The Phillies, dealing with an infield shortage, activated shortstop Didi Gregorius from the injured list Sunday morning and placed Nick Maton on the IL with a right shoulder sprain.
Maton injured the shoulder robbing Mike Trout of a hit in Friday's 10-0 win. It was a softly hit pop-up to the right of second base and Maton had to make a running, diving catch and jammed his shoulder on the outfield grass. His IL stint is retroactive to June 4.
The Phillies' lack of healthy infielders expedited Gregorius' return. He was on a rehab assignment with Triple A Lehigh Valley and was set to be reevaluated after Sunday's game. Instead, he was activated ahead of the Phillies' series finale against the Angels.
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The only five healthy infielders on the Phils' 40-man roster are the ones on their active roster: Rhys Hoskins, Johan Camargo, Bryson Stott, Alec Bohm and Gregorius. Jean Segura had surgery on a broken finger earlier this week and is expected to be out until early September.
The Phillies will skew left-handed at the bottom of the order because both of their centerfielders -- Odubel Herrera and Mickey Moniak -- hit from the left side and so do their shortstops, Stott and Gregorius. Switch-hitting Johan Camargo can also play short but will be needed at second base. It could make the Phillies susceptible to lefty relievers late in games as the lineup turns over because the shortstop, centerfielder, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper would all come up within a span of six batters.
Gregorius had been out since May 4 with a knee injury. In 65 plate appearances this season, he's hit .288/.338/.356 with four doubles, no homers, seven RBI and three walks.
Despite the relatively high batting average, Gregorius was not making hard contact prior to the injury. His soft contact rate of 36% is second-worst in the majors, ahead of only Seattle's Jarred Kelenic, who has since been sent to Triple A.
MLB
Gregorius went 3 for 17 with a homer on the rehab assignment. He was not in Sunday's lineup against Angels left-hander Patrick Sandoval but will likely see some playing time this week with the Phillies set to face right-handers in their next four games.
Here was the Phils' lineup Sunday:
1. Kyle Schwarber, LF
2. Rhys Hoskins, 1B
3. Bryce Harper, DH
4. Nick Castellanos, RF
5. J.T. Realmuto, C
6. Alec Bohm, 3B
7. Odubel Herrera, CF
8. Johan Camargo, 2B
9. Bryson Stott, SS
Kyle Gibson, SP
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