The Philadelphia Phillies are starting to heat up again as the team has put together a solid three-game winning streak and have once again found themselves with a comfortable 8.0-game lead over the Atlanta Braves for the top spot in the National League East.
These victories have come at the right time, as the Phillies were mired in a nearly two-month stretch of mediocre baseball that left many fans wondering what happened to a team that looked unstoppable in April and May. With two games remaining at home against the 55-68 Washington Nationals, a series sweep would certainly bring good energy back to a team and increasingly frustrated fanbase that has been hoping for a return to the type of dominant play that had the entire baseball world on notice during the first couple months of the season.
With the Phillies set to embark on an important six-game road trip that will see them square off against playoff-caliber teams like the Braves and Kansas City Royals next week, earning a series victory against the Nationals is vitally important to the Phillies maintaining a healthy lead in the division entering the home stretch of the 2024 season.
As the Phillies roll up their sleeves and prepare to do battle against a steady diet of contenders over the next couple of weeks, the team and manager Rob Thomson will hope to do so with a healthy 26-man roster for the first time since early May.
Austin Hays’ positive injury update isn’t as good as it sounds
While the team has announced tentative plans for injured starting pitcher Ranger Suárez to be activated sometime next weekend, it has been reported that recently acquired outfielder Austin Hays' return from the 10-day IL will take a bit longer than the team first expected.
Dealing with a minor left hamstring strain suffered on Aug. 7 in a game versus the Los Angeles Dodgers, Hays and the Phillies training staff were initially optimistic that the corner outfielder would only require a minimum of 10 days of rest and rehab when he was first placed on the IL.
Considered similar in severity to the hamstring injury that sidelined Brandon Marsh in June, the expectation was that Hays would be back on the field in the same timeframe. We've since learned that Hays will not be activated on Aug. 18 as originally planned.
Appearing in the stands with NBC Sports Philadelphia's Tom McCarthy and John Kruk during Thursday night's telecast, the pair asked Hays for an update on the status of his injury. Hays seemed confident that his hamstring is finally responding well to an increase in baseball-related activities.
"I feel really good," Hays said. "I'm doing some baseball activity. Went back and threw to like 200 feet today and let a couple go. Did all my normal cage stuff today and the hamstring's feeling good. I was able to run today. We did some sprints and felt like I really turned the corner yesterday, and now I just get the strength back and be ready to go."
Hays admitted that he was not entirely sure how his body was responding to treatment, and was initially hesitant to push himself too hard and risk reaggravating the injury further. Describing the process as a mental challenge at first, Hays' ramp up to performing more intense work on the field and in the cage is something that he has only just recently become more comfortable with.
"The first couple of times you start moving around and you take a couple of swings, you start jogging for the first time, I think your mind kind of plays some tricks on you," Hays added. "You want it to feel good, but you're not really sure if you can go as hard as you're trying to. So yesterday, being able to push it a little bit, and not feel anything, that gave me some confidence."
Hays will likely return sometime next week, and the Phillies will have decisions to make with rookie Weston Wilson swinging a hot bat and filling in capably in left field during Hays' absence. How this will affect the playing time of Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas remains to be seen, but the team seems to finally have found a group of outfielders who can provide enough offensive and defensive upside to keep the team balanced in the field and at the plate for the remainder of the season.