Phillies outfielder Aaron Altherr has been diagnosed with a torn ligament in his big toe, per Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia (via Twitter). He suffered the injury on Monday when crashing face-first into the left field wall while chasing a ball that ultimately cleared the fence. The Phillies were optimistic about Altherr coming into the season after a .272/.340/.510 showing in 2017, but he struggled out of the gate with -0.7 fWAR before being sent back to AAA in July. The injury may factor in to some extent to the Phils’ decisionmaking process this offseason, when Altherr reaches arbitration for the first time. Altherr has struggled with consistency and health across three seasons in the majors, but this year set the low-water mark as he closes out the 2018 campaign with an ugly slash line of .181/.295/.333 over 285 plate appearance. Philly could non-tender him in November; conversely, he’s unlikely to break the bank the first time through arbitration, and with money to spend, Philadelphia may prefer staying the course to see if the 27-year-old can regain the pop he flashed in 2017.
In other injury news around the league…
- Astros star Carlos Correa will be ready to DH tomorrow night after taking 30-40 swings today, per the Athletic’s Jake Kaplan via Twitter. Houston skipper A.J. Hinch will be looking to see “freedom in his swing,” according to Kaplan. Getting Correa healthy is surely a priority for the Astros as they prepare to defend their World Series title, starting with a matchup against the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS. Battling through back troubles for much of the year, Correa owns only a .238/.323/.400 slash on the season. When he’s right, though, Correa is a game-changer.
- On another playoff-related injury note, the Yankees received good news today from an MRI on Aaron Hicks’ hamstring. The outfielder has been cleared of a tear, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com was among those to tweet. Manager Aaron Boone still plans to rest Hicks for a few days. Certainly, with Didi Gregorius tearing cartilage in his wrist, the Yanks would like to avoid any more injuries leading up to the AL Wild Card game against Oakland. Hicks has proven himself an important, if undervalued piece of the Yankees outfield, hitting .247/.368/.465 on the year with a 15.8% walk rate and a career-high 26 dingers.
- Meanwhile, it seems the Cubs avoided a truly worrying injury to Kris Bryant. He exited with a wrist injury after being hit by a pitch, but was cleared of a fracture, as ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers was among those to tweet. In further wrist news with NL playoff implications, the Braves are still awaiting further news on shortstop Dansby Swanson after he was pulled from today’s game for precautionary reasons, as David O’Brien of The Athletic tweets.
- In decidedly non-playoff-related injury news, Orioles pitching prospect Hunter Harvey was cleared of structural damage in his right elbow after being examined recently. Still, the Orioles will keep their former first-round pick out of the Arizona Fall League, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. Harvey has dealt with ongoing arm issues that have kept him from finishing his development. Though he has multiple option years remaining, and the most recent news suggests there’s still hope for a healthy 2019 season, Harvey still needs to prove that his body is capable of withstanding the rigors of a full season.
- Diamondbacks first baseman/outfielder Christian Walker is done for the year as well. Per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (via Twitter), Walker sustained a sinus fracture after getting hit by a pitch last night. It’s a disappointing finale for Walker, who rebuilt his stock with two quality offensive seasons in Reno with the Diamondbacks’ AAA affiliate. Walker was drafted in the 4th round of the 2012 amateur draft by the Orioles, with whom he got cups of coffee in 2014 and 2015. Three waiver claims and five years later, Walker found himself back in the bigs last season, albeit quite briefly. This year, in the most extensive MLB time of his career, Walker has limped to a .163/.226/.388 slash with 22 strikeouts in 53 plate appearances spread over 37 games.
Hopefully Hicks and Didi do come back before its too late. However, I wouldnt want them to just power through an injury resulting in the injury worsening.
Gotta risk it for the biscuit though, I guess
The Yankees are pretty much dead in the water.
I tend to agree with you. The injury bug in Flushing has discovered the south Bronx.
They may not even get past the Wildcard, especially if they lose the home field.
Yanks win any tiebreaker for home field so two more wins and they clinch. Even with the injuries home field is right in their grasp.
Nice to see CC hanging in there, bad knees and all. I hope he comes back next year. Could end up close to 260 career wins which in my estimation makes him HOF worthy.
The one glaring stat I rarely ever see anyone mention here is his weight. Three hundred pounds! They say for every pound of weight you lose is 4 pounds stress off your knees.
Let’s ask mr mlbtraderumors
Right about now he’s in 3rd period gym class compiling stats
Thought he had a note from his mom.
It’s hard to believe you can be undervalued playing for the Yankees but I believe Hicks is. Quietly a very good player. I was surprised the Twins gave up on him, particularly after he started to flash that potential in 2015
Same team that gave up on Big Papi.
Papi was lousy w them though
That’s true he wasn’t very good.. What drives me nuts after following MLB since late ’64 is the fact that somewhere out there is the list with over 100 players I believe that tested positive for PEDs of some kind. It got buried with the exception of a few names. Whose to say Papi wasn’t juiced? How do you really know who was on that list? Buried by Selig probably to save the integrity of baseball or something like that. Kenesaw Mountain Landis must be rolling over in his grave.
I hope Bryant is able to recover from his plantar fasciitis in time for the post season.
Yes, it would be a real shame if he was unable to play for the rest of the season. Heart broken for Maddon.
I do feel bad for Bryant but have no pity for Maddon in the least. I will never ever forgive him for that crack after one of his players hurt another on the field. Intentional or not, you do not joke about an injury to an opposing player like that.
with bryant getting plunked it serves the cubs organizations right for all the times carlos zombrano would plunk some player going to the playoffs down the stretch.
Name all these people Z plunked the last week of the season
@JKB lol.
Citizen I think you need to let go of the past. Big Z hasn’t played in several years (his last season was 2012). There’s no reason to wish harm on one of the game’s brightest young stars because of something that headcase did years ago.
Joe Maddon says he was told that Bryant has plantar fasciitis.
I don’t see the Phillies non-tendering Altherr. He’s had a horrible year yes, but he is also a very solid all-around player. I see him getting another chance with the big club in 2018. At the very least he could be an excellent 4th outfielder if he rebounds.
Is Hicks always hurt?