The Phillies were dealt a scare over the weekend when Ranger Suárez took a comeback line-drive off his throwing hand. While that raised initial concern about a potential injured list stint, the southpaw avoided any fractures.
Suárez played catch without issue today and is scheduled for a bullpen session on Wednesday, manager Rob Thomson told reporters (via the MLB.com injury tracker). The Phils will know after tomorrow’s throwing session whether Suárez can take the ball for his next start. The 28-year-old would be lined up opposite Sean Manaea and the Mets on Saturday in London.
Arguably the best pitcher in the majors through two months, Suárez carries an MLB-leading 1.70 ERA over 74 innings. He has punched out 28.5% of batters faced while running an excellent 53.7% ground-ball rate. Opposing hitters have turned in a pitiful .167/.225/.261 slash line over 277 trips to the plate. Suárez, Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Cristopher Sánchez have all been excellent, giving the Phillies perhaps the top rotation in MLB.
That’s one of myriad reasons the Phils have built a seven-game lead over the Braves in the NL East. Philadelphia’s 43-19 record matches the Yankees’ mark for the best in the majors. They haven’t missed a beat despite losing Trea Turner to a hamstring strain exactly a month ago.
Edmundo Sosa has excelled since taking over for Turner. Sosa is hitting .303/.367/.556 in 110 plate appearances. Both Statcast and Defensive Runs Saved have credited him with plus glovework in more than 200 shortstop innings. Sosa’s performance has unquestionably been propped up by a .394 average on balls in play — his 6.4% walk rate and 26.4% strikeout percentage are each a bit worse than the respective league marks — but he’s hitting for a lot more power than expected. Sosa has connected on four homers and triples apiece and picked up five doubles in only 33 games.
While he’s certainly playing well enough to stick in the lineup, he’s not going to displace Turner when the latter is healthy. Neither Bryson Stott nor Alec Bohm is offering much of an opportunity for Sosa to take over at second or third base. While Sosa has never started an MLB game in the outfield, Thomson suggested over the weekend the Phils could consider playing him in a corner outfield spot once Turner comes back.
“Absolutely [a possibility],” the manager told reporters (link via Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer). “If he keeps hitting like this, it’s going to be tough to keep him out of the lineup. So, got to find a spot for him someplace.” The Phils subsequently lost Brandon Marsh to the injured list, leading them to call up the hot-hitting David Dahl to man left field. Nick Castellanos is playing everyday in right field. He has been a rare weak point in the Philadelphia lineup, struggling to a .214/.277/.342 line through 256 plate appearances.
Few would’ve anticipated the Phillies looking for ways to keep Sosa in the lineup when he was acquired in a relatively low-profile deadline deal two years ago. Philadelphia landed the infielder from the Cardinals in a one-for-one swap sending lefty JoJo Romero to St. Louis. It has turned out to a be a surprisingly consequential trade for both clubs, as Romero has developed into the Cards’ second-best reliever.
The Sosa acquisition is a nice feather in the cap for baseball operations president Dave Dombrowski and his staff. It’s one of a number of strong pickups for the Dombrowksi-led front office, as one would expect on the top team in the National League. As the Inquirer’s Scott Lauber explored over the weekend, the prior regime led by former general manager Matt Klentak also deserves some credit for putting part of the roster in place.
Klentak, who is now working in the Milwaukee front office, led baseball operations in Philadelphia for five seasons. He held the GM role between October 2015 and the end of the 2020 campaign. While a rebuilding Phils club didn’t make the postseason during Klentak’s tenure, Lauber observes that Philadelphia acquired Harper, Wheeler, J.T. Realmuto, and Cristopher Sánchez, as well as drafting Stott and Bohm, during that five-year window.
As with any front office tenure, Klentak and his staff had some misses (e.g. selecting Mickey Moniak first overall in an admittedly weak 2016 draft and extending Scott Kingery). Still, there’s no question the Phils made a number of key moves in the 2010s that have contributed to the team’s success over the first half of this decade.
