3 Phillies players who must step up in Trea Turner’s absence
By Edward Eng
On Saturday, the Philadelphia Phillies received the bad news that Trea Turner will be out for a while after an innocent-looking play at home plate on Friday night.
The star shortstop landed on the 10-day IL with a left hamstring strain, but the timeline is expected to be at least six weeks, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. That's a significant amount of time for a player who has been a difference-maker for this Phillies team early on.
Which Phillies players will really need to step up their game to help fill the void in the meantime? There are at least three players on the roster who will need to play a more significant role while Turner recovers.
Edmundo Sosa
The first Phillies player in the replacement queue that makes the most sense is backup infielder Edmundo Sosa. After all, he was the first one summoned to replace Turner on Friday, and he made the start on Saturday as well. Per MLB.com's Paul Casella, manager Rob Thomson stated that going with Sosa at short is the primary plan for now.
The Phillies acquired Sosa from the St. Louis Cardinals at the 2022 trade deadline. Known predominantly for his defensive abilities, he has been a huge part of the Phillies bench. He is versatile enough to cover second base, third base and shortstop and is an important backup for all of those positions.
The 28-year-old has also had decent success at the plate despite his limited playing time. He has a solid .263 average with a .759 OPS, with 45 runs scored, 23 doubles, three triples, 13 home runs and 45 RBI over 138 games played in just 354 at-bats as a Phillie heading into Sunday's action.
With 15 DRS registered over six seasons playing in the infield, Sosa will certainly upgrade the Phillies’ overall infield defense but will need to step up his offensive game to help replace some of the lost offense from Turner’s bat. Perhaps finally getting a chance to play almost every day will help unlock his untapped offensive potential.