As feared, Phillies second baseman Freddy Galvis has a fractured vertebra and no clear timetable for a return. Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the 22-year-old rookie will spend at least the next three weeks in a body cast and can only remove the cast to shower. At the point, Galvis will be reevaluated, and it's possible he'll need to be immobilized for even longer. Galvis could miss the remainder of the season. "I don't know yet," team trainder Scott Sheridan said of the possibility that Galvis is done for the year. "When we get to three weeks, we'll see where he's at. A lot depends on how he responds to the first three weeks."
Galvis' injury is similar to the one David Wright suffered last season. Wright missed 58 games as a result.
Galvis is hitting a meager .226/.254/.363 on the season, but with Chase Utley out until at least early July, Galvis was a necessary presence on the roster.
It's likely that Mike Fontenot, Michael Martinez and Hector Luna will share time at second until Utley is ready to return.
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