The Phillies will head into the Wild Card Series without Luis Arraez, and that leaves a noticeable hole in a lineup that has already been leaning hard on Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber.
Manager Don Mattingly made the announcement Monday, saying Arraez will not be on the roster after suffering an ankle injury this week. Otto Kemp will take his spot for the series in Atlanta.
Arraez arrived at the trade deadline and has not provided a huge offensive jolt since the move, but he was still the only other everyday regular in the Phillies lineup with an OPS above .736. He hit .310 over 151 games this season between the Giants and Phillies, and with him sidelined, the club is asking even more from a group that has struggled to produce beyond its biggest names.
The roster move also underscores just how thin the Phillies are on the position-player side. Kemp has appeared in only 13 games this season and is hitting .080 with a .228 OPS, a stark reminder of the depth issues Philadelphia is carrying into October.
Mattingly also said All-Star starter Jesus Luzardo will get the ball for Game 1, though how much he actually works remains unclear. Luzardo has not started since throwing a complete-game shutout against the Braves on September 7, and he did pitch out of the Phillies bullpen on Sunday. More likely than not, the team will be looking for only 2-3 innings from him.
Even with the Arraez injury and the lack of depth behind him, the Phillies still bring a serious pitching staff and enough star power in the lineup to make life difficult in a postseason series.
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For the Falcons, that is exactly the sort of matchup that can tilt a division race. New Orleans still has Alvin Kamara, Kendre Miller and CJ Donaldson available in the backfield, but Kamara has not been as effective as he once was as a runner, which puts even more weight on a group that already ranks among the leagues toughest against the run. If Atlanta can control that area again, the rest of the night starts to look a lot simpler. [Read more 🡒]
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Falcons Rookies Are Already Changing Atlantas Depth Chart
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The early returns have been encouraging enough to change the conversation around where these rookies fit, and in some cases, how quickly they can rise. Snap counts and on-field impact are still evolving, which is exactly what makes this such an interesting subplot for Atlanta - the Falcons appear to have found a class that could keep reshaping its pecking order as the season goes on. [Read more 🡒]