July 17, 2019
[UPDATE — 3 P.M.] As expected, the Phillies called up Nick Williams from Triple-A and placed Jay Bruce on the 10-day injured list after Bruce hurt his oblique in Tuesday's 9-8 win over the Dodgers.
Here's a look at their line up tonight for Game 3.
Phillies are down 5 starters tonight if you include Andrew McCutcheon and Jay Bruce https://t.co/54ClEpRkOV
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) July 17, 2019
For more read below:
Is there an Indian burial ground in the Phillies outfield this season or something?
Last night, Jay Bruce — you know, the left-handed trade acquisition with 25 home runs — left Tuesday's win over the Dodgers with an oblique injury. Most of the time, an injury like that requires time on the injured list.
He'll join a lengthy list of Phillies outfielders who are, or were, unable to play for long stints this season. Andrew McCutchen tore his ACL, Odubel Herrera got suspended by Major League Baseball, Adam Haseley missed a few weeks with a groin strain, Roman Quinn missed a bunch of time with a groin injury too and now Bruce.
It's not as horrible as the Phillies revolving door of relievers, but it's still pretty bad — although Bruce has been struggling (0-14) since the All-Star break. The Phillies recently signed one-time Marlin Logan Morrison to a minor league deal, and the veteran hit a homer in his first at bat in the minor league system. He has 137 over a nine-year career and was a depth signing just for this purpose.
The Phillies also could turn back to Nick Williams — who hit .173 in 50 games earlier this season. The 25-year-old former prospect was demoted a few weeks ago, and has actually been mashing in Triple-A. He's hit .345 with 18 extra base hits in 28 games in Lehigh Valley.
Whether Williams can translate that to the big leagues and be a longterm fix is anyone's guess — but the team is still probably going to be much more focused on adding some pitching at the deadline — if they add at all. After all, the Phillies DO have a lot of talent in the outfield either currently injured or working up through the minors (like Mickey Moniak and Cornelius Randolph). They DO NOT have much by way of big league caliber starting pitching.
Which is why it's worth monitoring rumors they are scouting Marcus Stroman, Robbie Ray and others as the trade deadline approaches on July 31.
Follow along with every rumor and piece of news below with our live MLB trade deadline tracker and open thread:
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