Phillies lose another 1B with Hall set for surgery

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Darick Hall will undergo surgery for a torn ligament in his right thumb, he told reporters Friday.

Hall suffered the injury during Wednesday’s loss to the New York Yankees when his hand landed on second base while he was trying to stretch a single in the fourth inning. Shortstop Anthony Volpe caught right fielder Franchy Cordero‘s throw on the fly and made a swipe tag, and Hall left the game in the middle of the fifth.

He told reporters that he planned to undergo surgery next week and hoped to return at some point in 2023.

The Phillies placed Hall on the 10-day injured list Friday and recalled infielder Kody Clemens from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Hall, 27, had started five games at first base for the Phillies, taking over there following Rhys Hoskins‘ season-ending knee injury. Hall is hitting .222 with four hits and one RBI.

In 41 games for the Phillies in 2022, Hall hit .250 with nine home runs and 16 RBIs, posting a .522 slugging percentage.

Clemens will play at first base and bat eighth in the lineup for the Phillies, who host the Cincinnati Reds on Friday in their home opener. Clemens hit .319 with 5 doubles, 3 home runs and 10 RBIs in spring training.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Clemens would get the bulk of the starts against right-handers.

“He had a great spring training, and he would have made our club except it just didn’t fit,” Thomson said. “He had that type of spring training. I have complete confidence in him, for sure.”

Thomson said the Phillies would “figure it out” against lefties. He didn’t rule out moving third baseman Alec Bohm to first against tough left-handers.

The Phillies acquired Clemens, one of four sons of retired great Roger Clemens, from the Detroit Tigers in January along with left-hander Gregory Soto for infielder Nick Maton, catcher Donny Sands and outfielder Matt Vierling.

As a rookie with the Tigers last year, Clemens hit .145 with five homers and 17 RBIs in 56 games.

Phillies star slugger Bryce Harper took the field before Friday’s game to take batting practice again as he continues to recover from offseason reconstructive elbow surgery.

Thomson said there was still no timeline on Harper’s return and that the biggest concern was sliding. There was also no timetable on when Harper could resume throwing.

“First things first, we’ve got to get him to slide and then get him into games,” Thomson said. “Then we’ll figure the other part out.”

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.