The Phillies received another unwelcome injury development, as news emerged today that reliever Seranthony Dominguez has an injury to his ulnar collateral ligament. MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki was among those to cover the announcement from GM Matt Klentak. (Twitter link.)
Ligament damage was said not to be a concern when Dominguez departed his most recent outing, but that optimistic assessment obviously changed after examination. A treatment course has yet to be determined, but Tommy John surgery is under consideration. Dominguez will receive a second opinion before deciding how to proceed.
That’s rough news for the Phils and the 24-year-old hurler. Even if he’s able to avoid surgery, Dominguez will surely require a lengthy rehab process. He has worked to a 3.27 ERA with 11.2 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 over 82 2/3 total MLB innings since breaking into the big leagues last year.
Filling the void for the time being is lefty Ranger Suarez, who was recalled. He’ll be joined on the active roster by starter Zach Eflin. Reliever Yacksiel Rios was optioned to create another roster spot.
There was at least some positive reliever health news as well. Klentak says that the club anticipates returns later this month from a few of its injured hurlers. (Via Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer, on Twitter.) The Phils expect Edubray Ramos, Adam Morgan, Pat Neshek, and Tommy Hunter to be back within the next three weeks or so, with David Robertson following behind them.
We can’t win with these injuries this year…
It’s definitely not a good sign. While I’m not a Phillies’ fan, I’m a fan of baseball and it’s young talent. Hopefully it isn’t season ending for his and the Phillies sake.
Tough break…..
Still boggles my mind the Phillies didn’t try harder to get Kimbrel considering the state of this bullpen.
Phils have ~$13 mm to work with to stay under the luxury tax. They have numerous holes to fill (outfield, bullpen and rotation). Can’t afford to blow it all on one guy.
They are way low the tax number accoring to SporTrac
As kenley said, they are way under. Where are you getting that 13 mil?
Morgan, Neshek etc can’t get back soon enough. If/when Seranthony gets back he really needs to work on a change-up or something. His control of his slider is so-so and hitters are sitting dead red.
If he can come back with the same velo a 85 mph change would be devastating.
Why did he not take the reigns as closer this year after looking good in the role last year?
If I remember correctly, he started getting shaky. Then Neris came back from the minors and took back over as closer and never looked back.
Too many walks. Seranthony seems to lose control whenever he faces more than 3 batters.
1) He did not look especially good as a closer. He put up better numbers early on as a setup guy.
2) Kapler has said repeatedly he’s not a believer in saving your best reliever to close. If you look at Dominguez’s usage, you’ll see Kapler uses him almost always against the top of the opposing order – 6/7/8 inning doesnt matter.
I think Kapler changed his tune because Neris has been the Phillies most consistent arm out of the pen, and he’s very clearly the closer now.
The word you want is “reins.” They are what you use to steer a horse. Reign is what a King does.
Klentak has an awful lot of faith in unproven and untested in house options.
Adam Morgan hasnt been anything spectacular. Tommy hunters FIP has been increasing every year. Neshak has been serviceable but hes also damn near 40.
We need to acquire BP help. And SP help. And OF help. And bench help. And a new manager. That’s all
That’s actually not true. Morgan has been one of our most consistent relievers this year. He comes out, he does his job. It’s not flashy, but he’s steady and reliable and that has big value.
The already battered BP cannot keep this workload up. The Phillies need SP depth and BP help. Kimbrel’s asking price was a bit high, but I am a bit surprised the Phillies didn’t pursue him more.
Phils are still in 1st after winning 3 in a row, but after the McCutchen and Seranthony injuries combined with the Braves signing Keuchel, it’s really hard to feel good about their division lead.
We’ve got almost $40 mill in bullpen guys on the DL
The trainers got to be getting nervous. 10 guys on the DL? 7 bullpen + McCutchen, hasesly now and Quinn. What is the trainer doing to prevent these issues?