The Philadelphia Phillies return to the diamond after an off-day welcoming the Toronto Blue Jays to South Philadelphia for the first of a quick two-game set.
The Phillies will look to build off of a 6-1 win on Sunday over the Boston Red Sox. The Phils’ will start righty Aaron Nola. Nola surrendered 7-hits and 4-earned runs in his last outing, a no decision at the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Phils’ starter is 0-2 with a 5.48 ERA in four career starts against Toronto.
The Blue Jays are fresh off a sweep of the Pirates in Pittsburgh. The Jays outscored the Buccos 22-2 in the three-game sweep. Toronto will lean on 25-year-old Alek Manoah, he will be making his first career start against the Phillies.
First pitch is set for 7:10 PM/EDT from South Philadelphia.
James McArthur signing autographs for fans in Reading on July 1, 2022 – two days after the Phillies transferred him to the 60-day IL.
The Phillies completed a couple of moves with their organizational depth on Monday.
In one move, they traded away Ethan Lindow for cash considerations. Lindow will join the Mariners organization.
Best of luck to Ethan Lindow in the Seattle Mariners organization, and thank you for everything during your time in Baseballtown! pic.twitter.com/Fi1BlZu822
— Reading Fightin Phils (@ReadingFightins) May 8, 2023
Lindow was a 2017 fifth-round pick of the Phillies and had done well in the last four minor league seasons, but in a more of a sense where he was solid rather than an eye-popper to keep moving up.
Lindow was in the midst of his worst season in the minors, posting an ERA of 5 and had one good start and one solid start across his five this season. He went just one inning in one of those starts and two in another.
The team also completed a trade with the Kansas City Royals, sending them James McArthur.
The Phillies have acquired OF Junior Marin and cash considerations from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for RHP James McArthur (DFA on 5/4).
With McArthur being on the 40-man roster, this clears a spot for the team.
McArthur, a 2018 12th-round pick, was once a promising part of the organization, but posted an ERA over 5 with some control issues in 2021 prior to an injury. This season, he has struggled mightily in AAA to the tune of a 7.31 ERA.
McArthur was likely to be exposed sooner than later anyway as the Phillies are in need of roster spots on the 40-man and he was becoming the most obvious casualty.
Junior Marin is an outfielder who was signed as a free agent by the Royals in 2021. He is still in the rookie league and has a career slash line of .348/.425/.554 there. He, like most international free agents, is a bit of a lottery ticket who provides the Phillies with a real prospect (not just a random player back) that figures to be several years away.
Nov 1, 2022; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Ranger Suarez (55) pitches against the Houston Astros during the first inning in game three of the 2022 World Series at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Ranger Suarez is one step closer to returning to the Big Leagues. The left-hander scattered four hits and one run on Sunday to lead the Lehigh Valley IronPigs to an 8-4 victory over the Syracuse Mets in International League play.
Suarez, who was expected to pitch four innings and around 65 pitches, earned the “W” after throwing a mere 48-pitches in the aforementioned five frames. He touched around 94 MPH with excellent command. Suarez will likely start for the Phillies next weekend against the Colorado Rockies, per multiple reports.
May 7, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Kyle Schwarber (12) rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run against the Boston Red Sox in the sixth inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports
The Philadelphia Phillies stopped the bleeding on Sunday afternoon defeating the Boston Red Sox, 6-1, to end a six-game losing skid.
Kyle Schwarber had his best game in weeks, breaking an 0-for-21 streak in the 4th inning with an RBI single. He followed in the 6th with a 434-foot, upper deck “Schwarbomb” to extend the Phillies lead to 4-1.
Phils’ starting pitcher Taijuan Walker also had his best game in weeks. The righty issued no walks over 6-innings and only allowed one run while striking out six Sox. The Phillies bullpen settled down with Jose Alvarado throwing a scoreless inning and Matt Strahm earning a two-inning save against his former team.
Here’s a closer look at how they scored, stats and facts from the game, and what’s on deck for the Phillies.
Here’s the latest news and notes on the Phillies injuries as updated by the ballclub:
LHP Ranger Suarez (left elbow strain)– Suarez will make another rehab start with Triple-A Lehigh Valley on May 7 at Syracuse (Blue Jays). If all goes well, Suarez will rejoin the rotation according to Phils’ skipper Rob Thomson. The lefty has made two rehab outings to date allowing one hit and one walk over four innings.
Expected Return: week of May 8
RHP Andrew Bellatti (right triceps tendinitis)- Bellatti threw live batting practice earlier this week in Clearwater, FL. He will make two scheduled rehab appearances, May 5 and May 7, both in Clearwater before continuing his rehab with Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
The Philadelphia Phillies return to Citizens Bank Park on Friday to face the American League’s Boston Red Sox for the first game of a three-game set.
The Phils’ are limping into Friday’s game after being swept by the NL West leading Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers outscored the Phillies 36-11 during the brutal three-game series. The sweep put the Phillies back under the .500 mark for the season.
