The Philadelphia Phillies did well to escape their weekend series with the Toronto Blue Jays with a win. Salvaging a single victory against a non-contending team isn't exactly a full-time recipe for success, but between Kyle Schwarber snapping his homer drought early and Derek Hill walking things off in the bottom of the 12th, there was enough reason to celebrate a tough stretch in what's otherwise been an excellent month.
Unfortunately, not everyone had a day to remember. Luis Arraez, who has generally been excellent since arriving from San Francisco at the trade deadline, had easily his worst day in a Phillies uniform, going 0-for-6 while stranding seven runners on base. The game likely would have been over well before the 12th had he converted in some of his previous at-bats.
Then there was the real downer of the weekend: Caleb Kilian apparently hurt his ribs on his final pitch of the game. Don Mattingly told the media after the game that the injury "didn't look good," suggesting that a long hiatus from baseball may be in the reliever's future.
Caleb Kilian may have suffered a rib injury on his final pitch.
— Jeff Kerr (@JeffKerrPHL) August 9, 2026
“It didn’t look good.” — Don Mattingly said. #Phillies
Phillies' concern levels with Caleb Kilian and Luis Arraez should be going in opposite directions
Kilian's injury is the rotting cherry on top of his spoiled sundae since coming over in that Arraez trade; he's been roughed up out of Mattingly's bullpen, giving up seven runs (five earned) in just 3.1 innings with the Phillies. A lot of that damage was sustained during a particularly terrible outing against the Nationals -- and he did pick up the win against the Blue Jays prior to getting injured -- but he hasn't been as advertised no matter how you slice it.
Depending on how serious this rib injury is (he was just placed on the 15-day IL with an oblique strain), we might have seen the last of Kilian in 2026. If that's the case, the bullpen is right back to where it was in early July, only with Brooks Raley taking the placed of the now-injured Brad Keller. That's a serious failure on the part of Dave Dombrowski and the front office, one which is only slightly mitigated by the fact that Kilian is under team control through 2031.
Thankfully, similar concerns about Arraez's poor day have little foundation upon which to stand. He's been terrific all year long both at the plate and in the field, and he began his Phillies tenure with three multi-hit efforts in his first five games. There's just no one else in the sport with his skill set right now, arming Mattingly with another unique weapon to deploy at the top of the lineup.
If the pitching staff continues to struggle with health and production beyond the name-brand stars, it'll be up to Arraez and the offense to drag this team to October. One bad day aside, he's capable of supporting that cause.
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