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Phillies rotation depth to be tested as Spencer Turnbull will miss extended period

Spencer Turnbull has been placed on the injured list. (Grace Del Pizzo/Phillies Nation)

The Philadelphia Phillies went from having six starters for five spots to being in search of a fifth starter in a hurry.

RHP Spencer Turnbull was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right lat strain, the Phillies announced before Thursday’s game against the Miami Marlins. Reliever Yunior Marte has been recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

The Phillies expect to be without Turnbull for more than just a couple weeks, manager Rob Thomson revealed.

“It’s probably gonna be six weeks, could be eight weeks,” Thomson said. “With his injury history, we’re gonna be careful with him and make sure we do this thing right.”

Turnbull exited his start in Detroit Wednesday afternoon after just three innings, having allowed only one run. Thomson said after the matinee victory over the Tiger s that Turnbull had felt something in the back of his shoulder on his penultimate pitch of the day, and that he would go for tests.

The results of said tests have landed Turnbull on the injured list, a spot he’s become all-too-familiar with in recent years.

“He’s disappointed, like anybody would [be],” Thomson acknowledged. “But he’s gonna be back.”

In the meantime, the Phillies are now without both Turnbull and Taijuan Walker. As for Walker — who was placed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to June 22 with right index finger inflammation last Sunday — it doesn’t sound like he’ll be a candidate to return to the rotation soon.

Walker is playing catch and doing weighted ball work to increase his arm strength, but he hasn’t yet tried to throw his splitter. The Phillies don’t have an exact timeline on Walker, but Thomson did say he won’t be back before the All-Star Break, which will take place from July 15-17.

The first crack to pitch out of the No. 5 spot, it appears, will go to Michael Mercado. When exactly that start will take place isn’t yet clear. Mercado will be available out of the bullpen Thursday and Friday against Miami. After that, Mercado will pitch out of the rotation, but it shouldn’t be assumed he’ll take the ball on July 2 at Wrigley Field, which would have been Turnbull’s next start. Thomson just said Mercado’s first MLB start will come at some point after the July 1 off day.

Mercado made his MLB debut in Detroit on Monday, striking out a batter in a hitless inning of relief. The 25-year-old had a 1.71 ERA across 47 1/3 innings pitched at Triple-A Lehigh Valley before being called up. 10 of his 14 appearances were starts, so it’s not as though starting is a foreign concept to him.

Thomson also pointed to Tyler Phillips and David Buchanan as other starting depth currently at Triple-A.

In theory, Kolby Allard and Mick Abel could be options as well, but Allard has a 6.70 ERA for the IronPigs and Abel has a 7.08 ERA, so neither is necessarily pushing for a promotion right now.

Thomson pushed back against the idea of only using four starters for a few turns through the rotation, which might be doable with off days and the upcoming All-Star Break. The Phillies want to make sure that their quartet of Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suárez and Cristopher Sánchez are all getting necessary rest between their starts.

Every fifth day could turn into a bullpen game by default if the Phillies don’t get quality pitching from Mercado or one of the Triple-A options, but the current thought isn’t to enter the games planning to use eight or nine arms.

And so, Mercado will get a chance to shine in the absence of both Turnbull and Walker. Obviously, it’s not ideal. At the same time, the Phillies have four other starters who could reasonably be considered All-Star candidates. Having to figure out the fifth starter for a month or two before four horses is a first-world problem.