With Aaron Altherr returning, how will the Phillies balance playing time?

Aaron Altherr could be activated from the disabled list as soon as Tuesday, but this muddles up an already cloudy playing time situation.

Just a few days after news broke that Aaron Altherr could miss as much as a month with a hamstring strain, Matt Breen of Philly.com reported that the Phillies could activate Altherr as soon as Tuesday, but he now says it will happen at some point this week. He has been out since July 15 when he sustained the injury against the Brewers.

So Altherr’s injury is less severe than expected and we get back the team’s best hitter this year sooner than we thought. All is well in Philadelphia right? Well, not exactly.

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Philadelphia’s outfield has been among the best offensively in the league in the second half. Since the All-Star Break, their 1.7 fWAR is highest in the National League. Collectively, they have a .364/.426/.653 slash line with six home runs and 29 RBI.

Rookie Nick Williams and Odubel Herrera each have three home runs and an OPS well above 1.000. Howie Kendrick has already racked up four hits in ten plate appearances since returning from the disabled list.

Daniel Nava has five hits, including a double, and four walks in 19 plate appearances in the second half.

With Altherr set to return, that gives the team five outfielders with hot bats that all warrant playing time. Unfortunately, not all five can be in the lineup at the same time.

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The team wants Nava and Kendrick to play as much as possible in the next week with the trade deadline coming up July 31. Both could fetch a decent return in a trade, but their value is limited on a one-year deal.

If this was happening a month ago, Kendrick could man second base while Cesar Hernandez was injured or at third with Maikel Franco struggling. However, Hernandez is back from the disabled list and Franco is hitting well so far in the second half. Perhaps Kendrick could spend some time at first base – he has 90 career games there, including 11 last year – with Tommy Joseph hitting just .221 since the All-Star Break.

Next: Phillies offense firing on all cylinders

Even if Kendrick plays one of the infield positions, that still leaves one outfielder on the bench and also means Cameron Perkins is probably headed back to Triple-A. Playing time will hard to come by in the next week until Kendrick and/or Nava are potentially traded. If they aren’t, that logjam will continue until someone’s hitting falls off.