But all hope is not lost as a raucous crowd is expected for the 2023 home debut of slugger Bryce Harper.
The Phillies will send Zack Wheeler to the mound and hope the hurler can duplicate his last outing against Houston– 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 7 K.
Boston will throw lefty Chris Sale. Sale is 2-2 on the season with a 6.75 ERA but is coming off of his best outing on April 30 against Cleveland– 6.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 K.
First pitch is set for 7:10 PM/EDT from South Philadelphia.
The PhiladelphiaPhillies announced a series of roster moves on Thursday afternoon, the most notable being the addition of RHP Jeff Hoffman to the active roster. In a corresponding move to make room on the 40-man roster, the Phillies have designated James McArthur for assignment.
You may be saying, “who the hell is Jeff Hoffman?” Hoffman, 30, was signed by the Phillies as a minor league free agent on March 31 and assigned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He appeared in nine games for IronPigs tallying an 0-2 record with a 7.00 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. Hoffman originally opted out of his contract on Monday before the Phillies made the decision to add him to the active roster.
Hoffman, who spent 2021-22 with the Cincinnati Reds, has pitched in 134 Major League games and has a 15-21 record with a 5.84 ERA and 1.585 WHIP. The former 9th overall pick in the 2014 MLB June Amatuer Draft, Hoffman had his best professional season in 2022 going 2-0 with a 3.83 ERA and 1.410 WHIP in 44.2 innings with the Reds.
May 3, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Bryce Harper (3) scores a run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Major League Baseball is going all in on the new pace of play rules that debuted at the beginning of the season. The latest victim of the rules, returning Phillies’ slugger Bryce Harper. But no the way many expected.
A lot was made about Harper’s desire to return to the lineup and forgoing a trip to the minors for a rehab assignment. The talk on Philadelphia sports radio centered around Harper’s need to his timing down, more accurately his pitch clock timing down. In his two games back in the lineup, the notoriously slow Harper has had no issues with the pitch clock while in the batter’s box.
But, Harper and the Phillies have run into a bit of a problem on the basepath.
As you know, Harper is wearing a brace while running the bases to protect his surgically repaired elbow. The slugger reached base five times on Wednesday but only wore the brace four times. Harper struggled to get the bulky brace on and, despite Nick Castellanos taking a timeout to give him more time, was unable to do so within baseball’s new pace of play clock.
The Philadelphia Phillies aren’t gonna get “Bellinger’d” on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park!
According to reports, the Phillies have petitioned Major Leauge Baseball to allow for more time than normal when Bryce Harper makes his 2023 home debut. The petition, which is likely to be granted, will allow Harper time to step out of the batter’s box and acknowledge what is bound to be a raucous crowd in South Philadelphia.
In turn, Harper and the Phillies won’t get hit with an automatic strike ala Chicago Cubs star Cody Bellinger when he returned to Los Angeles earlier this season.
Cody Bellinger got an ovation in his first game back at Dodger Stadium….and got a pitch clock violation 🤦♂️pic.twitter.com/vdlh15r16q
The injuries are continuing to mount for the Fighting Phils.
The Phillies pitching staff entered the season down Ranger Suarez and nearly all of their starter depth with Cristopher Sanchez and Nick Nelson also out with injuries in addition to top prospect Andrew Painter. It’s forced Matt Strahm into the rotation and left the bullpen without a solid long reliever.
On the offensive end, Bryce Harper is working his way back and Rhys Hoskins recently tore his ACL. That’s two starting bats out of the order and doesn’t include Brandon Marsh being day-to-day after fouling a ball off his foot.
In just the fifth game of the season, injuries may limit yet another Phillie who the team was counting on. Hoskins’ replacement, Darick Hall, was injured running the bases and removed from the game.
Hall, it seems, will also be missing significant time as he was placed on IL.
Prior to today’s game, the Phillies recalled INF Kody Clemens from Lehigh Valley (AAA) and placed INF Darick Hall on the 10-day IL (retro to 4/6) with a right thumb sprain.
Clemens, the son of Rodger, made his debut with the Tigers in 2020 and posted an unsightly .145/.197/.308 slash line in 117 at bats. He did have a far more impressive spring, however, posting a much better .319/.385/.617.
Clemens is not necessarily a first baseman, so if Hall misses time the Phillies are now stuck trying to figure out what they will do with the spot. Nick Castellanos had volunteered to work out at the position. The Phillies have had Alec Bohm get significant reps at first in the minors and some looks in the majors. Plus, they have Garrett Stubbs and JT Realmuto that they could try to get both into the lineup and maybe get Realmuto off his knees a bit more, so there are some options yet.
As for Hall, the power hitter got just 19 at bats in relief of Hoskins before his own injury. Fans will certainly hope his recovery is more toward what he anticipates missing rather than a few months.
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