Another injury hits the Phillies with J.P. Crawford going down against St. Louis
UPDATE: J.P. Crawford suffered a broken left hand for the Phillies and will miss more than a month.
Original: Phillies infielder and former top prospect J.P. Crawford left Tuesday’s game after fouling a ball to his left hand.
Crawford, who started the game at third base, remained in the game as a runner but left in the top of the fifth. Maikel Franco replaced Crawford at third and in the nine hole behind Vince Velasquez.
An injury to Crawford could mean his second trip to the disabled list this season for one of the top shortstop prospects in baseball. An arm strain cost Crawford the entire month of May, but he’s hit just .207 since his return.
Crawford’s injury shortened the Phillies bench even more on Tuesday night with Nick Williams recovering from a broken nose. Williams took a ball that ricocheted off the fence in right field Monday night to the nose, but did not suffer a concussion. The outfielder’s status for Tuesday was unknown, but the belief is he won’t need a trip on the disabled list.
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Once Crawford left and Franco entered the game the Phillies bench was down to backup catcher Andrew Knapp and utility-man Jesmuel Valentin with an eight-man bullpen.
Outfielder Dylan Cozens remains on the disabled list with a left quad strain suffered just five games into his rookie season. Roman Quinn is also on the disabled list after undergoing surgery to repair a ligament in his hand, which should keep him out at least another month.
Already running low on players to add to the 40-man roster, the likely option for the organization to call up is Mitch Walding, who struck out in all six of his major league at-bats last month. Trevor Plouffe was signed as a free agent and assigned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley during the season, but he’d need to be assigned to the 40-man roster.
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Hopefully Crawford didn’t break a finger or bone in his hand and will be available later this week.