his left side last month, is throwing bullpen sessions in Clearwater, Fla., Thomson said. … Triple-A outfield prospect Gabriel Rincones Jr. (knee) is on track for a potential late-April return to games. … Andrew Painter (1-0, 4.82 ERA) is scheduled to start at 1:35 p.m. Sunday against Diamondbacks righty and Bishop Eustace product Zac Gallen (1-1, 3.00).