PHILADELPHIA — Twelve days out from the MLB trade deadline, the Phillies did not need more uncertainty. Alec Bohm’s rib provided some anyway Saturday.
Bohm was diagnosed with a fractured left rib and was placed on the 10-day injured list before a game with the Los Angeles Angels. Weston Wilson was recalled from Triple A.
Bohm was hit by a pitch thrown by San Diego’s Yu Darvish in the second inning last Saturday. He ran the bases but left that game and didn’t start Sunday, the Phillies’ final game before the All-Star Break. Bohm went 0-for-4 Friday against the Angels and reported soreness Saturday upon his arrival to the ballpark.
“The way we looked at it was that it was sore, get through the All-Star break, see where we’re at,” Thomson said after a 9-5 win Saturday night. “He felt fine after the All-Star break, then that last at-bat, he felt it.”
Bohm has slashed .278/.324/.391 with 12 doubles, eight home runs, 42 RBIs and 39 runs scored this year. The 2024 All-Star has hit .309 since May 3 with an .817 OPS.
Wilson has appeared in 20 games with the Phillies this season, batting .194 with a homer and four RBIs in 42 plate appearances. He was optioned to Lehigh Valley on June 19. He’s hit .263 since his return with five homers and 15 RBIs in 19 games.
When asked how he might compensate for a Bohm absence, Thomson allowed that it would be “probably piecemeal” between Otto Kemp and Edmundo Sosa. Kemp got the first crack Saturday, against left-handed starter Yusei Kikuchi. Kemp is 5-for-20 in seven games in July.
Thomson didn’t want to place on timeline on the injury.
“It could be three weeks, could be four weeks, could be less than that,” he said. “I hate putting timelines on anything. It’s just tolerance.”
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Bohm’s injury deprives the Phillies’ infield of one certainty while Thomson weighs how to proceed at second base. Sosa got the start Saturday in place of Bryson Stott, who continues to struggle.
Since the start of 2023, Stott has slashed an unsightly .240/.310/.346, his OPS of .656 only marginally higher than the figure he posted as a rookie in 2022 (.653). After an OK start to the season, he’s cratered with a .202 average in June and .156 in July, going 5-for-32 with a homer and three RBIs in 10 games.
He was pinch hit for to lead off the bottom of the seventh Friday with the Phillies trailing and a lefty on the mound.
“I have a lot of trust in Stott,” Thomson said. “I think he’s a good hitter. He’s going to come out of this. He’s working hard on it, but we’ll just have to see. He’s got to produce.”
Thomson said Stott is working through adjustments but declined to elaborate.
The Phillies are already pondering how they might tweak their lineup for a fourth straight postseason push ahead of the July 31 deadline. Bohm’s absence grafts a question mark onto the third-base job in addition to the one festering at second and the left-field conundrum, where Max Kepler’s batting average hit .207 Friday. He’s hitting .153 (9-for-59) with one homer over his last 19 games.
Kemp was one of the remedies there, and Wilson might be an option. But Saturday, it left Sosa at second, Kemp at third and Johan Rojas in center.
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One bright side is that Brandon Marsh appears to have turned things around, at least enough that Thomson trusted him to start against a lefty. He’s hitting .304 in his last 30 games dating to June 8 with 15 runs scored and nine RBIs.
“I think he’s just using the field more,” Thomson said. “His direction is more to left center, so he’s staying on the ball a little bit better, which helps him with breaking ball and offspeed. He’s barreling a lot of balls up lately.”
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NOTES >> Thomson said Aaron Nola (rib) looked, “very good” in a 34-pitch bullpen session Saturday. “Command was really good,” he said. “Curveball was really good.” Nola will throw a bullpen on Monday or Tuesday before they decide on next steps. … Ranger Suarez (7-3, 2.15 ERA) will take the mound in Sunday afternoon’s finale. He’ll be opposed by Jose Soriano (6-7, 3.90).
Source: Berkshire mont
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