Lauber’s piece is a reminder that most organizations turn over front offices quickly enough that any good roster is a product of multiple regimes. Suárez and Nola were first acquired during Ruben Amaro Jr.’s GM stint. The Phils have added Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Sosa, and overhauled the bullpen since Dombrowski has been at the helm. Dombrowski’s group has also hammered out new deals to keep each of Nola, Realmuto and Wheeler in Philadelphia for the long haul.
It makes some sense to spend “crazy” money if you’re convinced your GM will spend it in the right places. The “Dom” has spent his entire career doing just that and is the main reason Philly again looks like a serious World Series contender(if not favorite).
mlb – I totally agree!!
Funny thing is, just yesterday afternoon I posted about how the silver lining to the awful Pivetta trade was that it was seemingly the last straw which caused ownership to basically replace Klentak with Dombrowski.
Sure Klentak made some good moves, as even Bloom did in Boston, but the Pivetta trade couldn’t have turned out any worse for the Phillies.
While Klentak made plenty of bad moves, I think your exaggerating how bad the Pivetta move was. Yes. I know the return led to nothing, but it’s important to remember how bad Pivetta was in Philly and he was given ample opportunity. When he was asked to move to the pen to try to work on things, he put up a stink. Philly and Pivetta was just a bad match. Had he stayed in Philly, I don’t think he would have ever gotten better. Some guys just need a change of scenary.
Also those relievers Philly got in return? If the Phillies just got 3 saves out of them, they would have made the playoffs. Instead, they were an absolute disaster. I don’t blame Klentak for making that move. It just didn’t work out.
Everyone absolutely loved that trade when it was made, and Klentak was actually praised for it at the time. It was only after Workman and Hembree imploded (which wasn’t anticipated at the time of the trade) after joining the Phillies that the trade looked bad
Absolutely agree. Phillies are close to selling out most home games. I would absolutely make a run at Houston’s Tucker for RF. BUT only if they can lock him up for 5-7 years on next contract. I appreciate Castellanos…and he fits in with this team’s chemistry. But long term, both Casty and Schwarber will be gone….. I wouldn’t give up Crawford in the minor leagues. But the Phillies have some nice pitching pieces coming up and some infield depth as well. A team built around Harper, Turner, Bohm, Stott, TUCKER, and Crawford with the pitching in place should contend. I think this might be the first year we really see Dombrowski sacrifice the minor league system. I think he has a history of doing that??? But I’ve been pleased at how they’ve managed trades of younger players. Exciting time to be a Phillies fan. But if they stayed the course, maybe added a bullpen piece, they could win it all. I am a bit concerned that if Realmuto gets hurt, we have little to no depth there. Stubbs fits the backup role and chemistry part just fine, but he can’t be the everyday catcher for a long period of time.
There’s no arguing Klentak got zero in return for Pivetta, but a worse outcome would’ve been Pivetta remaining with the Phillies. He demonstrated his need (and desire) to go with every tantrum on the mound after being moved to the bullpen.
I’m glad he matured in Boston, but it wasn’t going to happen in Philadelphia.
I can confidently say the Phillies aren’t getting Kyle Tucker. I say this as a Phillies fan.
Probably will win 110 games.
Imagine if a team that has a losing record come August, barely makes the playoffs with 84 wins, gets hot in October and knocks them out of the playoffs…………again….that would suck
Sadly I wouldn’t be shocked. Topper loves to make every wrong move possible. Thankfully Kimbrel isn’t here still.
We ride with Philly Rob!
incoming reds-tigers world series
pohle – Actually my interpreter has Yankees/Brewers in the WS, which could happen if the Phillies, Braves or Dodgers don’t make the WS.
It’s likely to happen. That was Arizona last year. No offense to the DBacks, but seeing an 84-win team beat teams with 100 wins is just painful to me.
It’s one thing if that team was dealing with injuries or underperforming during the season, but if they’re just a mediocre squad who gets hot, I don’t really like to see that.
But hey, that’s the magic of baseball. It’ll likely happen again. And credit to the DBacks for playing well in the playoffs.
I have been a Sosa fan for years. I love the fact that he is forcing his way into the lineup. He is an excellent athlete. He can play anywhere. His bat gets better the more he plays. Great job Edmundo!
his bat is hot – that’s for sure. Just wonder whether he can sustain it all season.
highly unlikely considering his career stats, he’s just an average player at best.