When Phillies starting left fielder Howie Kendrick went on the 10-day disabled list, the Phillies backdated it, figuring that Kendrick could return almost immediately. The injury was called a "lower rib cage" injury, and Kendrick was quick to point out that he had strained his oblique in the past and this injury was not the same as his strained oblique. However, the injury has turned out to be an oblique injury after all.
Ryan Lawrence of Philly Voice reported that the injury is a grade one oblique strain:
After a recent MRI, it was confirmed that Kendrick’s injury was in fact an oblique injury (a Grade 1 strain, to be exact) and on Saturday, Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said his veteran left fielder would likely be sidelined for another 2-3 weeks.
This news precipitated another move.
The Phillies added infielder Ty Kelly in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays to give the club more depth. While left field is adequately covered among the trio of Aaron Altherr, Daniel Nava, and Brock Stassi, the Phillies were missing one valuable tool Kendrick has: the ability to back up infield positions. While the Phillies turned to relief prospect Mark Leiter, Jr. for Kendrick's roster spot, the Phillies prefer to have another middle-infield option knowing that Kendrick will be out a longer period of time.
Kendrick's predecessor in left field, Cody Asche, suffered an oblique strain at the start of Spring Training 2016. Such a strain requires rest for the injury to heal. In Asche's case, coming back from the injury too soon re-aggravated the injury and ended up costing Asche more time on the disabled list. While Kendrick heals, expect Kelly to remain with the Phillies and Leiter to be returned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley
