Phillies Activate Justin Bour, Option Zach Eflin

On Friday, the Phillies announced they’d acquired Justin Bour from the Miami Marlins for LHP McKenzie Mills. To add him to the 40-man roster, they needed to clear a spot, and so RHP Jake Thompson was designated for assignment and bumped off. One more move needed to be made to get him onto the active 25-man roster, however, and that shoe finally dropped Saturday with the announcement that...SP Zach Eflin has been optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. More on that in a second.

Bour officially joins the team in San Diego on the heels of an almost 20-inning scoreless drought, as the Phillies have dropped two straight and three of four to fall percentage points behind the Braves in the NL East. Bour will wear number 33, giving the Phillies the auspicious first base jersey number pairing of 41 and 33.

To make room on the 25-man roster, the Phillies employed a bit of trickery, optioning SP Zach Eflin to Lehigh Valley. Eflin, who started Friday’s loss to the Padres, will be on-turn for Thursday’s doubleheader against the Mets, given the upcoming off day on Monday. The 26th man designation for doubleheaders makes this possible. What the Phillies will do after that to keep Eflin on the roster after his requisite 10 days on option pass remains to be seen.

The Phillies will look to right the ship and score some runs for Aaron Nola, who will take the ball tonight at 8:40.