Phillies news and rumors 5/5: Harper’s brace, Eflin’s wedding ring & more

Bryce Harper is set to play at Citizens Bank Park for the first time Friday. (John Jones/Icon Sportswire)

The Philadelphia Phillies will welcome the Boston Red Sox to Citizens Bank Park for a three-game set beginning Friday evening, as part of a five-game homestand that will also see the Toronto Blue Jays pay a visit.

At 15-17, the Phillies will look to rebound after losing the final four games of a roadtrip. Meanwhile, the Red Sox have won five games in a row, and currently sit at 18-14.

Two former All-Stars will square off in the opening game of the series Friday evening, with Zack Wheeler set to oppose Chris Sale. Despite a bit of a slow start, Wheeler is 3-1 with a 3.86 ERA and 2.53 FIP in six starts this season. On the flip side, Sale — once one of the game’s best arms — has an unsightly 6.75 ERA across 29 1/3 innings pitched in 2023.

As we await tonight’s 7:05 p.m. ET first pitch, here’s a look at the latest Phillies news and rumors from around the internet.

Transaction

Thursday evening, the Phillies announced that they had selected the contract of RHP Jeff Hoffman from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. RHP Yunior Marte was optioned back to the IronPigs, while RHP Jeff McArthur was designated for assignment to clear a 40-man roster spot for Hoffman.

Hoffman has a 7.31 ERA in five appearances this season at Triple-A, which certainly isn’t impressive.

With that said, Hoffman was very impressive last month when he threw a live batting practice session to Bryce Harper at Citizens Bank Park. And the former No. 9 overall pick had opted out of his minor-league deal with the Phillies, per Matt Gelb of The Athletic. So this was the only path forward if the Phillies wanted to retain Hoffman.

Elsewhere, Nick Nelson has been optioned to Double-A Reading after being reinstated from the 15-day injured list with a left hamstring strain. Don’t read too much into him going to Double-A, that’s where he had been rehabbing as the Phillies continue to stretch him out. Nelson will likely play a role in the bullpen at some point in 2023.

Must-Read (Or Watch) Phillies Content

Prior to his start against Vince Velasquez and the Pittsburgh Pirates Thursday, former Phillie Zach Eflin was told he had to take his wedding ring off or he would be ejected:

As Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia wrote, MLB isn’t allowing Bryce Harper additional time to put on his elbow brace to run the bases because it doesn’t align with the pace-of-play initiatives. One would think there has to be a common-sense middle ground here between trying to speed up the game and making sure a two-time NL MVP doesn’t re-injure his surgically repaired right elbow.

Phillies Nation‘s Nathan Ackerman wrote a feature story on what’s been a whirlwind of a 2023 for Kody Clemens.
Kevin Kinkead of Crossing Broad pointed out that Phillies icon Chase Utley appears to be returning to “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” in Season 16.
Over on Just Baseball, I wrote about Orlando’s desire to land an MLB expansion team.
Phillies Nation contributor Matt McAllister touched on the Phillies bullpen in a new article, a unit that has looked like the best and the worst in baseball at times during the 2023 season.