Phillies vs Pirates

Realmuto is eligible to return Saturday and it appears that he is trending towards a return then. The catcher landed on the 10-day injured list April 22 due to back spasms after initially tweaking his back the prior week.

It will be the first time Duran has thrown off the mound since he was sidelined by a left oblique strain two weeks ago. The Phillies are optimistic that Duran will be ready to rejoin the active roster soon, though it's unclear whether he will travel with them to Miami for a series with the Marlins this weekend.

Backhus needed 15 pitches (12 strikes) to get the job done in the first inning, but the Cubs, who have been one of the best offenses in the majors over the last 10 days, still found a way to score against him. Backhus should return to his regular role in the bullpen moving forward and has been pitching well of late, tossing four scoreless outings over six appearances this month, with a 2.45 ERA across 7.1 innings.

Lazar has been out all season with a left oblique strain he suffered during the World Baseball Classic while playing for Team Israel. He is on the 60-day injured list and not eligible to return until late May, so Lazar will make several rehab appearances before the Phillies consider adding him back to their active roster.

Andrew Painter had been lined up to start the series finale, but Pop will take the hill to begin the game after Painter was a late scratch due to a migraine. Pop hasn't covered more than an inning in any of his appearances in spring training nor during any of his six relief outings so far during the regular season, so he's not expected to provide the Phillies with much length in his first MLB start.

Triolo has moved his minor-league assignment to Altoona this week after appearing in a pair of games last week for Single-A Bradenton. The 28-year-old logged nine innings at third base Tuesday, but the Pirates may want to see him play full games on back-to-back days before bringing him back from the injured list. Once Triolo is activated, he could reclaim the primary role at third base from Nick Gonzales.

Robertson logged 75 plate appearances in the big leagues last season between stops with the Blue Jays and White Sox, but after being claimed off waivers by the Orioles over the winter and later outrighted off the 40-man roster, he never appeared to be a strong candidate to break camp with Baltimore. He's slated to serve as organizational outfield depth at Triple-A Norfolk in 2026.