Tanner Banks is nearing the end of his rehab assignment with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. He pitched again Tuesday night at Coca-Cola Park and threw 2.1 innings of scoreless ball, allowing just one hit in the outing.
Banks went on the IL July 9 and was later moved to the 60-day IL with a left forearm strain. On his rehab assignment with Lehigh Valley, Banks has thrown 13.1 innings over nine relief outings, giving up four earned runs (2.70 ERA) on eight hits and four walks. He also has struck out 20 batters, posting a 0.90 WHIP and a .167 opponents batting average against.
The Phillies could activate Banks at any time since he became eligible to be activated on Monday. There was some thought they would bring him back for the series against the Astros. Since he pitched last night and threw 36 pitches (25 strikes), it’s more likely that the Phillies will now wait to activate him until this weekend when they play in Atlanta.
The plan is to stretch him out to throw multiple innings at the major league level. The Phillies view him as a guy who may be able to eat some innings should one of the starters get into trouble early.
Banks began his rehab assignment on August 26 and pitchers can spend 30 days on a rehab assignment before they have to either be activated or optioned out. The Phillies have until September 25 to make a decision, so they could keep him with Lehigh Valley longer if they decide to.
The Phillies had signed free agent Nestor Cortes as some insurance for the pitching staff. They delayed having him pitch in a game because they decided he wasn’t physically ready to face opposing hitters in a game capacity. He was placed on the IL with Low-A Clearwater, which delayed his debut until last night in the Threshers’ series opener against Tampa in the FSL Division Championship series.
Cortes pitched one inning for Clearwater as their starter and allowed a run on two hits and no walks. The left-hander threw 11 pitches (nine strikes) to five batters in the Threshers 2-0 loss to Tampa. His fastball topped out at 91.4 mph against Tampa.
The Phillies have not announced what the next step will be for Cortes, but they don’t have a lot of options. if the Threshers lose game 2 of the series, their season comes to an end. If they come back to win the next two games they would advance to another best-of-three series for the FSL Championship.
The next step up would be Lakewood, but their season ended Sunday as they failed to qualify for the postseason. Reading (Double-A) has five games left at home this week and a magic number of four to clinch the Northwest Division in the second half of the season, which would put them into the Eastern League division series for a best-of-three series against the Hartford YardGoats. A win there would extend their season for another best of three series and a chance to be Eastern League champions.
Lehigh Valley has 11 games left in the regular season and will not play in the postseason.
The Phillies made a procedural move with Miller, their top hitting prospect, on Monday. Miller was activated by the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and assigned to Double-A Reading. Miller was in the lineup against Erie Tuesday night and went 0-for-3, playing six innings.
The plan is to up his exposure to baseball activities without recreating any of the soreness he had in his back prior to the back discomfort that kept him off of the baseball diamond for most of the season. The Phillies have not announced if he will have any scheduled days off or will play straight through for the Fightins.
More injury news…
Lehigh Valley manager Tank Adamson is hoping that Payton Henry can return from an injury late this week or over the weekend. The IronPigs have a road series next week in Syracuse.
Alex Binelas, who was promoted from Reading to Lehigh Valley last Monday, played just three games with the IronPigs before going on the IL. He has been diagnosed with a sports hernia that will require surgery to repair and will not return this season. Binelas hit .222 (2-for-9) in his three games with the Pigs after hitting 26 home runs and driving in 78 runs with Reading while slashing .267/.382/.509 for an .891 OPS in 116 Double-A games.
