PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies kicked off a pivotal 10-day stretch on Monday by placing the entire left side of their starting infield on the injured list.
One day after exiting Sunday's finale against the Marlins, Trea Turner was placed on the 10-day IL with a strained right hamstring. Alec Bohm, meanwhile, landed on the 10-day IL with left shoulder inflammation in what was a more unexpected move.
Philadelphia recalled Otto Kemp from Triple-A Lehigh Valley and selected the contract of infielder Donovan Walton to fill the vacancies on the active roster.
All of those moves came prior to the Phillies' 1-0 victory over the Mets at Citizens Bank Park, which started a 10-day stretch bookended by a four-game series against the Mets and a three-game set against the Dodgers. The Phils have an eight-game lead over New York atop the NL East and a 4 1/2-game edge over Los Angeles (pending Monday night's game) for the second and final bye in the NL.
Philadelphia will have neither Turner nor Bohm for any of those games -- but the club hopes to have both for the postseason.
Turner missed six weeks last season with a strained left hamstring, but that was a Grade 2 strain. It's a Grade 1 strain this time around.
"We expect him to be back by playoff time," said manager Rob Thomson. "So actually it was better than what we were expecting."
And Bohm?
"He's been grinding with this left shoulder for a while now, fighting through it," Thomson said. "So we decided to shut this thing down. We expect him to be back in 10 days."
Thomson said there was no particular event that caused Bohm's injury but instead was just something that developed over time.
As for Turner, he felt his hamstring "grabbing" as he raced down the line in the seventh inning of Sunday afternoon's loss to the Marlins. He immediately walked off the field and retreated down the tunnel.
It wasn't a sight anyone on the Phillies wanted to see.
Turner is in the midst of an MVP-caliber campaign. He was on pace for the Phillies' first 200-hit season since Jimmy Rollins in 2007 -- and to win the club's first batting title since Richie Ashburn in 1958.
Along with his NL-leading .305 average, Turner was on pace for 203 hits, 106 runs and 40 stolen bases.
“I think the report I got today was a little more positive than we kind of thought [originally],” Turner said. “With these injuries, it's kind of up in the air. You can guess a little bit, but sometimes it can go a little better or it can go a little worse. So just take it one day at a time.”
While Turner missed six weeks with his Grade 2 strain last year, he missed only 11 days with a milder strain in April 2017 with the Nationals. Thomson compared Turner's current strain to the one Edmundo Sosa had late in 2022, when he missed the final three weeks of the regular season before returning for the postseason.
Turner is hoping to follow a similar timeline.
“As soon as possible obviously, but for the playoffs is most important,” Turner said when asked when he hopes to return. “So trying to find that fine line of trying to get ready for that, but also not rushing it back and coming back for no reason.
“But yeah, shooting for the playoffs, if not hopefully a little bit earlier. But probably more toward the playoffs.”
Added first baseman Bryce Harper: "It's tough. Any time you lose one of your premier players, obviously, it's hard. Guys got to step up.”
Harper is one of those players who will need to step up, as he was called upon to fill Turner's spot atop the lineup on Monday (0-for-4). It was the first time Harper hit leadoff in a meaningful game since Aug. 13, 2019. (He hit leadoff on Oct. 4, 2022, when the Phils used a makeshift lineup after clinching a postseason spot one day earlier.)
"We just talked about it, and it's something we kind of all wanted to try," Harper said. "We'll see how it goes."
Of course, Kyle Schwarber served as the Phillies' primary leadoff hitter from 2022-24. He's started 11 games in the No. 1 spot this season, including Saturday in Miami when Turner got a planned day off.
But Schwarber has hit almost exclusively out of the No. 2 spot over the past three months -- and it's hard to argue with the results. He leads the NL in homers (49) and RBIs (120), both career highs.
"I think Schwarb gives Harp a little more protection hitting behind him," Thomson said. "Schwarbs been in the two-spot all year, and he's had his most productive year. They were all like, 'Whatever you want to do, we're good.'"
Defensively, the Phillies will piece that together.
Sosa will essentially become the starting shortstop, but second baseman Bryson Stott could mix in, too. As for third base, Kemp will likely get most of the reps at third in Bohm's absence. Weston Wilson and Walton are also options at both spots.
“We really have to pay attention to the health of our players, because this has cut into our depth,” Thomson said. “So we need to make sure we're getting guys off their feet.”
The Phillies will likely rotate guys to get everyone some days off over the final few weeks, especially if they maintain their respective leads over the Mets and Dodgers.
In the meantime, it's another tough blow for a team that was already gearing up for a postseason run without ace Zack Wheeler, who was ruled out for the season on Aug. 23.
"Just everybody not trying to do too much," Harper said. "Just being themselves and understand you can't replace a Trea Turner. It's just not possible. Just like you can't replace a Zack Wheeler or anybody else.
"Everybody's just got to do their job."