Philadelphia Phillies: Injury bug already rearing its ugly head

The Philadelphia Phillies have yet to even play a proper regular season game in 2021, and yet they’ve already found themselves experiencing quite a great number of injuries at the moment.

After it was revealed that RHP Zach Eflin was dealing with some back issues Wednesday afternoon, there’s now at least eight players currently on the roster battling some sort of injury.

Just glancing at that list, and there’s a good number of crucial names that immediately stick out.

J.T. Realmuto, Zach Eflin, Didi Gregorius, Brad Miller, and Adam Haseley are all expected to play fairly large roles with the team in 2021, and Spencer Howard remains the team’s highest rated pitching prospect at the moment. Should any one of these players miss significant time this season, and the Phillies could be in a little bit of trouble when it comes to their overall depth.

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Realmuto (thumb) and Gregorius (concussion) are expected to be ready for Opening Day, while MIller (oblique strain) might need a few extra days. Joe Girardi did state that Miller “definitely” could be ready for Opening Day should his recovery process progress as expected, but oblique injuries are always a tad tricky when it comes to baseball – specifically players expected to hit for power.

Haseley (groin) is currently on track to return from his respective injury right around Opening Day, but a thorough rehab process could ultimately keep him on the bench for an extra week or two. Throw in the fact that the Philadelphia Phillies have a plethora of options in CF at the moment (Odubel Herrera, Scott Kingery, Roman Quinn, Mickey Moniak), and my guess is that the Phillies are in no particular hurry when it comes to getting Haseley back in the lineup.

Where things start to become a tad worrisome is when it comes to the back injuries that both Howard and Eflin have suffered rather recently. Both players have struggled with their health in recent years, and the Phillies really can’t afford any blows to their pitching depth this season.

Not only was Eflin expected to take a major leap forward for the Phils in 2021, but Howard presented value as a high-upside, versatile relief arm. Losing both players would put the Phillies in a sticky situation, likely forcing them to turn to someone like Vince Velasquez early on in the regular season.

The Philadelphia Phillies have experience a flurry of injuries this spring.

Seeing as the Phillies first four series are against the Mets and Braves, and this is something the team would ideally prefer avoiding.

There’s still time for the Phillies to get all their guys back and ramped up for Opening Day, but so many injuries happening in such a short period of time is definitely concerning. Injuries are hard to overcome in any context, but even more so when it happens to a baseball team’s pitching staff prior to the regular season even beginning.