If arguably the worst loss of the season for the Philadelphia Phillies wasn’t bad enough, two of the team’s key cogs both suffered injuries late in Thursday evening’s disastrous contest against the Miami Marlins.
Kyle Schwarber — playing left field for just the third time this season — had his left groin tighten up making a throw to second base in the top of the eighth inning after shortstop Edmundo Sosa whiffed on a ground ball. He departed the game the next inning, with Brandon Marsh coming in as a replacement.
Then on the final out of the game, Bryce Harper’s lower left hamstring tightened up running to first base, a disconcerting image to end a disastrous loss.
Manager Rob Thomson didn’t have a ton in the way of updates postgame, which is understandable considering how late in the tilt both injuries took place. Thomson’s message essentially was to say that the Phillies will know more tomorrow.
Harper and Schwarber were able to shed a bit of light on how they felt less than an hour after each got banged up.
“Yeah, I felt my lower hammy just a little bit,” Harper said. “So we’re gonna get an image tomorrow just to see what that looks like, see how I kinda feel tomorrow and go from there.”
Harper — who learned Wednesday that he’s been voted the starting first baseman for the NL All-Star team — went on to say that while his hamstring hurts, he didn’t have a feeling on the severity because he hasn’t previously had any soft-tissue injuries.
As for Schwarber, he seemed to be optimistic that he isn’t going to be out for a sustained period.
“Groin, kind of abductory thing just kind of grabbed and they wanted to get me out of there precautionary wise,” Schwarber said. “[They] treated it and we’re gonna see how it feels tomorrow and go from there. But personally, I don’t think it’s gonna be super serious and hopefully see how we come in tomorrow, see how it feels.”
Schwarber did acknowledge that getting imaging done to make sure nothing is seriously wrong with his groin is a likely outcome.
The Phillies have been hit hard by injuries recently. While Trea Turner and Brandon Marsh rejoined the team earlier this month after hamstring injuries, J.T. Realmuto, Spencer Turnbull and Taijuan Walker are all currently on the injured list. It goes without saying that losing either Harper or Schwarber would be an unfortunate turn for the Phillies.
