Philadelphia Phillies activate Weston Wilson from IL, DFA Kody Clemens
Phillies manager Rob Thomson now has another right-handed bat at his disposal.
The Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday activated utility player Weston Wilson from the 10-day injured list. Kody Clemens, who is out of minor league options, was designated for assignment to make room for Wilson on the club's 26-man roster.
With the Phillies facing Mets left-handed pitcher David Peterson in Wednesday afternoon's series finale, Wilson is playing left field and batting eighth. The Phillies will look to salvage a game against the Mets at Citi Field, which has been a house of horrors for the club lately. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. ET.
Wilson, 30, suffered a left oblique strain during spring training. The injury took him out of the equation for the Phils' final bench spot, paving the way for the lefty-hitting Clemens to win it over the right-handed hitting Buddy Kennedy.
Wilson completed a 10-game rehab assignment between Single-A Clearwater and Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He made six starts in left and one each at first base, second base and third base. He collected six hits with a 17.4% walk rate in 46 plate appearances.
Since the 2023 season, Wilson has appeared in 48 games with the Phillies, posting a .288 average and an on-base percentage and slugging percentage of .865. Last season, He slugged 11 extra-base hits with a .284 average and .836 OPS in 40 games. He did most of his damage against lefties, owning a 1.025 OPS in 51 plate appearances.
The righty bat is something the Phillies certainly could use. Clemens beat out Kennedy in spring training despite the split disadvantage. With the Phillies' lineup lefty-heavy, Clemens' bat wasn't a perfect fit.
Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said in late March that the club didn't envision using Kennedy much early in the season, so with Clemens out of options, they kept the 28-year-old over the South Jersey native.
Clemens played sparingly this season, appearing in just seven games and all as a pinch hitter. He was 0 for 6 with one walk. Wilson will give Thomson another righty bat to use against lefties with positional flexibility.
