Philadelphia Phillies star Kyle Schwarber was scratched before Tuesday's 14-9 win against the Washington Nationals due to a back injury concern. He is dealing with lower back tightness. The Phillies do not believe the injury is serious, but Schwarber is not in the lineup on Wednesday.

Bryce Harper is at designated hitter with Alec Bohm playing first base. It remains to be seen if Schwarber will be available off the bench. Updates on his injury status will be monitored and provided as they are made available.

Schwarber, 33, is hitting .252/.365/.594 across 75 games played this season. He also has a league leading 29 home runs. Schwarber looks like an MVP candidate once again.

Article Continues Below

The Phillies are understandably approaching his injury situation with caution. The last thing they want to do is have him play again before he is ready and risk further injury.

Wednesday's contest represents the third matchup of a four-game series between the Phillies and Nationals. Washington earned a 4-1 win on Monday, but Philadelphia bounce back with the aforementioned 14-9 victory on Tuesday.

At 43-36, Philadelphia is suddenly only 5.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves for first place in the National League East standings. The Braves held a much larger lead early in the season. Atlanta has struggled in recent action, while Philadelphia has won six of its past 10 games.

The Phillies will look to earn a victory on Wednesday night despite Kyle Schwarber's absence from the starting lineup. First pitch for the game between the National League East ball clubs is scheduled for 6:45 PM EST at Nationals Park.