Turnbull placed on IL, Mercado to fill fifth spot in rotation – NBC Sports Philadelphia

There are countless reasons why the Phillies reached the mathematical midpoint of the season with the best record in baseball on Thursday night, but none is more important than the health of their rotation.

They’ve used only six different starters since opening day, which is unusual.

Oops. Update: next week there will be seven.

Righthander Spencer Turnbull, who lasted only three innings in Detroit on Wednesday, has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a right lat strain. He is expected to be out for six to eight weeks. He started in place of righthander Taijuan Walker (right index finger).

Manager Rob Thomson said before Thursday night’s game against the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park that 25-year-old Michael Mercado, who pitched a scoreless inning in relief against the Tigers after being recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, will take the fifth spot in the rotation. He will likely make his first major-league start Tuesday night against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Meanwhile, reliever Yunior Marte has been recalled from Lehigh Valley to replace Turnbull on the roster.

This development is further proof of the old adage that a team can never have too much pitching. For much of the season, there was public debate over whether Walker or Turnbull should be the fifth starter, especially after Turnbull opened the season 2-0, 1.78, while Walker recovered from shoulder soreness.

Losing both in a week means handing the ball to an inexperienced righthander and hoping for the best.

At the same time, the Phillies are knocking on wood when they realize that their top four starters – Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez, Sanchez – haven’t missed a turn all season.

Mercado had an earned run average of 1.71 for the Iron Pigs in 14 appearances, 10 of which were as a starter. He struck out 44 in 47.1 innings and allowed just 31 hits. There is another reason to suspect that he is doing well. He is one of three pitchers now on the Phillies’ active roster acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays. The other two, Cristopher Sanchez and Jose Alvarado, have excelled this season.

“(Mercado) has a great arm,” Thomson said. “Powerful things. Runs the ball very well and throws strikes. The one inning he pitched (in his Major League debut) in Detroit was actually done. I just loved the way the ball came out of his hand and the way he charged hitters and threw strikes.

The manager added that he does not expect his playing field limit to be restricted.

Thomson added that there is no timeline for Walker’s return. He has consistently said throughout that he needs to be healthy enough to throw his splitter effectively.

When asked about the depth left behind Mercado, the manager named righthander Tyler Phillips (7-3, 5.02) and David Buchanan (4-3, 5.19).

“It’s a long year and you can see that throughout the competition. A lot of pitchers are being lost,” he said. “Also a lot of position players. It is heavy. One hundred and sixty-two. So you have to have depth and our front office has done a great job of giving us that. And we just have to keep moving forward.”

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