J.T. Realmuto was removed during the sixth inning of Sunday’s 13-6 Phillies win over the Marlins after feeling tightness in his left hamstring, Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. The issue arose while Realmuto was running the bases during a seven-run inning for the Phils, and the blowout nature of the game may have also contributed to the early exit, since Realmuto said the injury wasn’t serious. The All-Star catcher described the problem as “just a little standard tightness thing,” and manager Gabe Kapler felt Realmuto would likely be fine for the Phillies’ next game on Tuesday. Realmuto has yet to really catch fire since coming to the Phillies from Miami in a blockbuster trade, as his 95 wRC+ (off a .265/.319/.431 slash line in 310 PA) represents his lowest numbers since 2015. Still, Realmuto’s .353 xwOBA far outpaces his actual .320 wOBA, so his production is likely to improve as long as he keeps up the quality contact.
Some more stray items as we head into July…
- Also from Breen, Seranthony Dominguez will receive a re-evalution of his damaged right UCL on Wednesday. This is the latest step in Dominguez’s quest to avoid Tommy John surgery, as the Phillies right-hander instead opted for a platelet-rich plasma treatment. If everything checks out on Wednesday, Dominguez could begin throwing at the beginning of next week.
- Cubs right-hander Carl Edwards Jr. is set to begin a Triple-A rehab assignment, ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers tweets. Edwards has been on the IL (retroactively) since June 10 due to a left thoracic strain. 2019 has been a tale of two seasons for Edwards, who allowed six runs over his first 1 2/3 innings of the season and was demoted to the minors, though he then delivered a 2.03 ERA over 13 1/3 frames after being recalled.
- Two-way star Brendan McKay made his debut on the mound for the Rays on Saturday, though it isn’t yet known if McKay will also get any plate appearances at the Major League level, MLB.com’s Juan Toribio writes. “We’ve expressed that I don’t think the at-bats are going to come as consistent for him over the next week or so, but if there’s an opportunity to get him in there where we feel it fits with his workload, then we’ll do that,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. McKay is set to start again on Friday, though in the interim, he’ll be both going through his usual pre-start routine and also getting some swings in, both during batting practice and in the Tropicana Field. While McKay’s pitching was more developed than his hitting in the minor leagues, McKay did hit .265/.400/.551 over the small sample size of 60 plate appearances at Triple-A this season.