The Phillies survived their first tough stretch. Now, they’re getting healthy.

When Scott Kingery limped off the field earlier this month in Denver, he became the fourth player in five days from the Phillies’ opening-day roster to go down with an injury.

They were already in the midst of playing 17 games in 17 days, and they would have to navigate that stretch without key pieces. Reliever David Robertson was already out with a sore elbow. Shortstop Jean Segura and center fielder Odubel Herrera both had hamstring injuries. The season’s first tough stretch was not providing any breaks for the Phillies.

But they survived it. A 5-1 win Sunday over the Marlins gave the Phillies nine victories in those 17 games. They went from being tied for the NL East lead to 1 1/2 games in front and showed signs that they are nearing a return to full health.

Segura returned Saturday and overcame a scare from being hit in the helmet by a fastball to record his ninth multi-hit game Sunday. Herrera sprinted on the field Sunday morning and has a chance to return Tuesday night. Robertson will test his arm this week and is itching to return. Kingery (hamstring) is likely a week away. The Phillies are no longer limping.

“We haven’t been at full strength, and our lineup hasn’t clicked the way we all know it can,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “We got through April or almost through April and we’ve done a good job, but I think there’s better baseball to play.”

The lineup seemed to click before Segura strained his left hamstring. The Phillies averaged 6.19 runs in their first 16 games. They averaged just 2.9 in 10 games with Segura on the injured list.

The Phillies seemed to lack punch without Segura, who has the seventh-best contact rate in the National League, batting second. They missed his aggressive approach and his knack for putting the ball in play. He leads the team in multi-hit games despite missing 10. His impact was obvious Sunday when he slapped an RBI triple to right field and scored twice.

Most of the attention this offseason was focused on the arrival of Andrew McCutchen and J.T. Realmuto and the pursuit of Bryce Harper. But the team’s first challenging stretch illuminated just how important Segura has been.

“It was tough, some weird stuff happening and a little bit of travel,” Hoskins said about the stretch of games. “We’re probably tired a little bit. It was the first long stretch of the year, the first time we had done that, so we’ll enjoy this [day off] for sure.”

It is unlikely that Herrera’s injury cost him his starting job, but it did give the Phillies a chance to learn how they can use Nick Williams. This past weekend against Miami, the Phillies moved McCutchen to center field and inserted Williams in left to give him his first three starts of the season. McCutchen looked fine playing center for the first time since 2017. Williams homered Saturday, had three hits this weekend, and hit the hardest ball by a Phillies batter Sunday.

Herrera will return soon and likely resume his duties in center field. But just as the tough stretch provided a chance to see how important Segura is, it also allowed Williams to know that he won’t have to wait 26 more games to find his name in the starting lineup. The Phillies survived their first tough stretch of the season. And as they get healthy, they could have some good problems to figure out.

“The way that Cutch has taken charge in the outfield when he plays center field gives us a lot to think about,” Kapler said. “The way that Nick has swung the bat, his at-bats, even when he’s made outs, he’s made some loud outs, he looks really confident at the plate, and he’s done a nice job in left field.

"So my thought process is if he can play an above-average left field, or even an average left field, and Cutch can keep doing what he’s doing out there, then it turns into the best lineup plays.”