The Philadelphia Phillies are red hot right now and winners of seven straight games. Today, they will look to sweep the New York Mets with Zack Wheeler on the mound. On Friday, the Phillies were able to take over first place in the National League East. Yesterday, they extended their lead in first place and now are five games above .500 and have a 1.5 game lead on the Mets and a 2 game lead on the Atlanta Braves.

Even while playing their best baseball of the season, the Phillies are pretty banged up, with Rhys Hoskins, Didi Gregorius, Andrew McCutchen, and now Jean Segura all injured. Let’s start with pitching.

Chase Anderson, who took Vincent Velasquez spot as the Phillies number five starter in the rotation last week, was placed on the 10-day injured list yesterday with triceps tendinitis. Luckily for the Phillies, with a day off tomorrow, they can afford to skip the number five spot in their rotation this week and move forward with a four man rotation of Wheeler, Nola, Suarez, and Gibson.

The next time they will have to look for a fifth starter would be next Saturday against the Reds. Even with Vinny Velasquez eligible to come off the injured list on Tuesday, that start could go to Matt Moore or turn into yet another bullpen game for the Phillies. The Phillies are still waiting for Zach Eflin to return to sure up their rotation. Eflin went on the injured list on July 17th with patellar tendinitis in his right knee and his timetable to return is unclear.

Bailey Falter has been out since July 11th when he landed himself on the COVID related injured list. Falter threw a light bullpen session on August 4th, but his status to return to the bullpen still remains uncertain. Sam Coonrod was expected to rejoin the Phillies on July 25th but experienced a set back during a throwing session. He recently threw again on August 5th, and experienced no discomfort. Coonrod will likely throw a few more bullpen sessions before rejoining the team. Connor Brogdon went on the injured list August 3rd after throwing against the Nationals. Exams on Brogdon’s arm did not reveal anything wrong structurally, and he played catch on Aug. 5 without experiencing any issues.

As for the guys in the lineup, Rhys Hoskins is dealing with a lingering groin issue. Hoskins was slashing .327/.450/.714 with 16 hits, four home runs, and 13 RBI over his last 15 games before he was sidelined to start the Mets series. Joe Girardi said that he would be available for a pinch-hit role, but didn’t want to push Hoskins, as the Phillies try to keep him off the injured list.

Didi Gregorius was hit by a pitch in the same elbow that has caused him to miss nearly 50 games this season. The Phillies also hope that he can avoid the injured list. It’s would be a bad time to lose Gregorius again, after he started the month of August red hot. Gregorius was 7-for-22 with a double, triple, two home runs, and six RBI.

Andrew McCutchen is sidelined with a right knee injury. He will be eligible to return to the Phillies’ lineup on Wednesday and Joe Girardi is on record saying that he will not need a rehab assignment. Over his last 15 games, Cutch was batting .271 with with five home runs and 10 RBI before heading to the injured list.

To make matters worse, Jean Segura was hit by a pitch yesterday in his hand and face. Segura left the game and x-rays were thankfully negative. Joe Girardi had this to say after the game yesterday:

“His face is fine, it hit his finger and then hit his lip. We’ll see how he is tomorrow, but I’m not too concerned about him. We got lucky.”

Trade deadline acquisition Freddy Galvis has been on the injured list with a quad injury since June 27th. Galvis joined this Phillies in the dugout and has been doing everything besides running over the last week. Of course, running will be the final step before he can begin a rehab assignment, and the Phillies hope to have him back in mid-August.

In the minor leagues, Hans Crouse, the pitching prospect the Phillies acquired from Texas in the Spencer Howard trade, pitched 5 scoreless innings last night in his debut with Double A Reading. Seranthony Dominguez struck out 2 and threw 19 pitches in his second rehab outing with Jersey Shore.

Zack Wheeler at 1:05pm for the series sweep against the Mets.

Just Ring It. Red October.