ATLANTA – Luis Arraez celebrated the Phillies’ NL Wild Card-clinching victory on Sunday at Citizens Bank Park with a boot wrapped in plastic on his left foot.
The boot protected his sprained left ankle, which he suffered Thursday. The plastic protected the boot from champagne and beer.
Arraez will not play in the NL Wild Card Series against the Braves, Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said on Monday afternoon at Truist Park. He had not played since suffering the injury. He has not even swung a bat yet.
Triple-A Lehigh Valley utility player Otto Kemp will take Arraez’s place on the roster.
“We still get improvement every day, but not enough,” Mattingly said about Arraez. “He was going to try to hit today and just wasn't able to do it. So, we kind of crossed that bridge today.”
Asked Sunday if he could have hit in an emergency situation, Arraez shook his head no.
“I don’t want to be hero,” he said.
The Phillies also carry three catchers on the roster: J.T. Realmuto, Garrett Stubbs and Rafael Marchan. It speaks to the Phillies’ lack of depth in the system, in part because of injuries.
“We had a lot of guys hurt,” Mattingly said.
Mattingly said they considered outfielder Kameron Misner, but he broke a finger. They also discussed outfielder Steward Berroa, but he was coming back from a thumb injury.
“They had a lot of health issues down below, so that's kind of where it's taking us,” Mattingly said. “But the third catcher is not terrible for us because our second or third catcher [Stubbs], however you look at it, is pretty versatile. We use him as a pinch-runner. We use him at first. We can play him at third. We can put him in the outfield. He is a guy that gives us a lot of versatility.”
Right-hander Jonathan Bowlan also will be on the Wild Card roster. He has been sidelined with a right calf strain.