TL;DR
The Philadelphia Phillies have placed reliever Jonathan Bowlan on the injured list due to a right groin strain, impacting their pitching depth. Seth Johnson has been called up to take his place for the series against the Cubs.
Phillies place 3.86 ERA reliever acquired in Matt Strahm trade on IL for Cubs series originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Philadelphia Phillies are off to a rough start this season. The offense has been extremely disappointing, and the pitching staff has gotten fairly unlucky.
And now, they've sustained their first blow to the team in the form of an injury to a key pitcher. While not one of the top pitchers on the roster, the Phillies are losing the righty reliever they acquired in the Matt Strahm trade this offseason.
The Phillies announced that Jonathan Bowlan was landing on the injured list with a right groin strain, and that Seth Johnson, another righty reliever, is being called up to the Majors to take his place.
Phillies place Jonathan Bowlan on IL, recall Seth Johnson
"Prior to tonight's game against the Chicago Cubs, the Phillies placed RHP Jonathan Bowlan on the 15-day injured list with a right groin strain," the Phillies announced. "To fill his spot on the 26-man roster, RHP Seth Johnson was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley."
Losing Bowlan, a reliever who had a decent 3.86 ERA with a 1-0 record and eight strikeouts this season, is some tough news for the Phillies.
Jhoan Duran, Orion Kerkering, Brad Keller, Tanner Banks, Jose Alvarado, and Tim Mayza will be the main relievers going forward with Bowlan out for some time.
But now joining the Phillies bullpen in place of Bowlan, who is landing on the injured list with a right groin strain, is Johnson, the Phillies righty reliever.
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In his big-league career, Johnson has a 9.00 ERA in 15 innings pitched. So far in the minors this season, Johnson has a 3.00 ERA in six games and six innings pitched with 11 strikeouts and three walks.
This past spring training, across eight outings and 9.2 innings pitched in total, he has a 1.86 ERA. Johnson isn't the worst reliever to call up in place of Bowlan, but losing the new righty reliever is still a tough blow.
With the 7-8 start, the Phillies need to turn things around, and ASAP. They begin such a chance against the Cubs, who are also going through some struggles of their own at 7-8.
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