Phillies place Pedro Florimon on DL, call up Mitch Walding
A homegrown minor league lifer is on his way to the Phillies
Phillies infielder Pedro Florimon left Tuesday nights game in Los Angeles after fouling a ball off his foot, and the results were not great. A broken foot has resulted in a trip to the disabled list where he’ll be out for an indefinite period of time.
Florimon beat Jesmuel Valentin, who is now with the big club, for the utility job coming out of spring training. The 31-year-old played five positions this year including two relatively successful relief appearances.
With Florimon out of commission, the Phillies will reportedly call up Mitch Walding from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to make his major league debut at 25-years-old, per Matt Gelb of The Atheltic.
Philadelphia drafted Walding in the fifth-round out of Stockton, California, approximately five hours north of where he’ll meet the Phillies for the final two games against the Dodgers.
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In seven seasons working up through the farm system, Walding is a career .242 hitter with 58 home runs and 572 hits. He hit a career-high 25 home runs for Reading, a park known for allowing home runs.
This season with Lehigh Valley Walding has shown improvement at the plate with a career-best .272 batting average through 47 games.
How long Walding sticks with the major league club is to be seen, but it likely won’t be a long stay. J.P. Crawford’s return from the disabled list with an arm strain could force Walding off the 25-man roster, leaving Valentin as the primary utility player.
Crawford, the organization’s former number one prospect, started the year as the starting shortstop following the trade of Freddy Galvis to San Diego for pitching prospect Enyel De Los Santos, who’s lighting it up in Lehigh Valley.
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Zach Eflin will make his third career-start against the organization that traded him for Jimmy Rollins in 2014. Ross Stripling will make his 22nd career start for the Dodgers tonight.