The Phillies faced a weekend scare in time Guard Suárez he took a line-drive return from his throwing hand. While that raised initial concerns about a possible injury list, the southpaw avoided any fractures.
Suárez played catch without being ruled out today and is scheduled for a bullpen session Wednesday, manager Rob Thomson told reporters (via the MLB.com injury tracker). The Phils will know after tomorrow's pitching session if Suárez can take the ball in his next start. The 28-year-old will be lined up opposite Sean Manaea and the Mets on Saturday in London.
Arguably the best pitcher in the majors over two months, Suárez owns an MLB-leading 1.70 ERA over 74 innings. He struck out 28.5% of the batters he faced while shooting a career-best 53.7% of ground balls. Opposing hitters posted a .167/.225/.261 slash line in 277 trips to the plate. Suarez, Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola again Christopher Sánchez it's all been great, giving the Phillies perhaps the top rotation in MLB.
That's one of the many reasons the Phils have built a seven-game lead over the Braves in the NL East. Philadelphia's 43-19 record is tied for the Yankees' best in the majors. They never missed a beat even though they lost Trea Turner to get a hamstring last month.
Edmund Sosa he has been successful since taking over from Turner. Sosa is hitting .303/.367/.556 in 110 plate appearances. Both Statcast and Defensive Runs Saved give him plus glovework in over 200 shortstop innings. Sosa's performance is no doubt supported by a .394 average on balls in play — his 6.4% walk rate and 26.4% strikeout percentage are worse than the league's respective marks — but he's hitting for more power than expected. Sosa connected on four homers and three triples apiece and had two doubles in just 33 games.
While he's playing well enough not to be a fixture on the roster, he won't displace Turner once he's healthy. Once again Bryson Stott or Alec Bohm it gives a great opportunity for Sosa to take over at second or third. Although Sosa has never started an MLB game in the outfield, Thomson suggested over the weekend that the Phils could consider playing him at corner once Turner returns.
“Definitely [a possibility],” the manager told reporters (link via Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer). “If he continues to hit like this, it will be difficult to prevent him from entering the list of players. So, I have to find a place for him.” The Phils then lost Brandon Marsh on the injured list, which led them to call up the hitters David Dahl in the left field. Nick Castellanos plays every day in right field. He has been a rare weak point in Philadelphia's lineup, batting with a .214/.277/.342 line through 256 plate appearances.
Few would have expected the Phillies to look for ways to keep Sosa on the roster when he was acquired on a low-profile deadline deal two years ago. Philadelphia acquired an infielder from the Cardinals in a one-man trade and lefty JoJo Romero in St. It's been a surprising trade for both clubs, as Romero has been promoted to the Cards' second baseman.
The purchase of Sosa is a nice feather in the cap for baseball president Dave Dombrowski and his staff. It's one of the strongest numbers for the front office led by Dombrowksi, as one would expect from the top team in the National League. As Inquirer Scott Lauber explored over the weekend, the previous regime led by former general manager Matt Klentak also deserves credit for putting half of the roster in place.
Klentak, who now works in Milwaukee's 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 the rebuilding Phils club didn't make the postseason during Klentak's tenure, Lauber sees Philadelphia getting Harper, Wheeler, JT Realmutoand Christopher Sánchez, as well as writing Stott and Bohm, during that five-year window.
As with any tenure in the front office, Klentak and his staff had some misses (eg. Mickey Moniak first overall in the admittedly weak 2016 draft and is being extended Scott Kingery). Still, there's no doubt that the Phils made several key moves in the 2010s that contributed to the team's success in the first half of the decade.
Lauber's piece is a reminder that most organizations change front offices fast enough that any good plan is the product of many states. Suárez and Nola were first discovered during Ruben Amaro Jr.'s tenure. GM's stint. The Phils added Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Sosa, and repaired the bullpen as Dombrowski had been in charge. Dombrowski's team also worked out new deals to keep Nola, Realmuto and Wheeler in Philadelphia long-term.
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