The Phillies today placed shortstop Jimmy Rollins on the 15-day DL. He had been nursing a sprained ankle for a week, trying to get back into starting status.
They also placed outfielder Chris Snelling on the 15-day DL with knee inflamation.
AA shortstop Brad Harman and AAA outfielder TJ Bohn have been called up as replacements. Harman was hitting .222 with a homer and three RBI for Reading. Bohn was hitting .190 for Lehigh Valley.
Absolutely atrocious news. Yesterday Phillies fans were cheering on Rollins as he pinch hit against the Mets; the cheers sad, wild hopes of a fan base struck to the face by a front office’s mistakes. As the days carried on and Rollins never cured, it became more obvious that Rollins had to go on the DL. Instead, they refused to list him, instead giving him one-shot pinch appearances to keep the fans happy. Atrocious.
Snelling’s injury is merely a kick-em-while-they’re-down piece of news. Snelling was the fifth outfielder, called up after Shane Victorino injured his calf and hit the DL. Now he’s down for 15 days, and suddenly, that heralded outfield depth is a wasteland: TJ Bohn is barely AAA-quality.
Now the 22-year-old inexperienced Harman becomes a body on the bench, stunting his growth as he gets maybe three at bats for the next two weeks. The Phils almost have to make a move to get some outfield depth, at the very least; truthfully, they’ll need a new shortstop. Eric Bruntlett cannot start for what is seemingly a contending team.
I wrote before the season that I had a weird feeling this was the year Jimmy Rollins wouldn’t play all 162 games. I also wrote the Phillies would lose their wheels and crash on the side of the road if they lost Rollins for an extended period of time. Sadly, I was completely correct on the first statement; now the Phillies will have to attempt to gain control of the bus. It’ll be extremely difficult.
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