Phillies third baseman Edmundo Sosa had to exit Saturday’s 9-4 victory over the Yankees due to a back contusion following a collision with left fielder Brandon Marsh. Despite initial concerns, further evaluation revealed that Sosa is in good condition and may participate in Sunday’s series finale against New York.
“I’m playing tomorrow,” Sosa confidently stated after the game.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson shared an optimistic view but remained cautious. “I went in to check on him after the game, and he was a lot better than I expected,” Thomson said. “So he may be able to be in the lineup tomorrow.”
The incident occurred when Sosa was backpedaling in short left field to catch Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s popup during the seventh inning. Marsh, who was also approaching the ball, collided with Sosa from behind. The miscommunication among Sosa, Marsh, and shortstop Trea Turner resulted from difficulties seeing the ball in the sun.
“It was kind of a sun ball-slash-tweener, triangle ball, where three guys are going after it,” Thomson explained. “I’m not sure if anybody really knew that they could catch it for sure, so nobody called it, and it was just a bad collision.”
Marsh expressed his relief upon learning that Sosa was unharmed. “I felt really bad at first, came and ran in here and checked on Sosa and found out he was good,” Marsh said.
Despite being concerned initially about his lower back injury’s severity, Sosa felt better after receiving treatment from Phillies head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit.
The play was initially ruled as “no catch” because when Sosa fell after making the play, his glove came off along with the ball. However, this call was overturned to a catch following a Phillies challenge.
Sosa received post-game treatment and is expected to avoid further testing before potentially playing Sunday. The team will assess him again before Sunday’s game to confirm his readiness.
“I feel good,” remarked Sosa. “I’m just feeling a little tight right now. But it was just that bang. But I feel good now. I’m ready for tomorrow.”
