LOS ANGELES – The announcement by the Phillies Tuesday before their game against the Los Angeles Dodgers that infielder Edmundo Sosa was being placed on the 10-day Injured List may have caused concern for some. But in reality, as far as Sosa goes, and the other injuries the team is dealing with, all seem pretty good.
“It’s a right groin,” said Thomson. “Just a mild, mild strain. We worked him out yesterday and he still felt it so as a precaution we’re going to IL him, back date him, so he’ll be ready in seven days. He was still getting better but we didn’t want to risk it, especially going to the turf (in Arizona for next series). We decided it best to shut this thing down, get him right and get him back for the last couple of days of the regular season.”
To replace Sosa, the club called up Rafael Lantigua. In Lehigh Valley this year, Lantigua hit .232 in 124 games with 15 doubles, 82 runs and 17 stolen bases. He made starts at third base, shortstop and left field.
Hours before the game, third baseman Alec Bohm was doing his running work on the outfield grass at Dodger Stadium. “Great,” said Thomson of Bohm’s right shoulder soreness recovery. “He’s going to do full workout again today and tomorrow. If there’s no setback, he’ll be activated in Arizona.”
And more good news came from back in Philadelphia on shortstop Trea Turner as he progresses in recovery from his Grade 1 hamstring strain.
“Great. Today he did ground balls, threw across the diamond, full BP in the cage,” said Thomson. “Tomorrow he’s going to do some more jogging and ramp it up a little bit. Probably do the same field work as he did today.”
The goal, and belief, of the club is that Turner will get back in the lineup before the playoffs.
Playoff pitching decisions
After the injury to Zack Wheeler and the way the schedule played out, the Phillies have been throwing three straight lefty starters on the mound in Ranger Suarez, Cristopher Sanchez and Jesus Luzardo. It might not seem ideal for Thomson to have that in the playoffs and the manager isn’t exactly set on who his starters will be.
“We’ll line Sanchy (Sanchez) up for Game 1 no matter what,” he said. “The rest of it all depends on who we play. Yeah, there’s a lot of teams out there that don’t like lefties. And they go with a right-handed lineup or a left-handed lineup, they may want to keep the lefties on the bench. We’ll just have to wait and see.
“I think it has more to do with lineups we face. Being with (Aaron) Nola as long as I have I have so much confidence in him that he’s going to step up in a big game. I think it all depends on the lineups we face.”
No hangovers here
The celebration for wrapping up the National League East went on for a good long time after Monday’s 6-5. So, one might expect a bit of a wonky lineup for Tuesday’s game against Dodger starter Shohei Ohtani. Well, not so much, with the exception of Rafael Marchán starting at catcher.
“They all wanted to play,” Thomson said. “And we still have things we’re going after. Now, when we get on the turf in Arizona, I might rest all the outfielders for a day just to get them off their feet. But we’re gonna go for it, the bye and the number one seed. I think it’s important for us to play in our ballpark because we just play so well and we’re supported so well by our fan base.
“In New York, it seemed like every time, if we were to play Toronto and Tampa, it would be back-to-back on the road. So now you’ve got six or seven days on turf and you could really see the effect on the players. That’s where I really started to pick up on it.”
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