Phillies to place key infielders Trea Turner, Alec Bohm on injured list

The Philadelphia Phillies are placing shortstop Trea Turner and third baseman Alec Bohm on the 10-day injured list, reports Matt Gelb of The Athletic. Otto Kemp and Donovan Walton are up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take their roster spots. The team hasn’t announced the IL placements or a corresponding move to get Walton onto the 40-man roster. 

Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic reports that the Phils are moving reliever Daniel Robert from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for Walton. Turner has a Grade 1 hamstring strain, manager Rob Thomson tells the Phillies beat (link via Lochlann March of the Philly Inquirer). The team is hopeful he’ll return by the postseason.

Philadelphia Phillies want to have Trea Turner, Alec Bohm healthy for MLB postseason

Bohm is battling left shoulder soreness. Gelb reports that the third baseman has been plagued by a bothersome cyst that’ll need to be drained and treated with an injection. There’s nothing structurally amiss, however, and Thomson expressed confidence it’ll be a minimal 10-day IL stint. The Phils have a comfortable enough seven-game lead in the NL East that they can afford that absence. Their margin over the Dodgers for the No. 2 placement in the National League and the associated first-round bye is smaller, but they’re still four games up in that race.

Turner suffered a hamstring strain during Sunday’s game. An injured list stint was inevitable. The far more significant question was whether it’d threaten his availability for the postseason. Thomson left open the possibility that he’ll be back before the end of the regular season. That’d allow him to take a few at-bats to get up to speed before the playoffs. The Division Series are scheduled to begin on October 4. The Phillies would automatically qualify as long as they hang on to the No. 2 seed. That’d give Turner a month to get back to action.

Edmundo Sosa will take over shortstop for as long as Turner is out of action. Kemp will go from Lehigh Valley to regular playing time in Philly for at least a week and a half. He’s starting at third base Monday and batting ninth against Mets rookie right-hander Nolan McLean. Walton will replace Sosa as the team’s utility infielder.

It’ll be the first major league action of the season for the 31-year-old Walton. Philly acquired him from the Mets at the beginning of July. Walton was playing on a minor league deal with New York and was assigned to Lehigh Valley. He was batting .222/.315/.377 in 73 games with the Mets’ affiliate. His numbers have picked up since the trade. Walton has hit .339/.413/.424 with almost as many walks as strikeouts across 209 plate appearances for the IronPigs.

A former fifth-round pick of the Mariners, Walton has played parts of five seasons in the majors. The lefty batter has played in 70 games and carries a .174/.227/.305 line against big league pitching. Walton’s value lies primarily in his defensive flexibility. He’ll provide cover throughout the infield and has experience in left field (though the Phils have enough outfield depth that he probably won’t get much time there).

Walton was in the organization before Sept. 1. That means he’s eligible for the postseason even though he was not on the 40-man roster until Monday. The Phils will hope to have Turner and Bohm back in plenty of time so that doesn’t need to be a consideration. Walton is out of options, so the Phillies would need to designate him for assignment to take him off the roster during the regular season.

Robert just went on the injured list last week with a forearm strain. His season is over. He made 15 appearances in an up-and-down role this season, allowing seven runs across 13 innings. The Phils acquired him in a DFA trade with Texas in May. They’ll need to reinstate him to the 40-man roster or put him on waivers at the start of the offseason.