The Phillies are heading into the last three games of the regular season with plenty still hanging in the balance, but Friday’s lineup brought a familiar kind of bad news: Luis Arraez is out after leaving Thursday’s game with an injury that didn’t look promising from the start.
Arraez went down while running to first base, and the early read was enough to keep him out against the Rays. He was not in the lineup Friday, a development that hardly came as a surprise after what unfolded the night before.
Philadelphia’s playoff position is still within reach. The club has a magic number of two with three games left, though it still needs to take care of its own business and could use help from the Padres in their series against the Diamondbacks. Even so, the Phillies have not yet locked up a postseason berth, and both the Padres and Cubs are already set for October.
The timing of Arraez’s injury is especially awkward for a team that has already had some rough stretches, particularly in September. He was the summer’s major acquisition, brought in to give a shaky offense a steadier contact bat, but the production has not quite matched the expectation.
Friday’s lineup reflected the adjustment. Edmundo Sosa started at third base, with Bryson Stott sliding back to second. Bryce Harper remained in right field, even though Arraez’s arrival had moved him there in the first place.
One detail that matters: Arraez was not placed on the injured list. That leaves at least a door open for a possible return in the wild card round or even the NLDS if the Phillies get there.
For now, though, the immediate concern is simple. Philadelphia has to hope the injury isn’t a long one, because the lineup has already been uneven, and losing Arraez only makes that harder to fix.
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