Injured Phillies OF Shines in What May Be Final Rehab Start

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Cristian Pache saved his best performance at the for perhaps his final injury rehab game with the Triple-A Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs on Sunday.

The Philadelphia Phillies are expected to determine what to do with Pache in terms of activation during their off-day on Monday. The Phillies have a two-game series at Toronto on Tuesday and Wednesday, following by a three-game set at Washington that starts on Friday.

Pache was the designated hitter and batted third in the order. He went 2-for-5 with two runs and a walk while striking out twice. That pushed his batting average in the minors this season to .207.

Lehigh Valley beat the Rochester Red Wings, 9-7, in 10 innings.

Pache started the week with Class-A Clearwater, where he made three rehab starts for the Phillies. He then moved to Lehigh Valley to play in the final two games of the Iron Pigs’ series with Rochester.

On Saturday Pache played center field, batted second and went 1-for-5 with a strikeout.

With Clearwater he went 3-for-11 with four walks, four runs scored and four strikeouts.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Pache would be evaluated after Sunday.

Pache’s return would be welcome, as the Phillies lost outfielder Brandon Marsh to a bruised left knee a week ago. Marsh is starting to take batting practice.

Pache has dealt with injuries all season. He tore his meniscus at the end of April and went on the injured list for six weeks before returning in mid-June. He played up until the All-Star break when the Phillies had to IL him against for right elbow irritation.

Pache had to have surgery to remove a loose screw causing that irritation. The screw was inserted in Pache’s elbow for a previous injury.

Pache is valued for his glove, but in just 53 plate appearances this season he’s slashed .327/.365/.592 with seven doubles, two home runs and eight RBI.

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