The Phillies will be without prospect Jesmuel Valentin for the rest of the regular season (Frank Klose/Sports Talk Philly)
The Phillies got some bad news on Monday regarding one of their promising young players. Second baseman Jesmuel Valentin, who impressed the Phillies during Spring Training, dislocated his shoulder diving for a ball. The injury means surgery for Valentin, and the recovery time is enough to mean that the season is over for Valentin.
Phillies general manager Matt Klentak cautioned to reporters including Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly that this would not mean an automatic promotion for Double-A Reading second baseman Scott Kingery. Kingery is playing very well for the Fightin' Phils, batting .290 with 14 home runs and 28 runs batted in in just 38 games. Kingery is carrying an OPS of 1.034 as of Tuesday.
Kingery may indeed earn a promotion but having played just 75 games at Double-A, the Phillies may want him to see a little bit more of the league before he is promoted. Seeing the pitching on which he is currently feasting a second or third time might be beneficial to Kingery. Like other players, the Phillies seem to be waiting patiently for players to move up.
The Phillies could promote Valentin and then disabled him. If the club is willing to pay Valentin the full $535,000 Major League minimum salary, Valentin could move to the 60-day disabled list. Such a move would let the Phillies protect one additional player on the 40-man roster.
Valentin batted .229 for the IronPigs prior to his injury.
