Bradley to IL; Romero recalled to join 'pen
Phillies right-hander Archie Bradley said he does not know when he will rejoin the Phillies’ bullpen because he does not know the severity of his strained left oblique.
But it is bad enough that the team placed him on the 10-day injured list on Sunday.
“It really just kind of came out of nowhere,” Bradley said. “It wasn’t a particular pitch or something I felt while doing baseball activities. It’s just something that, honestly, I’m not really sure where it came from.”
The Phillies recalled left-hander JoJo Romero from the team’s alternate training site in Allentown, Pa., to take his place in the bullpen. Romero had been a strong contender to make the bullpen coming out of Spring Training, but the Phillies chose right-hander Sam Coonrod for the final spot instead. That left José Alvarado as the Phillies’ only left-handed reliever, but the team decided that it could live with that while Romero worked on throwing more strikes in Allentown.
“He’s throwing the ball pretty well,” Phillies manager Joe Girardi said.
• 'This is awesome': Romero's adapted slider
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Bradley signed a one-year, $6 million contract with the Phillies in the offseason. He has allowed four hits, two runs and one walk and struck out three in three innings. He said he first felt something in the oblique after allowing two hits and one run in one-third inning Saturday in a 5-4 loss to the Braves at Truist Park in Atlanta.
Bradley’s fastball has averaged 93 mph through four appearances after averaging 94.2 mph last season and 95.5 mph in 2019.
“Stuff, results, they kind of go hand in hand,” Bradley said. “You pick one or the other sometimes. Sometimes you have both. Obviously, I’m not pumping 97, 98, like I want to, but I found a way to get it done and pitch and be a professional. But, yeah, I would love to see my [stuff] bounce back up to 95-97, but it kind of is what it is right now. Maybe this gives me a chance to reevaluate some things. Either way, I'm getting the job done when it matters, minus last night, obviously.”
Oblique injuries can be tricky. The last four Phillies pitchers to be on the injured list with oblique injuries are Cliff Lee in 2012 (missed 20 days), Joe Blanton in '10 (38 days), Clay Condrey in '09 (28 and 54 days) and Ryan Madson in '07 (18 days).