Phils injury updates: Harper, Realmuto, more
PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies have been hit hard with injuries the past couple weeks, including when Bryce Harper departed Sunday's 6-3 loss to the Blue Jays because of lower back stiffness.
Harper returned to the lineup on Monday as the club's designated hitter, but here's a full update on his status, as well as the other injured Philadelphia players:
Bryce Harper
Harper does not know when he tweaked his back this season. He just knows that he woke up one morning and something felt wrong.
“It feels good, then it feels a little tight the next day,” he said after Monday night’s 5-1 loss to the Nationals. “It’s just something I’ve got to keep control of. Just trying to get through it the best I can right now, then get healthy after this.”
Harper was the Phillies’ designated hitter on Monday. He said afterward he is “definitely a little sore.” But he will play one half of Tuesday’s seven-inning doubleheader and Wednesday’s series finale in right field. He said he will DH the other half of the doubleheader.
Harper went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts Monday, but he refused to use his back as an excuse.
“I think the biggest thing for my swing, right now, is that I’m swinging at balls out of the zone and not hitting the ones in the zone,” he said. “I’m not going to blame it on my back or anything like that. If I can square a baseball up, then I can square a baseball up.”
Harper said he doesn’t really feel the back when he swings.
“If I get going and try to stop the swing, not really all the way, but on the take, it kind of grabs," he said. "I probably felt it the most when I’m in the outfield, just from standing there, getting cold and then getting going again.”
J.T. Realmuto
Phillies manager Joe Girardi sounded hopeful that Realmuto could catch one of Tuesday’s games. The skipper had hoped that Realmuto might have been available as a pinch-hitter on Monday, but he was not used in the series-opening loss to the Nationals.
Realmuto has not played since Sept. 12 because of a strained left hip flexor. Girardi said they felt Realmuto was 80-85 percent healthy on Sunday. Maybe one more day could bump him to 90 percent and another day could bump him close to 100 percent.
“We also know the risk,” Girardi said. “If he comes back too early and he re-injures it, he’s out for a while. I think that’s why we’re choosing maybe to give him tomorrow as the first day as opposed to maybe doing it today. We’ve just got to make sure he’s going to be OK.”
Girardi said the most challenging part for Realmuto is running, which is how he injured himself.
“The biggest concern is the burst out of the box,” he said. “Or if he had to all of a sudden make a burst on the bases because a guy misplayed a ball. We will remind him that most of the time he needs to have a governor on, like NASCAR. You’ve got to be smart on how you run. J.T. is an instinctual guy. He plays as hard as anyone. We took that into account. When we get him back we’ve got to make sure that he’s pretty far along because of the way he plays.”
Heath Hembree
The Phillies on Monday placed Hembree on the 10-day injured list with a strained right elbow. He will not throw for at least five days, which means he will not pitch in the first round of the postseason, if the Phils make it.
Hembree twice spent time on the injured list last season because of elbow problems. The Phillies said they were comfortable with Hembree’s health history before they acquired him on Aug. 21. They traded Nick Pivetta and prospect Connor Seabold to Boston for Brandon Workman and Hembree, who has a 12.54 ERA in 11 appearances since joining Philadelphia.
“I mean, look, we know the IL track record,” general manager Matt Klentak said. “This particular case, we also hired as our head trainer [Paul Buchheit] who knew him pretty well from Boston from the last few years. We had a pretty good feel for him, in general, as well as Workman. I mean, he’s not the only pitcher in the history of baseball to miss time with an elbow injury, so we felt comfortable making the trade and now he’s dealing with a setback, and we’ll just have to navigate it."
The Phillies recalled outfielder Mickey Moniak and right-hander Ramón Rosso to replace Hembree and right-hander Adonis Medina, who was optioned after Sunday’s start.
Rhys Hoskins
Girardi said they hope that Hoskins will try swinging a bat at some point during the upcoming road trip, but it did not happen on Monday.
Hoskins has a strained ulnar collateral ligament in his left arm, and he might need Tommy John surgery in the offseason, but he said he hopes he can play again this season. He can be activated from the 10-day injured list as soon as Wednesday.
“Try to ramp up and see whether or not I can swing a bat normally,” Hoskins said last week. “If I can, at that point, we’ll probably give it a go if I don’t have any hesitation. If not, then we’ll have to have another conversation about what the best plan of action is. I know surgery is not off the table, but I do know that it’s not a necessity per se, depending on how it responds.”
Shohei Ohtani had a similar injury with the Angels in 2018. He missed 26 days. There are only seven days remaining in the '20 regular season.
“I’m bummed and frustrated more than anything,” Hoskins said. “We spent these last 45-50 games battling. We had some obstacles that we’ve overcome. To continue to be a part of the group that overcame those obstacles is something that I was really looking forward to. I wanted to be able to finish that and see it through. Now, obviously, there’s still a chance that I will get to do that, but not being able to do that in such an important part of the season is tough.”
If Hoskins has surgery in the offseason, he believes the recovery time would be three to four months since it is his non-throwing arm, which could have him ready by Spring Training.
Jake Arrieta
Arrieta has a Grade 1 right hamstring strain. He will not pitch again in the regular season, but he is trying to keep his arm in shape so he can pitch in the postseason.
He played catch Saturday with right-hander Spencer Howard.
“Our hope is to get him back for the playoffs,” Girardi said this week. “I think that’s just kind of wishful thinking for the regular season. We'll just kind of wait and see how the healing process goes and try to keep his arm going through exercises or possibly throwing from a chair or on one knee, so when he’s able to come back, it happens fairly quickly.”
Spencer Howard
Howard is on the 10-day injured list because of stiffness in his right shoulder. He threw a bullpen session on Monday in Allentown, Pa., and he could pitch again before the end of the regular season. He is eligible to be activated as soon as Wednesday.
“I think the downtime in the last week has been very helpful for him,” Klentak said. “I think it is possible he could be activated before the end of the regular season, most likely [against the Rays]. But even if that’s not the case, he would be a candidate for our first-round playoff roster. Now, just knowing that’s only a three-game series, I think he would likely be pitching out of the bullpen, if we get that far. But he has been trending in the right direction and there hasn’t been anything especially alarming in that one.”
José Álvarez
Álvarez (testicular contusion) is not eligible to be activated from the 45-day injured list until Oct. 5. The National League Division Series begins Oct. 6, so Álvarez potentially could rejoin the team for the second round.
Kyle Garlick
Garlick landed on the 10-day IL on Wednesday with a strained right oblique. He had an MRI exam that day, but the club has not yet released the results.