You almost couldn’t have picked a worse time for the injury bug to hit the Phillies clubhouse. Perhaps the first week in October might have been worse.

The news came down Sunday that Brett Myers, who recently returned to the Phillies after spending most of the season on the disabled list recovering from hip surgery, might have strained his right shoulder.

“He’s got some soreness in the back of his shoulder,” GM Ruben Amaro said. “We’ve been kind of protecting him. I guess he sustained it about eight or 10 days ago. . . . He’s scheduled to see Mike Ciccotti on Tuesday to see if there is anything very serious about it. . . . [The training staff] is saying it’s a possible strain.”

The Phillies expect to learn what the diagnosis is on Tuesday, but regardless of what the technicaly prognosis is, it appears as though the idea that Myers would be able to step into the closer’s role, solidifying the back end of the bullpen, has gone out the window.

Likewise, the hope that Myers might be able to step in for Chan Ho Park, who felt a pop in his right hamstring last week and is likely going to miss the rest of the regular season. Amaro is hopeful that he will be able to return to the team before the playoffs, as he is recoving more quickly than expected, but his status remains uncertain at this point. Park has been the team’s most consistent right hander out of the pen, going 2-2 with a 2.57 ERA since being removed from the starting rotation in mid-May.

There was also a thought that Myers might be able to fill in for J.C. Romero and/or Scott Eyre as a set up man should Ryan Madson finally secure the closer’s role. According to Andy Martino of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Romero swears he is ready to return to the Phillies, but was sent to the team’s instructional league in Florida this past weekend. Eyre, according to Martino, needs arthroscopic surgery to remove a “loose body” from his left elbow, but is hoping to just pitch through the pain for the remainder of the season.

More important than their role as a possible set up man to Charlie Manuel’s closer of the night is their role as a left handed specialist, which the Phillies currently do not have right now. The only left handers currently in the bullpen right now are Sergio Escalona, Jack Taschner and Jamie Moyer. According to Martino, Manuel refuses to insert the rookie Escalona into the role. Taschner is not well suited to be a crunch time specialist, and neither is Moyer, who is currently being used as a spot starter and long relief extrodinaire. Come playoff time, J.A. Happ may find himself back in the bullpen, but he is also not considered a likely candidate as a replacement to Romero and Eyre. Instead, Happ will likely fill the role left by Moyer, who is not expected to make the playoff roster.

Although that’s assuming Happ is healthy come playoff time. The NL Rookie of the Year candidate suffered a right intercostal strain early in September and missed over two weeks of action before returning Friday to face the Atlanta Braves. That start, however, was cut short after Manuel saw Happ grimmace at the end of the third inning. With the injury to Romero and Eyre, Manuel immediately pulled him from the game as a precautionary measure.

“I wouldn’t say it’s definite (that he’ll start Thursday),” Manuel said. “But I’d say there’s a good chance. We’ll wait and see what happens between now and then.”

If Happ does start Thursday in Milwaukee, expect Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee to keep a very close eye on him, particularly because his competition for the final spot in the post season starting rotation, Pedro Martinez, left Saturday’s game in Atlanta early with stiffness in his neck. Martinez said that he had trouble sleeping that night, and after riding the stationary bike for a half hour on Sunday, said that his neck was still feeling “not too good.” He remains questionable to start on Friday in Milwaukee and his long term status is still up in the air. If this injury forces him out of the rotation for the playoffs, it would move Happ back into the rotation, thereby making the return of Romero and Eyre even more crucial.

On top of all the injuries to the Phillies pitching staff, the every day lineup did not go unscathed last week. Center fielder Shane Victorino missed time last week with flu-like symptoms, and while it was not considered serious, and he did return to action Sunday, it only compounds the recent struggles he has been having. Victorino is batting just .208 over his last eight games with two RBIs and one run scored. He needs more playing time, at full health, not less, to help him get out of this slump with less than two weeks to go in the season.

The other, and far more troubling, blow to the lineup was the loss of catcher Carlos Ruiz, who sprained his left wrist after it was stepped on in a game against the Braves. Ruiz could return to action Tuesday, according to Martino, but he will likely not be at top form. While Ruiz is certainly not the best hitter on the roster, he has been red hot since mid-August, hitting .346 with four homers and 17 RBI since Aug. 15. Even more important than the loss of his bat is the loss of Ruiz behind the plate. Chooch has cemented himself as one of the best defensive and game-calling catchers in the majors. Couple that with the fact that his backups are no Paul Bako and Paul Hoover, and a long term loss of Ruiz would be devastating.

In the midst of all this adversity, from injuries to a bullpen in entire dissaray, the Phillies have managed to persevere, having won 10 of their last 13 games. During that span, the Phillies have outscored their opponents 69-47. If they can continue winning, their momentum heading into October may be able to compensate for their apparent holes. Likewise, if they can continue to simply outscore their opponents, and receive strong outings from the starting rotation, it may give the rest of the staff enough time to recover from their various ailments.

After all, time heals all wounds.