PHOENIX — Phillies left fielder Austin Hays was placed on the 10-day injured list Friday afternoon but does not think his left hamstring strain will result in an extended absence.
"Getting the result of the MRI and it being very mild, it's not going to take a long time to build back up," he said from the visiting dugout at Chase Field prior to the second of a four-game series between the Phillies and Diamondbacks.
"It's really just rest it, let it calm down and in a few days, we'll see how it feels. I'm not expecting this to be a month-long thing. I'm expecting it to be a short time. I know there's a few guys here that have dealt with hamstring strains and this training staff has done a really good job with them. I'm hoping I'm going to fall right in line with those guys and be back in no time."
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The Phillies see Hays' hamstring strain as similar to the one suffered by Brandon Marsh in early June. Marsh was out from June 3 to June 15 and the expectation is that Hays will miss a similar length of time.
With Hays sidelined, the Phillies called up left-handed center fielder Cal Stevenson from Triple A. Johan Rojas will be the primary center fielder but Stevenson will occasionally spell him against righties.
"He's one of my favorite outfielders I've ever played with," Tyler Phillips said. "He'll run through a wall for you."
The Phillies selected Stevenson off waivers from the Giants in May 2023 and he's been at Triple A Lehigh Valley ever since, putting together 555 high-quality plate appearances with as many walks (104) as strikeouts and a .425 on-base percentage.
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"I played for my dad growing up so if I swung at bad pitches, I was going to hear it on the way home," he said. "It's just something I was accustomed to growing up, swing decisions."
Stevenson, who played briefly in the majors for the A's and Giants in 2022 and 2023, found out Thursday night from his IronPigs manager, Anthony Contreras, that he was headed back to the majors.
"We were talking a little bit about Hays going down with a hammie but we weren't sure," he said. "I didn't think it was going to be me, I thought it was going to be someone like (Kody) Clemens who was already on the roster. But I'm ready to go, I felt like I was doing pretty well down there so I thought maybe there was a shot, so it was cool."
The Phillies will use Weston Wilson in left field with Rojas in center against lefties and they'll play Marsh in left field with Rojas in center against righties, with Stevenson occasionally facing righties instead of Rojas.
"He's played very well, .900 OPS, can play all three, can run, can steal a base for you," manager Rob Thomson said of Stevenson. "Rojas is going to get the bulk of the time in center field but to get him off his feet, Cal can play center and would be available to pinch-hit, pinch-run, and he's left-handed. That's the profile we were looking for."