The Philadelphia Phillies and Miami Marlins game was rained out last night at Citizens Bank Park. As someone who was driving down 95 from the Northeast last night, there was no way baseball was being played in South Philadelphia. I could barely see a few feet in front of me because it was raining so hard. The game will be made up on July 16th as a part of a single-admission doubleheader beginning at 4:05pm.

Roster Moves

FELIZ DFA’d

The Neftali Feliz experiment is over. In two outings with the Phillies, he managed to work a two-run lead into a two-run deficit against the Reds and a tie game into a three run deficit against the Marlins. Really solid work by the Phillies organization for believing a in a guy who hadn’t pitched in the major leagues since 2017.

KINTZLER ACTIVATED

With Feliz designated for assignment yesterday, the Phillies activated Brandon Kintzler from the 10-day injured list. Kintzler was another offseason reliever added by Dave Dombrowski. He didn’t work out very well before heading to the injured list, which was a shame because I was absolutely loving his mindset heading into the season. Bryce Harper recruited Kintzler to join the Phillies before the season started. There’s hope that he can bounce back. Any improvement to the bullpen would be fantastic at this point.

Injury Updates:

DIDI GREGORIUS

Didi Gregorius is expected to return to the Phillies any day now. He was injured on May 13th and has been working through a rehab assignment with Triple A Lehigh Valley. In seven games with the IronPigs, Didi went 9-for-18. He played back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday and was scheduled to DH on Thursday.

In 32 games with the Phillies this season, Gregorius hit just .229/.266/.364 with four home runs and 22 RBI. The Phillies hope to have him back for the Padres series that kicks off tonight at home or at the latest, against the Cubs when the team travels to Wrigley early next week.

CHASE ANDERSON

Chase Anderson has been out since June 10th on the COVID-19 related injury list. Hard to believe when healthy, it matters if Anderson returns or not. On the season, he’s 2-4 with a 7.34 ERA in 11 games, (eight starts) after being named the starting rotation’s fifth starter at the beginning of the season.

SAM COONROD

Sam Coonrod, the next pitcher on the list that was added last offseason, was injured during the Dodgers series in Los Angeles a few weeks ago. The Phillies opted to not put him on the injured list. Coonrod threw a bullpen session last Tuesday, then “felt something” when he pitched on Wednesday. No timetable on his return.

MATT JOYCE

Matt Joyce, an offseason addition to the bench for the Phillies outfield, has been on the injured list since June 19th. Joyce, who has been absolutely terrible outside his grand slam off a pitcher, is batting .100 on the season with two home runs and six RBIs. His return is TBD.

Message to Joe Girardi: I don’t ask for much, but if you could please not bring Joyce back up to the Phillies roster I would really appreciate it. It makes zero sense, Joe. Keep the young guys up and get rid of these older, bad players.

Up Next for the Phillies:

The Phillies are four games under .500 at 37-41 and in fourth place in the National League East. They are a game behind the Atlanta Braves in third, 2.5 games behind the Nationals in second, and 4.5 games behind the NL East leading New York Mets.

The San Diego Padres (49-34) are in town for a weekend series with game one tonight at 6:05pm. Zack Wheeler (6-4, 2.20) will start for the Phillies against right-hander Chris Paddack (4-5, 4.64)

Zach Eflin was going to pitch yesterday, but was sick, so Matt Moore was moved up from a scheduled Saturday start to pitch on Thursday. That game of course, was rained out. Joe Girardi has yet to announce any future pitching plans outside of Wheeler tonight.

TONIGHT’S LINEUP

With Didi Gregorius returning to the Phillies tonight, Nick Maton has been optioned back to Triple A Lehigh Valley. I hate it here.