Phillies news and rumors 5/31: Matt Vierling to miss upcoming Phillies series with injury

NEW YORK — One former Phillie won’t be playing against his old club when the Detroit Tigers come to Philadelphia next week.

Detroit announced Tuesday that Matt Vierling was placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to May 29) with low back soreness. He will be out until at least June 8, meaning he’ll miss the three-game series against the Phillies from June 5-7.

An MRI revealed “general lumbar spine inflammation.” The Tigers say he’ll rest and be re-evaluated later this week.

Vierling is not off to a great start at the plate in Detroit. He’s slashing .241/.297/.352 with four home runs and 15 RBIs. The numbers are pretty similar to what he posted across a full season last year with the Phillies. He slashed .246/.297/.351 across 357 plate appearances in 2022.

Unlike Vierling, Nick Maton’s numbers are way down. In 161 plate appearances, Maton has a .602 OPS. That’s down from .855 in just 85 plate appearances.

The two will receive their NL championship rings at some point during the upcoming Tigers series. It would have been nice to see both Maton and Vierling, two well-liked players from the pennant-winning team, in the lineup for all three games.

Where was Bryce?

The Phillies wanted to get Bryce Harper off his feet for two consecutive days — which is why he sat Tuesday against the Mets.

There was a thought that Harper could come off the bench and pinch hit later in the game when Kody Clemens’ spot was due up. Rob Thomson instead chose to keep the lefty in and he struck out in the ninth against former Phillie David Robertson.

Thomson said he was not in play to pinch hit:

“He’s fine. He’ll play tomorrow,” Thomson said. “We just want to give him a full day off. Don’t swing the bat. Don’t get ready. A lot of times when they’re pinch hitting, they’re taking a lot of swing, a lot of swings.

“To keep him healthy, I’d rather [not] risk that than the game.”

Must Read (Or Watch) Phillies Content

• In case you missed it, Scott Rolen, Ruly Carpenter and John Quinn are heading to the Wall of Fame.
• José Alvarado is scheduled to throw live batting practice today in New York. Here are all the latest Phillies injury updates
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• Ranger Suárez had the best start of his season so far, but the Phillies couldn’t figure out Kodai Senga.
• Ken Rosenthal wrote in The Athletic that the Phillies are part of the “sorry seven,” a group of playoff teams from last season that are struggling this year.
• Matt Strahm spoke with the Inquirer‘s Scott Lauber on the Phillies taking him out of the rotation to protect him from injury.

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