Phillies news: Suarez, Hayes to return, Phillips demoted to Triple-A Originally published on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Crowd noise and music filtered into a quiet Citizens Bank Park early Saturday afternoon, and for good reason.
Rangers pitcher Suarez has pitched in simulated games and current indications continue to be that the left-hander will be back by the end of the upcoming tour.
The Phillies are back on track, winning their last three games to improve their winning percentage over .500 to 22 games, and a healthy Suarez would be an added boost for the team.
Suarez has been on the injured list since July 27 with a back injury. Prior to that, he was also struggling with spasms in another area of his back.
Manager Rob Thomson believes Suarez could benefit from some rest towards the end of the season given how he is pitching right now.
How has he performed in simulated games?
“It was great,” Thompson said. “I threw 57 pitches and then I threw 20 in relief, so I put in some extra pitches. 91 is a good velocity for a simulated game.”
“He's feeling really good and just got better as the match went on. He was up four times so we'll see how he bounces back over the next day or two.”
“If he's healthy, there's a good chance he could return to Kansas City.”
Austin Hayes, who was placed on the 10-day disabled list on August 8 with a left hamstring injury, took an at-bat in a simulated game.
In the top of the first inning, Hayes hit a home run against lefty before Suarez got back on track.
“He made some good runs out of the box,” Thompson said, “running from first to third. He's going to play (the full game) and then we'll see where we can go from there.”
“He may be on a rehab assignment for a few days.”
If all goes well going forward, Hayes could return and join the Kanas City club.
Roster Changes
Before Saturday's start, the Phillies optioned Tyler Phillips to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and selected to sign left-handed pitcher Tyler Gilbert.
Gilbert was traded to the Phillies from Cincinnati Reds' Triple-A Louisville affiliate on May 7.
Since then, he has gone 4-0 with a 2.06 ERA in 27 relief appearances for Lehigh Valley, during which he allowed eight runs in 35 innings, struck out 48 batters and converted all seven of his save opportunities.
The expectation is that Gilbert could be used in tight bullpen situations.
“We've had him go three innings,” Thompson said. “His strikeout-to-walk ratio is really good. It's up to 94 and he's typically a 91/92 control pitcher. And his slider has improved.”
Thomson noted fatigue has played a role in Phillips' past few starts and that this influenced the decision to drop him.
“I thought his pitching was a little off. I think it was fatigue. It wasn't that he did anything wrong. Pitching complete games and pitching off regular rest is something he's not used to and he's pitching more innings. I think this will help him reset a little bit.”
Spencer Turnbull, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list on June 27 with a right latitudinal injury, has been moved to the 60-day disabled list.
“He's done (the majority of his time on the disabled list),” Thompson added. “He'll be back in his throwing program this week. He's feeling much better.”
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