The Phillies welcomed Pat Neshek back from the injured list today, activating the veteran reliever from the 10-day IL after he missed three weeks due to rotator cuff inflammation. Cole Irvin was also called up from Triple-A for his third taste of MLB action this season, while the Phillies optioned Edgar Garcia and Ranger Suarez back to the minors to make roster space for Neshek and Irvin.
Neshek has a 4.67 ERA over 17 1/3 innings this season, though that number is a little deceptive. Neshek’s final outing before hitting the IL saw him allow three runs in just two-thirds of an inning, inflating what had been a respectable 3.24 ERA. Overall, Neshek has allowed runs in just five of his 19 appearances, though his K/9 sits at just 4.7, marking the second straight year that Neshek (whose career K/9 is 8.7) hasn’t missed many bats.
With one good bit of injury news in the form of Neshek’s return, the Phillies are hopeful of avoiding another IL stint after Jay Bruce had to leave last night’s game due to left hamstring tightness. Bruce is considered day-to-day, and the club believes the outfielder won’t need any time on the injured list, Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. The Phillies are short enough in the outfield as it is, though Bruce has been an incredible boon since being acquired from the Mariners on June 2. Bruce has already hit five homers and posted a .308/.341/.744 slash line over his first 41 plate appearances in a Phillies uniform.
Bryce Harper, Scott Kingery, and Nick Williams lined up right to left in Philadelphia’s outfield today against the Braves, with Brad Miller and Sean Rodriguez available as utility options off the bench. None of this group, not even Kingery, is a true center fielder, as the Phillies didn’t get Roman Quinn back from the IL this weekend as expected. Quinn has been limited to just seven games this season due to both an oblique strain suffered at the end of Spring Training, and then a groin strain that has sidelined him since April 25. According to Lauber, Quinn “felt discomfort” after being hit in the shoulder with a pitch on Friday during his Double-A rehab assignment, though Phillies manager Gabe Kapler told reporters the latest setback isn’t thought to be serious.
I’m so sick of Nick Williams. Is he related to someone in the front office or something??
I know right? Can’t we just trade him to the Giants or Indians already? I’d be ok with DFAing him too.
What the hell did the Giants do to you? Jk The Giants actually would probably take him and then give him a bobble head night. Their announcers would start promoting him like he’s some great prospect or something. The Giants as much as I love them are garbage.
No excitement or anything to look forward to for the forceable future. No future All Stars that’s for sure.
No, the Giants’ fans and announcers are content to watch their former stars slide further and further into mediocrity with every passing game. They love those guys, and that’s all that really matters.
You’re probably right my friend. I was hoping they would “blow it up” after the 2016 season.
I’ve heard we only have 1 player, Buster Posey, in the top ten for this year’s 2019 All Star voting. Pathetic.
Posey isn’t All Star material this year, I’ll freely admit it. Will Smith is the only one worthy in my opinion.
The Phillies tried to get rid of him so many times, but his replacements keep getting injured. The guy cannot hit at all.
The Phillies have no bench depth, and these injuries are killing the team. Andrew Knapp and Nick Williams are automatic outs. The team needs another outfielder, backup catcher, and plenty of bullpen help. This season is going south rather quickly.
Everyone will blame Kapler and talk about how overpaid Harper is, but the reality is the Phillies bench is just godawful.
They need starting pitching too.
It’s almost as if the Phillies need to revamp everything. Lmao. What a quagmire.
The need for a fifth starter is certainly there, but the pitching has actually been carrying them. Their offensive struggles far outweigh their starting pitching woes.
Pitching has been carrying them? Lmao Okay I’m done here. You are blind.
Shane Greene for Roman Quinn and Ramon Rosso.
id lose faith in the team if they trade Rosso.
You got yo be kidding.
Ok…. Tigers will throw in Castellanos
What about the status on the rest of the injured Phillies relievers? Seems like we get news about the Yankees injured players on a daily basis.
Quinn sucks
They need Aaron Altherr
Quinn gets hurt getting out of bed. Neshek is a prima donna. Nicasio and Alvarez are BP pitchers. Velasquez ……. done. Williams and Knapp are paperweights. Automatic outs is right. You can’t tell me they can’t bring someone up that can at least do something.
they should seriously replace Knapp with Grullon at this point. Grullon us killing is while knapp is…well…yeah.
Definitely need to improve the bench, especially catcher. Knapp can’t hit, and he’s lousy defensively. That eighty-nine-year old security guard at your local Rite-Aid probably catches more people stealing than Knapp ever will.
As for Quinn, I’d really like to see what he could do with a month of everyday playing time. But the guy is so fragile, even if given the opportunity, he’d probably suffer a broken jaw spitting out sunflower seeds. I’ve often said, you could fill an entire season of “ER” with his medical history.
It’s becoming more and more clear that the cache of prospects we received in the Hamels and Giles trades isn’t gonna produce one reliable contributor much less an all-star..
Klentak needs to get on the horn and acquire a starting pitcher (Maybe two?); a veteran backstop and a true CF. I want Kingery playing 3B everyday. Maybe Klentak can pull off a slight of hand and convince some team(s) that a still young Franco and Williams are worth a shot?
Would like to see Klentak acquire Tucker Barnhardt as our LH hitting second catcher, although I’m not sure the Reds would trade him now. Maybe the Reds would take Knapp, Williams and Franco for Barnhardt and Puig? Franco would be nice insurance for them at 1B in case Votto’s recurring back problems persist. Of course that trade would make Harper our CF and I’m not certain he’s up to the task.
Puig is not worth acquiring, and i wouldn’t trade a piece like williams for a backup catcher, especially when it looks like JT can play 130+.