Altherr has been the Phillies best hitter this year, but injuries continue to plague him
Aaron Altherr has been placed on the disabled list by the Phillies after aggravating a hamstring injury. The 26-year-old outfielder missed 12 days after originally injuring the muscle, but returned much sooner than the team anticipated.
That early return appears to have hindered the versatile outfielder and could cost him multiple weeks worth of playing time.
Altherr left the game in the eighth inning after gingerly scoring on a Nick Williams double in the sixth. Daniel Nava replaced Altherr in right field for the remainder of the game, and potentially for the next couple of weeks.
No replacement for Altherr on the 25-man roster was immediately named by the team.
Aaron Altherr is going back on the DL. He aggravated his injured hamstring.
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) August 5, 2017
With Jake Thompson returning to Lehigh Valley the team recalled Ricardo Pinto as a bullpen arm. Jorge Alfaro also joined the team on an emergency basis with Andrew Knapp battling a hand injury.
Utility player Ty Kelly was sent back to Lehigh Valley to make room for Alfaro, but may be on a return flight to Colorado almost immediately.
Nava and Hyun Soo Kim, acquired in the Jeremy Hellickson deal, are likely to split time as Altherr’s replacement. Kim has primarily come off the bench and has just two hits in 12 at bats for the Phillies with six walks.
With an injury preventing the team from trading him at the trade deadline it’s likely the team will showcase Nava for the duration of Altherr’s injury. Philadelphia is likely to place Nava on revocable trade waivers, allowing any team in the league to claim his trade rights.
A playoff-bound team looking for a consistent bat off the bench will surely be interested in Nava, and could send another young pitching prospect into the Phillies organization.
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It’s unlikely a major prospect joins the team during Altherr’s stint on the disabled list. With Nick Williams already entrenched as a starter in the big leagues, Dylan Cozens would be the next man up.
In 106 games with the IronPigs, the Phillies 11th ranked prospect is hitting just .223 with an impressive 23 home runs. It’s all or nothing with Cozens, and the team may be wary of calling him up at this point.
Roman Quinn would have been the ideal candidate to join the team, but he’s missed extensive time with an elbow injury.
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Expect either Kelly or the recently-demoted Cam Perkins to return to the team as a bench player while Nava is featured as a trade chip.