Phillies mark ‘a sad day for baseball’ with Willie Mays’ death

Hall of Fame center fielder Willie Mays died peacefully at 93 on Tuesday. The news was announced during the Phillies game against the Padres, and players and coaches spent the evening mourning the loss of one of the greatest players in baseball history.

“Just a sad day for baseball,” said manager Rob Thomson. “This is a legend, and not just the player, but also the character of the man. He was a baseball lifer, and obviously our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. It’s a sad day.”

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Mays was a two-time MVP award winner, a 24-time All-Star, and a 12-time Gold Glove award winner. He spent the bulk of his career with the Giants — when they were in New York and when they relocated to San Francisco — and played parts of the 1972 and ‘73 seasons with the New York Mets.

He finished his career with a .301/.384/.557 line, a .940 OPS, and 660 home runs. Mays was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1979.

“One of the greatest players of all time,” said Bryce Harper. “It’s sad for the sport, obviously, condolences to his family. it’s going to be a big miss for Major League Baseball. I had the opportunity to meet him and shake his hand. What an incredible career he had, just the impact he had on the game. He’s definitely going to be missed.”

The Phillies held a moment of silence for Mays before Wednesday’s game.

Trea Turner was out of the lineup on Wednesday afternoon, but not because of an injury, Thomson said. It was just a scheduled off day. Thomson wanted the shortstop to get back-to-back off days on Wednesday and Thursday.

Reliever Luis Ortiz, who was placed on the 15-day injured list with a left ankle sprain on March 31, came out of his rehab outing hurt on Tuesday night. Ortiz pitched 1⅔ innings for Lehigh Valley but hurt his forearm and will undergo testing.

Kody Clemens, who was placed on the injured list with lower back spasms on June 3, is getting close, Thomson said. Clemens was running the bases Wednesday and fielding ground balls.

“I think this weekend he’ll be ready to go,” said Thomson. “He was running the bases today and doing all of his stuff so I think by the weekend he’ll be ready to go.”

The Phillies plan to have Clemens do some work in the outfield when he’s on a rehab assignment with triple-A Lehigh Valley.

“Yes, he will [get outfield time],” Thomson said. “Possibly [in the mix], yeah. We’ll see how he handles the outfield.”

The Phillies plan to have Clemens alternate days between the infield and the outfield.

Reliever Michael Rucker (hand) will pitch Friday in Lehigh Valley. … Yunior Marte (right shoulder inflammation) will pitch on Thursday for the IronPigs.