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Werth Placed On 15-Day DL

Jayson Werth has been placed on the 15-day DL with a right oblique strain. He suffered this injury in the last game against Washington Wednesday night. Werth was hitting .260 with 9 HR and 26 RBI. Just last week he recorded his career-best game, a three homer, eight RBI performance against the Blue Jays.

Outfielder TJ Bohn has been called up to replace Werth. Once a callup, Bohn, 28, went 1-for-3 with a 2-RBI double in his seven games with the Phils. A member of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs this year, Bohn has been hitting .162 with 2 HR and 4 RBI.

Bohn is, in a way, Werth-lite. He’s a little quick, has a nice glove and is pretty athletic with his 6’5″ frame. He won’t hit for power like Werth, but he’ll give you a late-innings glove and feet, just like So Taguchi. Really, they don’t need another So Taguchi.

Now why Bohn, you ask? He was the only outfielder left on the 40-man roster. It’s a convenience move; instead of having to drop Bohn off the 40-man and, consequently, release him, they just bring up the guy who’s hitting .162 with the AAA IronPigs. Reading’s roster has a couple candidates, including Javon Moran (.285, 11 SB), Jeremy Slayden (.275, 4 HR, 32 RBI) and Greg Golson (.320, 5 HR, 27 RBI, 15 SB). Heck, even the IronPigs have a better option in Brandon Watson (.301, .340 OBP). It’s a scared promotion by the front office, one that hates making extra moves and dropping guys who really wouldn’t have a Major League future anyway.

Werth’s loss will be felt in spades, especially against left-handed hitters. Geoff Jenkins, as we all know, can’t hit lefties. So he’s not an option. What about Taguchi? He’s hitting .103 against lefties. Basically, the Phils would have to start Bohn against lefties â€” the Phils now have a huge hole in their batting corps.

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.