🥊 In this corner ... | Sports Daily Newsletter

Jaron “Boots” Ennis will try to add another world title belt to his collection on Saturday when he faces Eimantas Stanionis at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall. The IBF welterweight champ will do so with another Philadelphian in his corner, and here is where the story takes a twist.

His cutman is not a man at all. Trish Kuller is blazing a trail as a cutwoman, entrusted with keeping Ennis’ face intact as he strives to do the same with his unbeaten record.

Kuller has been a regular in Ennis’ corner. She began as a cutwoman for her son, welterweight Quadir Albright, in an effort to save costs before his pro debut. Before she took on the job applying ice and stanching blood from facial cuts, Kuller trained under veteran cornerman Danny Davis.

She was ready and far from squeamish. Kuller had seen far worse working in the emergency room at Nazareth Hospital. She was cut out for the job. Matt Breen tells her story.

— Jim Swan, @phillysport, [email protected].

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The Phillies are off to a 7-2 start, their best since 2019. They won their first three series for the first time since 2011 and the 11th time in the franchise’s 143-season history. They just took two of three games from the defending World Series champion Dodgers, undefeated through eight games when they breezed into town. As they open a six-game road trip in Atlanta tonight, let’s review some takeaways from their first nine games, beginning with “concerns” for their biggest offseason addition to the bullpen.

As more hitters experiment with using torpedo bats, we asked Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long to weigh in on baseball’s newest craze in the latest episode of Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball show.

Next: Zack Wheeler (1-0, 1.38 ERA), who finished second in NL Cy Young voting last year, will start against Braves left-hander Chris Sale (0-1, 5.40), who won the award, in the opener of their three-game series at 7:15 tonight (NBCSP).

Fran McCaffery officially came home Monday in a Palestra press conference introducing him as Penn’s new men’s basketball coach. The former Iowa coach said of the job at Penn, where he once played: “When it’s open, then you say, wait a minute, it’s been one of the most impactful experiences of my life. And how great would it be to go back home and be the coach at the place that I love, the place that I grew up idolizing?”

McCaffery has gotten his wish, but he’ll need help from the university if he hopes to turn the Quakers around. Jonathan Tannenwald explains.

Meanwhile, over at Villanova, new coach Kevin Willard picked up his first transfer-portal commitment and added one from an incoming freshman as well.

The 76ers are aware that their summer and the next season will be filled with uncertainty. Half of their roster, including all of the major players, is facing injury on some level, with Joel Embiid and Paul George, their perennial All-Stars, facing some of the most dire circumstances. Sixers coach Nick Nurse recognized the many question marks his team will face over the next several months.

“There’s, obviously, a good number of them that need to get taken care of, get back to health, but obviously, Joel and Paul will be the big concerns,” Nurse said. “Can they get back and get ready to go?

“And I guess we won’t find that out for a little while, and then you start unpacking and then you get back to thinking there’s some really, really good players there and start piecing it together and then we get ready to build out the rest of the roster around them.”

The Sixers kept their tanking plan on schedule with a 117-105 loss to the Miami Heat. It was their 15th defeat in 16 games.

The Flyers smiled for the cameras Monday morning at the Wells Fargo Center as they gathered for their annual team photo. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and this one would tell of a team that hit “rock bottom,” as general manager Danny Brière said when he fired John Tortorella on March 27.

It is also a picture that shows the future in phenom Matvei Michkov and corner pieces like Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim, and Owen Tippett. Jackie Spiegel considers how that picture could change after the season ends.

The Eagles have one of the best running backs in the NFL in Saquon Barkley and have depth at the position, but they could still add a back in the draft later this month. The team had a meeting with Texas running back Jaydon Blue at the scouting combine and he told SEC Network after his pro day that he was going to visit the Birds.

Here’s a look at some of the draft class at running back.

Which men’s coach has the most career wins at Big 5 schools? First with the correct answer here will be featured in the newsletter.

A) Jay Wright

B) Fran Dunphy

C) Phil Martelli

D) Rollie Massimino

We asked you: How can the Phillies keep Edmundo Sosa’s red-hot bat in the lineup? Among your responses:

I would suggest subbing for Bohm, Turner and Stott and possibly even Schwarber at DH. That puts him in the lineup full time. — Robert M.

Last stat I saw had him as the hottest hitter in MLB. That’s enough to get him in the lineup. Spread him out around the infield to give the starters a day off. Thomson needs to keep him in there and fresh or his hot hitting bat may disappear. — Kathy T.

How can they can keep him in the lineup? Put his name on the lineup card every day because he’s proved that he belongs. Marsh right now is nowhere near the hitter Sosa is. Plus, as a righty, Sosa helps the lineup because they see a lot of lefties. — Mitch B.

Can he play 1st base? — Britton M.

Play this hitting machine every day, anywhere as long as he’s smokin’. Can Sosa pitch? Add the bullpen to his résumé. Can’t hurt the Phil’s Reliever Corps. The complete crew causes one’s stomach to bind with every game and pitch. Right on up to Alvarado, a Master at Administering Agony. — John B.

Just rotate him in at 3rd, SS and 2B while giving Bohm, Turner, and Stott a day off. And then he can also come in as a left fielder moving Kepler to center while giving Marsh a day off, and the same by taking over left and moving Kepler to right and giving Nick a day off. And when Bryce needs a day off he can take over at 3rd and move Bohm to first. — Everett S.

Time to platoon? Rojas and Sosa in the OF. Marsh and Kepler under .200. Need more production — period. — Dr. Drew

Since he can play almost any position, should be easy. Rotate him between 3rd, short, second, and center field. Should play every day, and since Marsh and Stott can’t hit lefthanders, figure it out Rob. — Bill M.

Unfortunately we have a manager who has no idea on how to draw up a lineup. The team keeps winning in spite of him. Why in the world would he sit the hottest hitter in baseball for two playoff like games in April? Marsh isn’t even hitting his weight. Neither is Kepler. Edmundo should be starting in at least 5 of 7 games regardless of who’s pitching. He’ll eventually cool off. Then again, maybe not. We were at Sunday’s rain game. One of the more exciting games we’ve been to in years. — Ronald R.

Just put him in center field, Marsh can’t hit left handers. — Fran M.

It’s Thompson’s job as the manager to do exactly that ... keep the hot bats in the lineup. With Sosa also now being able to play the outfield that makes 7 positions he can be utilized in. Sosa doesn’t appear to be bothered by playing different positions so I don’t see this as being that big of a problem. What I see as a problem is sitting a guy who is red hot. This has happened way too often in the past. Let the guys who are on a hot roll keep playing! — Bob A.

In his seven years in the big leagues, Sosa is a lifetime .259 hitter. His strength is being a good utility infielder, which all teams need to have. The idea of making him an everyday player is misguided. None of the other starters project to hit less over a full season than he does. All of them will have hot streaks, like Sosa has had to start this season. Pick spots where he can give a starter a day’s rest, but don’t overhaul the starting lineup for Sosa, who will most likely level off at his historical .259 batting average. — John W.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Matt Breen, Jeff Neiburg, Jonathan Tannenwald, Keith Pompey, Jackie Spiegel, Scott Lauber, Gabriela Carroll, and Katie Lewis.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

Thank you for reading. Bella will be at the newsletter controls on Wednesday. — Jim