Rise and Phight: 6/28/2022

Tonight begins a big series against Atlanta. Both teams have been hot this month and neither wants to lose ground on either the Mets or the playoff positions they’re in. It promises to be a good series, but one can’t help but feel sad that two of the better players in the game are unlikely to play.

Bryce Harper, you already know about, but it’s possible that Ronald Acuna, Jr. will miss the series as well. Baseball is always better when the best players are playing, so even if the two teams end up playing well, it’ll still be a bummer.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Your favorite latrine hero and mine got a full write up in the New York Times about the Relief Room.
• Looks like Harper is headed for some surgery, but the plan remains to play again this season ($). We’ll see about that.
• Fangraphs has a look at what the Harper injury means to their playoff chances and their attempt to get back to October baseball.

MLB news:

• As stated before, Acuna fouled a ball off of his foot and as of Monday, could not put any of his weight on that foot yet.
• The trade deadline is a’comin’ and there are seven questions here to be answered, including who will be the biggest name to move.
• The Twins are losing their left fielder for six weeks at a time when they need to fend off the Guardians and White Sox atop the AL Central.
• Toronto is getting some bullpen depth, signing Sergio Romo to a major league contract.