Weston Wilson injury scrambles Phillies bench battle

Baseball is back!

Well, Grapefruit League baseball is back. We’ll still take it. The Phillies lost both of their games over the weekend, but the results don’t really matter when many of the guys playing don’t even have names on their jerseys.

This afternoon’s Phillies/Pirates game, featuring Cristopher Sanchez and Paul Skenes, could be a fun one if the weather in Clearwater cooperates. Rain is expected much of the day.

Meanwhile, the Flyers looked good on Saturday. The Sixers? Not so much.

In the email today:

• 🚑 Injury to Weston Wilson scrambles Phillies bench battle

• 🛢️ Flyers storm out of 4 Nations break, dominate Oilers

• 🗽Sixers lose on buzzer tip to Nets as Embiid watches

  • 📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

  • 📊 Poll

  • 🔗 Links

  • 📺 Coming Up

Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters Saturday that Weston Wilson is expected to miss six weeks with an oblique strain.

As a right-handed bat with defensive versatility, Wilson was believed to have the inside track to an Opening Day role on the Phils' active roster. While outfield options Max Kepler and Brandon Marsh have historically struggled against left-handed pitching, Wilson sports a career 1.096 major league OPS against LHP. (That's in a small sample size of 60 plate appearances, but very promising.)

"Hopefully he's back in six weeks," said Thomson after the Phils' 7-6 loss to the Tigers. "It'll take a while. It's very sad for all of us, including him of course. Wes Wilson's a great guy. Everybody loves him."

Thomson asked Buddy Kennedy to play first base in place of Wilson on Saturday.

"I said absolutely, I played it last year with [Tigers AAA affiliate] Toledo a little bit," Kennedy said. "See the ball, catch the ball."

The Phillies expect to utilize a four-man bench on Opening Day. Edmundo Sosa will occupy one bench spot, assuming he stays healthy. A backup catcher--Garrett Stubbs or Rafael Marchan, barring a surprise--will occupy another. Johan Rojas probably gets the third.

Now, with Wilson missing time, the final bench spot will be a battle among Kennedy, Kody Clemens, and Cal Stevenson. Of those three, only Kennedy bats right-handed.

"Buddy comes into play a little bit more now," Thomson said. "If Sosa can play the outfield, maybe it's a left-handed bat. I think we've got some options still."

You never know what you’ll get from a team playing its last game before an extended break or its first game after that same break. The Flyers passed both tests on each end of the 4 Nations Face-Off break.

The Flyers took the ice Saturday afternoon for the first time since a 3-2 win over the Penguins on February 8. The defending Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers were in town Saturday. And the Flyers…dominated them? Yeah, they did.

The Flyers lost the first period 2-1, then scored five the game’s remaining six goals (including four in the second period) and dictated terms to the Oilers.

Captain Sean Couturier set the tone for the Flyers with a goal and two assists. Couturier, Owen Tippett (two goals) and Matvei Michkov (goal, two assists) all finished +5 on the day.

We cannot discount the following theory, though its accuracy might not fit the Flyers trailing through one.

We can report, though, that Connor McDavid — fresh off winning the 4 Nations Face-Off for Canada — was -3 and did not register a point.

Sometimes the final score is misleading. Not this time. If anything, the Flyers probably should have scored nine or 10 goals in this game. They failed to convert on multiple breakaways, including a shorthanded two-on-none late in the third period.

As Brian Boucher noted on the NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast, though, the penalty kill up 5-3 with six minutes left was almost as valuable as the SH goal would’ve been.

The Flyers are back in action on home ice tomorrow night against the Penguins.

The Sixers got smoked by the Celtics Thursday night in their first game after the All-Star break. That was rough, but the Celtics are the defending world champions and co-favorites with the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the title this season.

Saturday night brought the 20-35 Nets to town. The Nets had the same record as the Sixers and were double-digit underdogs because the injury-riddled Nets have no “stars.” The Sixers have three “stars,” and all of them were playing.

Stop us if you’ve seen this movie before.

The Sixers lost 105-103 on a last-second tip-in by Nic Claxton. If you want to blame Paul George for failing to either get the rebound or seal Claxton off, be our guest.

But the story of this game is more troubling than one lapse at the end.

On the NBC Sports Philadelphia pregame show, Marc Jackson insisted that Joel Embiid needed to play even if he is limited. That is exactly what happened. A visibly limited Embiid was sluggish and ineffective in 31 minutes (4-13 from the field).

He was also a defensive liability. You don’t believe us? Ask Nick Nurse.

Even the moments Embiid gave maximum effort only served to turn him into a GIF.

The Sixers were down 11 at the half and down seven through three quarters. Embiid did not play in the fourth quarter. Maybe he was benched, maybe he was hurt. It doesn’t really matter.

Suddenly, the ball movement picked up, the defensive intensity picked up, and the Sixers even briefly led late.

In the end, though, the furious comeback fell short. Worse, nothing the Sixers saw from Embiid suggests that he can compete at an NBA level, much less dominate any more.

The following sentiment is co-signed by the On Pattison newsletter.

If Embiid, George and Maxey are run out there again Monday night against the Bulls, everyone involved should be fired.

Based on this Sunday night news dump, we probably shouldn’t expect to see Embiid any time soon.

📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

On February 24, 1999, a 71-49 Temple victory over Fordham marked John Chaney’s 600th career win as a college coach.

Chaney would end his career with 741 wins and 312 losses. He led the Owls to 17 NCAA tournament appearances and reached the Elite Eight five times.

📊 Poll

Results from Friday:

🔗 Links

• 🐍 The Union opened the season with a quality road win.

• 🐏 The Rams told Matthew Stafford to discuss his value with other teams and get back to them.

• 🏟️ Juan Soto’s Mets career began with a bang.

• ⚽️ Liverpool are poised to end Manchester City’s reign as EPL champions.

• 🏀 Villanova posted a dead cat bounce win over Marquette.

📺 Coming Up

Games before our next send.

Monday, February 24, 2025

• Sixers vs. Bulls, 7:00 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia)

Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.

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