Wilson disappointed after ‘freak accident’ cost him shot at Opening Day roster originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Weston Wilson had finished his morning workout Friday at BayCare Ballpark, stretched, gone through defensive drills and taken batting practice.
He was getting ready for the final portion of his day, live batting practice against Taijuan Walker. That’s when he suffered the Grade 2 strain of his left oblique that will cost him six weeks and the chance to make his first Opening Day roster.
“Before my live at-bats, I was doing my breaking ball routine in the cage and that’s when it happened,” he said Sunday morning as the Phillies prepared for their first home spring training game of the year.
“It’s disappointing, obviously. I worked really hard during the offseason to get my body in the best shape possible. It was a very normal swing. It was a freak accident. I don’t really understand why it happened.”
Oblique strains are common baseball injuries and often a source of frustration for physically fit athletes who work to strengthen that area. The cause is usually all the torso twisting involved with swinging a bat.
“There’s not really an explanation they gave me other than, ‘Y’all create a lot of force in your torque and that kind of can happen,” Wilson said.
“I didn’t lunge or reach for the ball. It was a very normal swing. I didn’t do anything different. … I can’t really describe the feeling. Like a strong grab. I knew right away. Right away. And I knew it wasn’t just like a tweak, that it was worse than that.”
The Phillies will take Wilson’s rehab slowly. His spring training is over (aside from rehab) and he’ll restart his ramp-up for the regular season in early April, barring a setback.
Wilson’s injury opens up a spot on the Phillies’ bench because he appeared to be the frontrunner for it with his right-handed bat and ability to play both infield corners and both outfield corners along with experience in center.
With him out of the mix for the next six weeks, the Opening Day roster chances of Buddy Kennedy, Kody Clemens and Cal Stevenson increase. Kennedy started at first base on Saturday in Lakeland and hit a two-run homer. He was back in the lineup Sunday at second base. A key for him will be playing passable left-field defense if given the opportunity this spring.
Kennedy is a righty; Clemens and Stevenson are left-handed hitters. With such a lefty-heavy starting…