The Philadelphia Mud Hens have lost probably their best starting pitcher from last year, who was also off to a pretty solid start in 1979, when 28-year old left-hander Tristan Russell suffered a torn back muscle two days ago which will require at least five months recovery time.
Philly has been falling in the standings and are currently fighting to at least stay within reasonable striking distance of the leaders (they are now in 7th place, 11 1/2 games out, and 2 games over .500) and losing one of the mainstays of their rotation is going to be challenging for this team that has relied on their strong rotation but are lacking some depth at the position.