Spring Training Update: Marsh and Walker injury news, Pinto

We’re nearing the end of the second week of Grapefruit League spring training, and there’s been a lot of news coming out of the Philadelphia Phillies camp. With only three weeks until the Phillies visit the Atlanta Braves on Opening Day, there will undoubtedly be more activity as the team determines who will be cut and who will make the Opening Day roster.

Here’s a quick roundup of some of the most recent interesting headlines from Phillies spring training this week.

Ricardo Pinto clears up work visa issues

One Phillies player who has yet to appear in a spring training game is pitcher Ricardo Pinto. Pinto signed a minor league deal with the Phillies on Feb. 18, per Matt Gelb of The Athletic, but has been absent due to work visa issues. There’s good news, though! According to Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase, the Venezuelan native has resolved the visa issues and was expected to report to the Phillies’ training camp on Thursday.

Pinto previously appeared with the Phillies in 2017 after signing as an international free agent in 2011 and spending five seasons in the minor league system. Unfortunately, his MLB debut season didn’t go well. The right-hander threw 29 2/3 innings out of the bullpen with a 7.89 ERA.

Since then, he has bounced around between the Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, San Francisco Giants, and Detroit Tigers. He has also spent time playing in Korea, China, Mexico and most recently, Venezuela, where he was named MVP of the Caribbean Series finals.

Taijuan Walker’s sore right knee is getting … better?

After returning to camp following a few days off for paternity leave, Taijuan Walker experienced right knee soreness. The team opted to back him off despite describing the issue as “normal.”

Manager Rob Thomson gave us an update earlier this week. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber, Walker was initially scheduled to throw a live batting practice sometime later in the week and was possible to start on Sunday or Monday. Since then, we have received a more detailed plan. On Thursday, Lauber posted that the right-hander is scheduled to throw a bullpen on Friday and then either a live batting practice or a game on Monday.

Everything will depend on how his bullpen goes. More knee soreness could lead to an extended shutdown, and he would be in jeopardy of missing time at the beginning of the regular season. Even so, he’s cutting it close to being ready on time.

Brandon Marsh gets at-bats

Another name we have yet to see in action this spring is Brandon Marsh. After the outfielder underwent arthrosporic surgery on his left knee before training camp opened, he has been slowly working toward a return to game action. At the time of the procedure, the Phillies expected him to be ready for Opening Day. So far, it looks like he’s on track.

In an update from Thomson, Marsh was scheduled to get at-bats in a minor-league intrasquad game on Thursday, per Lauber. At the time of Thomson’s media availability, there was no indication of how his first spring game action went.

–Taijuan Walker (sore knee) will throw from a bullpen mound Friday before progressing to either live batting practice or a game Monday.

–Brandon Marsh (knee surgery) was slated to get at-bats in a minor-league intrasquad today.

We’ll have to wait to see how Marsh reacts to his first game action, and keep our fingers crossed he can get into Grapefruit League games next week.