Nick Castellanos is out of Phillies lineup on Saturday for a pre-planned rest day, Rob Thomson says

ARLINGTON, Texas — For just the third time this season, Nick Castellanos’ name wasn’t in the Phillies’ lineup card before Saturday’s game against the Rangers.

Castellanos had an iron-man streak of 236 games before being benched for one game in Miami on June 17 after making an “inappropriate comment” to manager Rob Thomson. He sat out on July 26 against the Yankees as a precaution after jamming a knee into the wall while making a play the day before.

But on Saturday, Castellanos got a day off not related to discipline or injury reasons. Max Kepler started in right field instead, with Harrison Bader in center and Brandon Marsh in left against Rangers righty Jacob deGrom.

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Thomson said this alignment had been planned in advance, due to the synthetic turf at Globe Life Field.

“I like the turf because it plays a little bit more like grass than other turf, but it’s pretty firm, pretty hard,” Thomson said. “So I was trying to give all the outfielders one day off on it.”

Bader entered Saturday 2-for-3 in his career against deGrom, which also played a role in his decision, Thomson said.

Thomson said Friday that he wants to “mix up” his outfield alignment over the next few days to determine who is swinging a hot bat. Castellanos has been an everyday player since arriving in Philadelphia.

Does this mean that Thomson expects to give Castellanos more days off going forward?

“I haven’t really thought about it that way,” Thomson said. “But I just thought, you know where we’re at with trying to figure out who everybody is, and how we’re going to align this thing, just the matchup and the surface, probably the best day to do it.”

Marsh had a 4-for-5 night on Friday and is hitting .318 with a .934 OPS since July 1. But given Thomson’s plan to give each of his outfielders one day off in Texas, it doesn’t sound like he will get an opportunity against left-hander Patrick Corbin on Sunday.

“I’m not going to give you my lineup, but you can probably do the math,” Thomson said.

As starter Cristopher Sánchez waded into trouble in the fifth inning on Friday with the bases loaded, Thomson called for Jordan Romano to start warming up in the bullpen.

Sánchez ultimately escaped the jam, and came back out for the sixth before Tanner Banks took over in the seventh. But had Romano entered the game when he was warming up, it would have been the earliest he had pitched in a game all season.

The addition of closer Jhoan Duran has shifted the rest of the bullpen up an inning, with Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm planned to be the main setup pitchers, tabbed for the seventh or eighth.

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Romano, who has a 6.64 ERA, got the bulk of the save opportunities before Duran’s arrival, leading the team with 11. He has converted eight and blown three. Now, his role looks different.

“I think he’s really good right now at — I hate using the term — killing innings," Thomson said. “He comes in. It’s dirty. He can get out of it. He’s doing a nice job of that.”

Romano has had struggles holding runners on, and has allowed nine stolen bases this season. But Thomson said that he feels Romano has made strides in that area, and feels confident calling on him in those situations.

“He’s sped up quite a bit,” Thomson said. “So he’s in that 1.4 to 1.5 [-second] range [to the plate], and with our two catchers, the way they throw, we’re in pretty good shape there.”

José Alvarado will make his next minor league appearance on Sunday for triple-A Lehigh Valley. The earliest he can be activated is Aug. 19. … David Robertson joined the team on Saturday afternoon and will be activated on Sunday. … Fellow righty reliever Daniel Robert (blister) is set to begin a rehab assignment and will pitch on Tuesday and Thursday. … Zack Wheeler (9-5, 2.64 ERA) is scheduled to start Sunday in the series finale against Corbin (6-7, 3.91). Wheeler’s start had been pushed back after he felt soreness in his shoulder, but Thomson said he felt fine after throwing a bullpen on Friday and is ready to go.