Phillies’ Cesar Hernandez to miss 6 weeks with oblique injury

As Meghan Montemurro of The News Journal first reported on Tuesday, Phillies second baseman Cesar Hernandez will miss about six weeks with an oblique injury.

Hernandez has been a key member of the Phillies’ lineup this season, posting a .277/.336/.399 slash line with five homers through 259 plate appearances while serving as the leadoff hitter for all 57 games that he’s started. He’s also been one of the best second basemen in baseball this year, as he’s tied with DJ LeMahieu for the best ultimate zone rating (4.0) among major-league second basemen.

Fortunately for the Phillies, they arguably have a better backup plan at second base than any other team in the majors, as they’ll shift Howie Kendrick from left field to second to fill in for Hernandez. Kendrick, who was primary a second baseman over his first 10 major-league seasons before spending most of his time in the outfield since the start of the 2016 season, has posted a sizzling .353/.409/.529 slash line with two homers and seven steals over 93 plate appearances this year.