By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Amid the NBA free agency frenzy, the Philadelphia sports Twitter caught wind of another development that does not affect the city's basketball team, but rather its baseball team in the Philadelphia Phillies and its No. 9-ranked prospect - outfielder Mickey Moniak – who was pulled to start the sixth inning in Double-A Reading's 3-2 victory over Portland Sunday evening at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Here are the pictures from yesterday where after his catch you can see the expression on his face (4th photo). Didn't realize what the frustration was until hearing about possible hamstring issues #Fightins #Phillies #NoiseNation #MiLB. Heading down to Reading now for game. pic.twitter.com/cJRcxYt1w2
— Steven Kiebach (@StevenKiebach11) July 1, 2019
Twitter user @Kram207 noted Moniak "made a sliding," possibly tweaking a hamstring, and "he and one of the trainers were missing from the dugout late in the game." The Athletic's Meghan Montemurro confirmed the speculated injury Monday morning, reporting that Moniak left the game with "some soreness in his hamstring," and that he was only removed as a precaution.
Mickey Moniak goes deep into the right field bleachers for a solo homer to tie the game in the eighth, his fourth HR of the year pic.twitter.com/Bc5gyrkRnO
— Mitch Rupert (@Mitch_Rupert) June 23, 2019
Given no verifiable explanation for Moniak's departure was made until Montemurro's Monday morning report, rumors surfaced late Sunday night that Moniak was removed due to an imminent trade. Despite the July 31 trade deadline being a few weeks away, it would have made sense for Phillies GM Matt Klentak to make a splash trade that included Moniak. The Phillies have struggled as of late, mostly with pitching, and Klentak was reportedly been spotted in Reading in the past week.
Moniak, 21, entered Sunday slashing .268/.326/.440 with 19 doubles, nine triples, four home runs, 38 RBI, 23 walks and 70 strikeouts spanning 74 games and 312 plate appearances at Double-A Reading this season. The Encinitas, California, native was selected first overall in the 2016 amateur draft out of Carlsbad's La Costa Canyon High School.
