Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters (including ) today that infielder/outfielder has been diagnosed with a Costa Rica Jersey strained oblique that will keep him out of action for at least the next six weeks. Wilson, 30, was widely viewed as the favorite for the final spot on Philadelphias Opening Day bench. Either or will occupy one spot as the clubs backup catcher behind , while and are locked into bench spots already as well. Wilson appeared to be a likely candidate for that final spot due to his right-handed bat that could serve as a complement for and in the outfield, as well as his ability to play all four corners and even second base as needed. The 30-year-olds big league opportunities have been fairly limited to this point in his career, but the club will surely mi s his bat off the bench. Wilsons done nothing but hit when given the opportunity in the majors, slashing .288/.375/.490 (139 wRC+) for his career including 98 plate appearances last year where he slashed .284/.347/.489 (130 wRC+). Wilsons career .388 BABIP has propped up his production somewhat to this point, and its certain to come down as he gets more opportunities in the majors. With that being said, even the 110 wRC+ Wilson posted at Triple-A last year would be an a set on a Philadelphia bench that lacks much offensive presence. Unfortunately for Wilson and the Phillies, they wont get the opportunity to see what he can do as part of the bench mix to open the season. With Wilson now off the table as an option, an opportunity has been created for other players to step into the role. Center fielder offered decent production at the plate (100 wRC+) in a brief cup of coffee with the Phillies last year, but his left-handed bat would be somewhat redundant in the clubs outfield mix and he lacks the versatility to play the infield. If the club was going to add a lefty bat to its bench mix, would seem to be the more natural fit given his experience at all four infield spots and the outfield corners as well as his decent showing in 120 plate appearances with the Phillies last year. While he hit just .219 with a lackluster .258 on-base percentage during that time, he showed plenty of pop with five homers, nine doubles, and a triple that allowed him to post a decent 92 wRC+ overall. Of course, replacing Wilson with another righty bat would likely make the most sense. Gelb suggests that the injury to Wilson figures to considerably improve the odds that 26-year-old infielder makes the clubs Opening Day roster, and its not hard to see why. A fifth-round pick by the Diamondbacks in 2017, Kennedy made his big league debut back in 2022 and split 2024 between the Tigers and Phillies organizations. He hit .190/.308/.381 (95 wRC+) in 26 big league plate appearances last year, but more important than his performance in that small sample size was his excellent work for the Phillies at Triple-A Lehigh Valley last year. In 300 plate appearances, Kennedy slashed an excellent .294/.400/.500 with a 13.7% walk rate that nearly matched his strikeout rate of just 15.0%. If Kennedy can offer anything close to that level of plate discipline in a bench role, hed be a very valuable bench piece for the club this season. Kennedy has played exclusively second and third base to this point in the majors but has experience at first, shortstop, and left field in the minors. That at least leaves the door open for the club to rely on him as a right-handed complement to Kepler in left field, which likely wouldve been Wilsons most prominent role. While it seems likely that the Phillies would prefer to give the final bench job to one of the hitters already on their 40-man roster, there are at least a handful of non-roster invitees who could receive consideration for a bench job. Second baseman had some succe s in the majors with the Red Sox in 2021 and 22, while outfielder has had intermittent succe s in the majors with Cleveland and St. Louis in the past. Both players are le s versatile than what the club may be looking for off the bench, however, and other non-roster veterans like have fairly limited track records in the majors themselves. Colombia Jersey