This offseason, the Philadelphia Phillies were obviously looking to add to their pitching staff to prepare for another run to the World Series.
Their first priority was to re-sign Aaron Nola after contract negotiations had previously failed. Once that was accomplished, they turned their attention to extending Zack Wheeler’s contract, which they did.
With the two aces at the top of their rotation for years to come, the Phillies reportedly wanted to make a splash by signing Japanese phenom Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but when that didn’t work out, they picked up a few more starters by signing Spencer Turnbull and Kolby Allard to minor league contracts.
It turned out that hiring Turnbull was an important decision.
When Taijuan Walker was placed on the injured list earlier this year, he stepped in and had an incredible 1.67 ERA with a 2-0 record in six starts in April. When Walker was taken off the IL, the Phillies used the breakout star out of the bullpen.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go quite as smoothly for him in that role, as he posted a 7.00 ERA in his first six appearances as a relief pitcher. However, he seemed to be slowly finding his feet before suffering a strained right latissimus that has kept him out of action since June 27.
Turnbull was thought to return and provide a major reinforcement to the pitching staff, but those plans could be in jeopardy after Philadelphia placed him on the long-term 60-day injured list on Aug. 17, according to the team’s Injuries & Moves page.
He was supposed to be throwing early last week, but then he suffered a setback that caused them to pause things for a while and make this move. The good news is that manager Rob Thomson said the right-hander is feeling “a lot better” at this point and Turnbull “will resume his throwing program over the next few days.”
As for his role upon his return, Thomson believes they will use him as a relief player.
The goal is for him to build up arm strength so that he can be used as a relief pitcher for several innings during the final stages of the regular season if needed.
And while being moved to the 60-day injured list sounds bad, he’s also been out of action since late June, so he could return next week, which is about the expected timeframe the Phillies have set for him.
Nevertheless, this must be kept in mind.
Turnbull has an injury-plagued past and has only started 16 times in three years between 2021 and 2023 due to Tommy John surgery.
If he is as effective a pitcher in his comeback as he was at the beginning of the season, he will be a tremendous asset to Philadelphia on the road to the playoffs.
