On a day when the first place Philadelphia Mud Hens received a great shutout performance from their number 1 starter Rino Aguillon in an easy 9-0 win over the 7th place Milwaukee Cadets, they also finally got a prognosis from their medical staff regarding an injury suffered several days earlier by their talented 4-time All-Star center fielder Ryan Showalter, and it wasn't good news. Showalter is expected to miss at least a month of the season.
Showalter, who leads the team in batting average and on-base percentage, is on pace for his best season yet, with a projected 8.0 WAR. In his absence the plan is for David Littau, who is a capable enough but inexperienced outfielder and a much better middle infielder, will take his place. While Littau is a solid, veteran player, the drop off will be pretty steep and Philly will need a few other players to step up if they wish to protect their narrow lead over El Paso (1 game behind), or possibly even to hold off the recently surging Boston Berserkers, who now sit in 3rd place, 6 games back.