Phillies To Be Without Four Crucial Players In Toronto

Two top starting pitchers, the starting catcher and third baseman will all be absent when the Philadelphia Phillies play a two-game set in Toronto against the Blue Jays this week.

The Phillies will put Realmuto, Bohm, Nola and Gibson on restricted list for Toronto. They forfeit pay and service time for two days. Other potential absences were mitigated through demotions to minors / injuries.

— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) July 11, 2022

And according to Phillies beat writer Matt Gelb it could have been worse, as others who would have been unable to play are either injured or in the minors. 

No. 2 starter Aaron Nola and current No. 3 Kyle Gibson (with Ranger Suarez and Zach Eflin on the IL) will both forfeit pay and service time for those two days, as will JT Realmuto and Alec Bohm. 

The Phillies have obviously adjusted their starting rotation accordingly, as Gibson pitched on Saturday, and Nola goes tonight in St. Louis. No word yet on who'll be starting for Philly against the Jays.  

Their lineup will be missing a couple of big pieces as well, as Bohm has been hot of late, hitting .300 over the past month+, and .360 this past week with an OPS of 1.073. Realmuto isn't quite the same loss in the batting order, as he's hitting well below expectations this season, at .236 with a .679 OPS. But he will be missed behind the plate.

US/Canada border rules require that unvaccinated travelers passing between the countries must quarantine for two weeks upon entry, requiring those players to simply stay home. 

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