The Marlins have placed righty David Phelps on the 15-day DL with a left oblique strain, the club announced. Righty Jake Esch is coming up to take a start for Phelps.

The move is retroactive to August 27th, so Phelps can be available to return before mid-September. It’s not yet clear whether the injury will keep him out past that point or not.

Losing Phelps is a major blow to a Miami club that is already showing signs of cracking in the postseason race. He has been remarkably effective all year long, first posting top-quality results over 54 1/3 relief innings and then turning in five excellent starts when a need arose in the rotation.

Regardless of how things turn out over the final month or so of the season, Phelps has turned himself into quite a value for Miami. He will earn a raise on his current $2.5MM salary, but comes with two more seasons of arbitration control.