There you have it, folks. It was just announced today that JT Realmuto will be heading to the 10-day IL. The Phillies and Realmuto were hoping to avoid the injured list after he bruised a bone in the base of his palm. The injury has kept him out of the Phillies lineup since Saturday and his 10-day stint on the IL will be retroactive to Sunday.

League rules allow teams to backdate an IL stint by only three days. Realmuto must miss another week. He’ll be eligible to return next Friday. After playing a roster spot down all week, moving Realmuto to the IL makes the most sense until he is healthy. The Phillies can’t afford to be down a bat in the dugout while they continuously struggle to get in an offensive groove.

Matt Joyce will be activated starting tonight.

Spencer Howard to Start Saturday

In other news, Spencer Howard will get the start Saturday night in place of Chase Anderson. Howard has struck out 13 batters in the minor leagues. He has allowed only one run in nine innings over three starts with Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

On thing that’s interesting for tonight, is that Nick Maton is not in the lineup yet again. Nick Maton, who has been red hot to start the season, typically takes over shortstop while Gregorius is out, but Joe Girardi went with Ronald Torreyes in the final games of the Marlins series.

Maton is not in the starting lineup tonight.

Tonight’s Phillies Lineup:

Aaron Nola is on the mound tonight. First pitch is at 7:05pm. Ring that bell, baby.

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