On Saturday, manager Rob Thomson gave Trea Turner a day off. It was just a routine day off to give him a bit of a break and get him off of his feet for a while. The manager referred to it as Turner “taking care of himself,” to rest late in a long season, especially with a big series against the Mets opening up to start this week. On Sunday, Turner – who leads the National League in hits – launched his 15th home run of the season in the sixth inning, but an inning later after running hard down the first base line took himself out of the game when he felt his hamstring “kind of grabbing on me.”

The initial diagnosis is a hamstring strain, less severe than a pulled hamstring, but still enough that it could mean an IL stint for the Phillies shortstop. The last time Turner was on the IL was in May of 2024 and it was for a hamstring injury. The Phillies will have Turner examined Monday in Philadelphia to determine the extent of the injury. “It didn’t feel good, felt like if I could’ve kept going I would’ve, but [I wanted to] get out of there and try to limit the damage,” Turner told reporters after the game.

The fact that Turner was available to answer questions is a good sign. Many times, a player who suffers an in-game injury is not available to talk to the media after the game. It is also a good sign that Turner walked off the field without any assistance and had very little sign of any limp. He went to the Phillies dugout immediately after the play and back into the clubhouse with a trainer following him.

Even if Turner does not go on the IL, it’s likely that he will sit out a few games to rest the hamstring and avoid doing any further damage. The timing is particularly bad because of a four-game series that opens Monday against the New York Mets. New York trails the Phillies by seven games in the NL East and currently has a two-game edge over Cincinnati and San Francisco for the third and final wild card spot in the playoffs.

The Phillies lost Sunday’s game to the Marlins 5-4, but won two of their three games in Miami over the weekend.

Potential replacements

Should Turner need to go on the IL, here’s a look at some of the possible moves the Phillies could make to replace him on the active roster:

  • Otto Kemp – While Kemp does not play short, the Phillies have Edmundo Sosa to play short and could move Bryson Stott back to short, which is where he began his career. Stott was moved to second to make room for Turner and was extremely strong defensively at short. Kemp has started 10 games at second base this season with Lehigh Valley and could fill in there, if Stott was moved. Kemp is the only additional infielder on the Phillies 40-man roster.
  • Rodolfo Castro – Believe it or not, Castro leads the IronPigs in home runs (19) and RBI (76). His slash line – .225/.312/.419 – is somewhat less impressive though. His defense at short is also suspect with 21 errors on the season.
  • Rafael Lantigua – With Castro soaking up most of the time at short for Lehigh Valley, Lantigua has been a mainstay at second base, but has played six games at short for the IronPigs. Lantigua has played well defensively at second and third, but in 72 chances at short this season has made one error that drops his fielding percentage to .938. For his career, Lantigua has a .960 fielding percentage at short in 80 minor league games.
  • Donovan Walton – Of the possibilities to join the Phillies, Walton would be the most likely choice. The 31-year-old has played 70 games in the majors with Seattle and San Francisco and is only a .136 hitter in the majors. However, he is a gritty type of player and in the minors has a .970 fielding percentage in 120 games at short. He can also play second, third, and left field which would give the Phillies some flexibility. Walton started the year with Syracuse (Mets) before coming over to the Phillies in a cash deal earlier in the year. Between the two stops this season, Walton is batting 13-64-.270/.356/.396.
  • Aidan Miller – Including Miller, who is the longest of long shots to get the call, is just to make the list complete. He has not played above Double-A, but has put up some nice numbers this season with a 13-41-.259/.382/.427 for the Fightins. Miller has plenty of speed and baserunning savvy and has swiped 52 bases in 66 attempts at Double-A this season. Miller has played exclusively at short and has a .936 fielding percentage over four minor league seasons. Again, he is not going to be the choice, but got himself on the list. Following Sunday’s games, Miller was promoted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley for the final two weeks of the season.

The only one of the above players who is already on the 40-man roster is Kemp. The Phillies would need to make room for any of the others. Philadelphia has a full 40-man roster, so someone would need to either be removed from the roster (DFA’d, released, etc.) or one of the injured players would have to be moved from the 15-day IL to the 60-day. The only injured players on the 15-day IL are pitchers Jordan Romano (blister) and Daniel Robert (right forearm strain). While fans would be fine with Romano (2-4, 8.23) never returning, there really is not a necessity for him to go on the 60-day IL (and yes, there must be a medical reason for the move). There might be an argument made to move Robert to the 60, depending on how severe the injury is and how he is responding to treatment.