Cesar Hernandez The 4th Phillies Injury, But Team Has Options

The Los Angeles Dodgers interest in signing Bryce Harper is not the only bad news this week for Phillies fans, as four key players have fallen with various injuries.

Second baseman and presumable leadoff hitter Cesar Hernandez is the latest Phillie to be sidelined, as he suffered a hip strain while running the bases on Wednesday according to NBC Philly's Jim Salisbury. He's undergone an MRI, but there's no word yet on how long he'll be out.

Three more fell in recent days: oft-injured speedster Roman Quinn strained his oblique, and will undergo an MRI. Fellow center fielder Odubel Herrera has a strained hamstring. Relief pitcher Tommy Hunter, meanwhile, has been shut down from throwing for two weeks with a Grade 1 flexor strain, putting his Opening Day status is serious jeopardy.

It's not clear when any of them will return to action.

The silver lining for the Phillies is their depth: they were already dealing with a glut of outfielders and relief pitchers before these injuries. Hunter's spot, if he misses Opening Day, can be filled by someone on the 25-man roster bubble, like Adam Morgan or Edubray Ramos, without major consequence.

In the outfield, it really opens things up for Aaron Altherr and Nick Williams, who were competing with Quinn and Herrera for starting jobs and center and right. Though many fans only remember Altherr's struggles last year, he was one of the team's most exciting young players as recently as 2017, when he received regular playing time and hit .272 with 19 homers in just 372 at bats.

With Rhys Hoskins moved into the outfield last year, and Williams playing better, Altherr was demoted to reserve duty, and struggled greatly in that capacity. Should he have the chance to play every day, there's no reason to think the 28-year-old can't regain his old form.

Of the two, it's more likely that Altherr, an extremely athletic player and solid defender, would see time in center field. He played 48 games at the position between 2015 and 2018. Williams will play right. If both Quinn and Herrera are out for the start of the year, young power hitting outfielder Dylan Cozens could have a chance to earn a bench role in Philadelphia out of camp.

Hernandez's injury, if it keeps him out on Opening Day, would of course allow Scott Kingery to play his natural position of second base. The former second round draft pick was a superutility player in his rookie season in 2018, and that seemed to be the team's plan for him in 2019, as well, barring injury.

For what it's worth (and historically, it's been a generally poor indicator), Cozens is 4 for 5 with two doubles and Kingery is 3 for 9 with a homer in the early going at Spring Training.