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The start of the 2024 Spring Training season hasn't been incredibly kind to the Philadelphia Phillies' pitching staff. A number of pitchers are currently out because of injury or other ailments.
MLB.com's Todd Zolecki provided and update on three of the Phillies pitchers on Wednesday afternoon, and luckily for Philadelphia, it's not all bad news.
The three pitchers that had injury updates are Dylan Covey, Michael Rucker and Cristopher Sanchez.
The good news of the bunch is that the 27-year-old starter Sanchez will start Friday's game against the Houston Astros.
The left-hander has made one appearance so far this spring, but had to miss some time due to an illness. In his one appearance, he pitched two scoreless innings and gave up just one hit.
Sanchez is coming off of a career best year in 2023 with hopes of improving even more this season. If he can continue to perform as he has at the bottom of the rotation, the Phillies should be in a good spot.
Unfortunately, that was the only piece of positive news.
Dylan Covey has been down with a shoulder issue. He'll open the season on the IL. Michael Rucker hasn't pitched since March 1 because of numbness in his right middle finger. He's in Philadelphia getting checked out.
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) March 13, 2024
But Cristopher Sanchez will start Friday @ Astros.
Covey will start the season on the injured list after being shut down with a shoulder issue. The 32-year-old pitcher has made three appearances so far this spring. He's pitched two innings and has given up two earned runs (four total) on three hits.
The relief pitcher is coming off the best seasons of his career after the Phillies picked him up off of waivers last year following spending 2021 and 2022 playing overseas in Taiwan.
Rucker has been out since the beginning of March because of an issue with his middle finger. According to Zolecki, Rucker has skipped traveling with the team for now and is still in Philadelphia getting his finger worked on.
He also had a small sample size before his injury, but was finding some success this spring. He pitched two scoreless innings giving up a hit and walking two batters.
The Phillies acquired Rucker via a trade with the Chicago Cubs back in February.
With Philadelphia already entering the season with questions about their bullpen, this certainly isn't what they wanted to happen during spring.
More must-reads:
- Reds place key outfielder on injured list with broken thumb
- Cubs acquiring veteran reliever from Mariners
- The 'No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft' quiz
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