Phillies News: Austin Hays' rehab, Ranger Suárez, Spencer Turnbull, Taijuan Walker

The Philadelphia Phillies are embarking on a crucial stretch of games over the next few weeks. They'll be playing a series of potential postseason teams, and with a tight battle raging at the top of the National League standings, any good news they get on the injury front is most welcome.

Luckily, there is good news coming the Phillies' way. With the team in Atlanta taking on the Braves, the Phillies announced on Tuesday that injured outfielder Austin Hays would be taking a trip to Lehigh Valley to officially begin a Triple-A rehab stint with the IronPigs.

Phillies News: Austin Hays' rehab, Ranger Suárez, Spencer Turnbull, Taijuan Walker

Hays was placed on the 10-day IL on Aug. 9 (retroactive to Aug. 8) with a strained left hamstring. Despite giving a positive on-air update last week, he wasn't ready to be activated when he was first eligible on Aug. 18. He played in Ranger Suárez's simulated game on Aug. 17, hitting a home run and reportedly looked great.

In his first rehab game on Tuesday, Hays played five innings in left field and went 1-for-2 at the plate with a single, a walk and a strikeout. He'll get a few games in Triple-A before possibly joining the Phillies for the weekend series in Kansas City.

In more good injury news, the Phillies said on Tuesday that barring any setbacks, Ranger Suárez will make his return from the injured list on Saturday against the Kansas City Royals, per Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Suárez has been on the 15-day IL with lower back soreness since July 24. The lefty had experienced problems before the All-Star break, causing him to struggle to a 6.61 ERA in three July starts. The Phillies have taken things slow with Suárez but will be glad to have him back in the rotation.

There's also good news on the Spencer Turnbull front as well. Even though the right-handed pitcher was moved to the 60-day IL as part of the weekend roster shuffle, it was purely a move on paper. The Phillies needed to open up a 40-man roster spot for multi-inning left-hander Tyler Gilbert, who swapped places with Tyler Phillips on the active roster.

Turnbull recently hit a speedbump during his recovery from a late-June lat strain and had to take a few days off from throwing. The good news is that he's feeling a lot better, according to MLB.com and will resume throwing soon, if he hasn't already. He'll be eligible to come off the IL on Aug. 27, but that's an improbable target now.

Taijuan Walker's return to the rotation didn't go as well as we would have liked

Taijuan Walker hasn't exactly had the return to the Phillies rotation that he, or the team, had been hoping for. After being activated for the recent homestand, Walker's two starts resulted in the Phillies' two losses, although he wasn't entirely to blame.

Still, after returning from an almost two-month stay on the IL while dealing with a finger blister issue, he didn't provide the Phillies the innings they will need down the stretch. The veteran right-hander went four innings against the Miami Marlins and then 4 2/3 against the Nationals on Sunday. He allowed a combined six runs on eight hits and six walks while striking out eight.

“Just getting comfortable, throwing the splitter a lot more,” Walker said after Sunday's loss, per MLB.com's Zolecki. “I want to throw it down, I want to throw it under the zone. But I just have to trust that the splitter is back, it’s good and I can throw it up in the zone and get weak contact with it.”

The splitter, his bread and butter pitch, wasn't great on Sunday, only generating three whiffs on 17 swings, according to Zolecki, although Walker's still relying on it working this season. Let's hope he figures it out.