Phillies Notes: Injured Rollins still day-to-day; Oswalt to start on Friday

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - An MRI exam on Jimmy Rollins' balky right hamstring on Monday revealed, well, nothing. The Phillies are right back to where they've been with their injured shortstop: He's day-to-day.

No tear or structural damage was shown in the exam. Rollins has a mild sprain of the hamstring and will rejoin the team Tuesday in Florida. What, exactly, he will be able to do when he arrives is still a matter of debate.

"He could be able to pinch-hit from the left side," Charlie Manuel said. "I don't know about the right side."

What about actually starting a game?

"He'll be day-to-day according to what they say," Manuel said.

So this is good news, right?

"I guess," Manuel said. "I don't know what I'm going to do about it."

The answer is not much. The Phillies will remain cautious with their shortstop, and with good reason. He already missed 56 games with a strained right calf. A bruised left foot bothered him later in the season.

Rollins had reported progress over the weekend in New York, but there wasn't enough, so an MRI was warranted.

"They just wanted to make sure that it wasn't torn or completely pulled," Manuel said.

And that definitely represents good news. The muscle that Rollins has injured is the semitendinosus, one of the three muscles that make up the hamstring.

So for now, Wilson Valdez remains the starting shortstop in a pennant race.

"I don't know where we'd be if he didn't do what he's done," Manuel said.

Pitching coach Rich Dubee said that in all likelihood Roy Oswalt will start Friday's game against Washington instead of Kyle Kendrick.

With the day off Thursday, Oswalt can pitch Friday on regular rest and be set up to pitch when the Atlanta Braves come to Citizens Bank Park next week. If Oswalt starts Friday, the Phillies will have their three aces - Oswalt, Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels - pitch against Atlanta on regular rest.

Kendrick would likely start Saturday with the extra day of rest. The Phillies' fifth starter will need to make only two more starts this season, and both will come against last-place Washington.

Rookie outfielder Domonic Brown tested his strained right quadriceps before Monday's game and proclaimed himself ready to return to action - if called upon.

But after the game, Manuel said Brown was not completely healthy yet and that's why he decided against using him in the 11-4 rout.

Brown is not likely to see a good deal of playing time down the stretch, and if the Phillies make the postseason, the team will face an interesting decision when his name comes up in roster discussions.

It probably will boil down to the Phillies deciding if they need a 12th pitcher or a sixth bench player. Brown figures to likely be that sixth bench player.

Last season in the NL division series against Colorado, the Phils took 12 pitchers.

Manuel said he is leery about Brown sitting all this time.

"When he gets into a game, you can see he tries too hard, especially with how he hits," Manuel said. "His stride, he swings long, swings hard. He's definitely trying too hard. It's a matter of he needs more experience. But also his timing, when he's sat there that long, he gets beat. He's not ready for us to turn him loose yet."

The Phillies will not face Florida ace Josh Johnson as scheduled Wednesday. Johnson was shut down for the season Monday with a strained back muscle. Instead, the Marlins will use a bullpen-by-committee in Wednesday's game, with righthander Jorge Sosa possibly earning the start. "I don't care who pitches," Manuel said. "I don't care. He's good. He's one of the best pitchers in our league. I guess it's a break if you look at it that way, but at the same time, I figure if we're going to win something, we've got to beat people." . . . The maligned umpire crew that worked the Phillies-Astros series in August at Citizens Bank Park is doing this week's series in Florida. This time, minor-league fill-in Scott Barry is not on the crew; Gerry Davis is back from vacation.