Phillies’ Corey Dickerson out for season with fractured left foot

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

This is just another unfortunate development for a Phillies club that is all but out of the playoff picture.

Phillies left fielder Corey Dickerson is out for the season after being placed on the 60-day injured list on Tuesday. The move creates room for the team to activate right-handed reliever Edubray Ramos from the 60-day IL:

Dickerson, 30, has not played since September 11 since suffering a rather freakish injury, pulling up lame while trying to run to first base. He had previously fouled a ball off the foot, and continuing to play on it obviously caused further damage:

Dickerson was acquired at the trade deadline from the Pirates for international slot money, and he’s a free agent after this season, so this news could very well spell an end to his brief but productive Phillies career. Over 137 plate appearances in 34 games, Dickerson had eight homers and 34 RBI with a .293/.307/.579 slash line. After missing a large chunk of the first half with a shoulder strain, Dickerson finishes the season with a combined .304/.341/.565 slash line and 12 homers over 279 PAs for the season. He did struggle a bit on defense though — which doesn’t come as much of a surprise, since he’s been inconsistent in the outfield throughout his seven-year career — combining for -6 defensive runs saved in left field between the two stops.

While the Phillies technically still have playoff hopes, this injury shouldn’t be exceptionally consequential, as they’d need a lot of help to earn a spot in the NL Wild Card game (their playoff odds are currently at 0.8% according to Baseball Reference. With just 14 games left to play, they’re five games out of the second wild-card spot (which is currently held by the Cubs), and the Brewers are ahead of them at one game out. Their wild-card elimination number is nine, and they’re far from full strength with Odubel Herrera suspended for the rest of the year and Andrew McCutchen, Jake Arrieta, and a host of veteran bullpen arms having suffered season-ending injuries. Their outfield mix, however, is still pretty solid — in addition to Bryce Harper in right, they also have second-year utility man Scott Kingery getting most of the starts in center and productive rookie Adam Haseley starting virtually every day at one of the three spots. Utility players Brad Miller and Jose Pirela have also seen time in the outfield as of late, and the team has trusty veteran Jay Bruce, who has an .809 OPS this season, as a pinch-hitting option off the bench, though he hasn’t played in the field since returning from a flexor strain at the beginning of this month.

It should be interesting to see what the market is for Dickerson this offseason; considering his inconsistency in the field and the fact that he’s not exactly a Nelson Cruz-caliber bat who is deserving of full-time DH status, it may not be very good. The fact that Dickerson was designated for assignment by the Rays prior to last season and then essentially given away for free to the Phillies at the deadline this summer are probably bad signs for his hopes of getting a lucrative deal. With the offensive production that the 2017 All-Star and .286/.328/.504 career hitter has put up, though, whichever team ends up signing him will probably get some solid bang for their buck.