Spencer

Turnbull

The Phillies hope to get Turnbull into a minor league game by the end of this week. If Turnbull returns to the major leagues this year, it’ll be as a reliever. Thompson didn’t indicate that a return is imminent. Turnbull would have a better chance at returning to a major league mound if the Phillies advance to the second round of the playoffs.

The procedural move opens up a spot on Philadelphia’s 40-man roster for southpaw Tyler Gilbert. The 31-year-old righty has been on the shelf since late June recovering from a right lat strain, which will keep him out until at least late September now.

It’s a significant loss for the Phillies, especially with Taijuan Walker (finger) also on the shelf due to injury. The 31-year-old righty suffered the injury on Wednesday during his return to Philadelphia’s starting rotation and will likely wind up sidelined until at least early-to-mid August. It’ll probably be Michael Mercado attempting to fill the void, unless the Phillies are able to work out a deal to bring in some additional depth.

Marte was activated off the IL on Tuesday and optioned to Triple-A, but it will be a short stay as he makes his way back to the MLB roster to take the place of Spencer Turnbull, who was placed on the 15-day IL. Marte will remain with the Phillies until they need a fifth starter and then likely head back to Triple-A.

Turnbull was removed from his start on Wednesday after pitching just three innings; however, the right-hander doesn’t think the injury is anything serious. He wanted to tell the Phillies as soon as he felt anything to make sure he didn’t aggravate the soreness he was feeling. There is no timeline yet for his recovery, but Phillies manager Rob Thomson said that Michael Mercado would be the number five starter if Turnbull had to miss time. For now, reliever Yunior Marte was called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take Turnbull’s spot on the roster.

Turnbull hadn’t pitched more than three innings since Apr. 30, so he wasn’t expected to go deep into this one. Nevertheless, the Phillies were probably aiming for one more inning from him today. Turnbull allowed one run before being replaced by fellow former Tiger Gregory Soto.

The move is now official. It’ll presumably be Spencer Turnbull stepping in to take Walker’s rotation spot to face his former team during Wednesday’s series finale in Detroit. Walker has been dealing with a blister issue on his right finger, which has impacted his ability to command his arsenal of late. The hope here is that some extra time off will help put the issue to bed and lead to improved results.

Walker’s dreadful season continued in this one. He had fewer whiffs than homers allowed which is all you need to know about this start and his season overall. It’s notable that Spencer Turnbull followed Walker in long-relief. He settled the game down and made this appearance exactly five days after his last long-relief appearance where Walker’s next appearance is likely coming in five days from this game. Turnbull had a strong April in the rotation with Walker on the IL and it’s difficult to find a reason that Walker would be more effective than Turnbull in that role going forward.

Walker receives yet another vote of confidence from Thomson as he’ll keep his rotation spot over Spencer Turnbull, who has been a revelation this season in his Phillies debut and will continue operating in long relief. The 31-year-old righty, who is in the second year of a four-year, $72 million contract, will take the ball on Sunday against the Mets in London his next time out.

Walker was struck on the left foot by a 99.7-mph line drive from Starling Marte in the fourth inning and will most likely head for further imaging to determine whether he suffered any fractures. He finished with one strikeout and was charged with two runs over 3 1/3 innings of work. Any potential extended absence would presumably lead to Spencer Turnbull returning to Philadelphia’s starting rotation mix, but it sounds like there’s a chance he managed to avoid serious injury. There should be some clarity on his status at some point soon.