Phillies reliever Matt Strahm is dealing with an impingement and bone bruise in his left shoulder, leaving his status for Opening Day in question.
Strahm will be seen in Florida on Thursday by Dr. Steven Cohen, the Phillies' team physician.
"I've got a little impingement in the shoulder, a little bone bruise back there. Just need to make sure we get the inflammation out, make sure the muscles around it are strong and hopefully it will clean itself up for the season," Strahm said Monday morning.
He won't throw for a period of time and then will need to build back up, so there's a chance Strahm won't be ready when the Phillies open the season in Washington on March 27. To this point, only one spot was open in the Phillies' bullpen, most likely for Taijuan Walker, but now there could be two.
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"I hope so," Strahm said when asked about Opening Day. "Day by day. Cohen gets out here Thursday, he'll get his hands on me, we'll come up with a plan and go from there."
Strahm, whose velocity was down approximately three mph in his two spring outings, dealt with injuries earlier in his career and missed significant time in 2021 and 2022 but hasn't required a single stint on the IL in his two seasons as a Phillie, totaling 150⅓ innings. He's the type of reliever who always wants the ball, so the idle time will be difficult no matter what time of year it is.
"I don't do well with that but I'll just sit on my hands until they tell me I can go," Strahm said.
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If Strahm isn't ready to go when the season begins, Jose Alvarado will become that much more important as the highest-leverage lefty in the 'pen. The Phillies plan to rely on the late-inning quartet of Strahm, Alvarado, Jordan Romano and Orion Kerkering to close out games in 2025, and each injury will increase the responsibility for Tanner Banks, Jose Ruiz and Joe Ross.
Pitchers who could potentially take Strahm's place on the Opening Day roster if he's not healthy by then include Nabil Crismatt, Jose Cuas, John McMillon, Nick Vespi, Tyler Phillips, Koyo Aoyagi and a few other pitchers in camp. Vespi is the only lefty of the bunch. Crismatt is a finesse-based veteran right-hander with a good changeup. Cuas and Aoyagi are side-armers. McMillon is capable of hitting triple digits.
Among them, Phillips, Vespi and Crismatt are out of options, which would make keeping them in the organization more difficult if they don't break camp with the team.
