Archive: March, 2011
Philly.com Sports
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David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Placido Polanco left today's Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays after hyperextending his left elbow while swinging at a pitch from Jesse Litsch in the first inning.
Polanco had the same elbow surgically-repaired this offseason, and while he said his current pain is in the same area, he does not think it has anything to do with his former injury (bone chips and tendinitis).
Here is what Polanco said today:
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
It's Week Three of "That's Baseball," where this week three drowsy and slightly hung over sports writers gathered at the Tiki Bar at Bright House Field on a beautiful Sunday morning and took about three hours to shoot a seven minute video.
The big question debated by me, Phil Sheridan and Kevin Roberts was the Phillies' handling of Domonic Brown this spring. Personally, I don't think you can blame Charlie Manuel or Greg Gross for suggesting the modification in Brown's hand positions. These guys have been around the game a long time, and their goal is to get him ready for the long run, not just the 2011 competition for right field. But Phil and Kevin disagree.
Feel free to chime in with your thoughts on the situation.
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
The Phillies are travelling to Dunedin to face the Blue Jays today.
Here is line-up:
- Jimmy Rollins SS
- Shane Victorino CF
- Raul Ibanez LF
- Ryan Howard 1B
- Placido Polanco 3B
- Ross Gload DH
- Ben Francisco RF
- Carlos Ruiz C
- Josh Barfield 2B
And here are the scheduled pitchers for the forseeable future:
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Yeah, so I think maybe Bill Hall and Cole Hamels need to form a sharing circle somewhere and talk about their feelings. Because there is a little bit of dissonance in their relationship. The two players had a bit of a confrontation in the second inning of the Phillies Grapefruit League game against the Astros today. Nothing major. Just your typical baseball barking. Hamels didn't like that Hall stepped out of the box twice, so he reacted with a wave of the glove, then threw a brush-back pitch.
Hall didn't like that Hamels brushed him back, and he started yelling and gesturing at the pitcher. Order was restored quickly. Both dugouts looked on in mild amusement. The umpire warned both benches. Play resumed.
So afterwards, Cole Hamels laughed off the situation as just one of those baseball-boys-will-be-boys type things.
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
I don't have any empirical evidence to support the following statement, but it seems like every time Ruben Amaro Jr. makes a statement claiming the Phillies are limited in their ability to take on payroll, it is shortly followed by a transaction in which the club does just that.
It's what we heard last year at the trade deadline before he traded for Roy Oswalt, taking on approximately $11 million in salary over two seasons.
It's what we heard this offseason before he signed Cliff Lee, taking on $120 million over five seasons.
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
A couple of weeks ago I gave my first projection of the Opening Day roster and said I would try to do the same each Monday for the rest of spring training. So, of course, I forgot to do it the next Monday. But it's Monday again, and anything of importance you can read elsewhere on the site, so let's take a look at where the personnel situation stands:
Regulars (8) vs. Left-handed Pitching
1. Shane Victorino CF
2. Placido Polanco
3. Jimmy Rollins
4. Ryan Howard
5. Ben Francisco
6. Raul Ibanez
7. Carlos Ruiz
8. Wilson Valdez
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Mike Stutes has impressed the Phillies coaching staff this spring. To the point where they have decided to keep him around for a longer look, despite sending most of the rest of his peer group back to the minor leagues. Justin De Fratus, Matthew Rizzotti, Cesar Hernandez, Harold Garcia -- all are on the 40-man roster, and all were optioned back to minor league camp.
Stutes isn't even on the 40-man roster yet. But Charlie Manuel shrugged off that fact yesterday when asked about the 24-year-old righthander. He then proceeded to tell a story about a recent game in Fort Myers against the Red Sox, when an umpire pulled Manuel aside and raved about the late movement and life on Stutes' pitches.
First, though, some background. . .
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
The fascinating thing about the length of a baseball season is the narrative it forms. For six months, a group of men are essentially a family, travelling the country and playing games as the world spins around them.
Today was one of those interesting plot points, as the two flat-screen televisions in the clubhouse at Bright House Field flashed with CNN's coverage of the earthquake in Japan and a potential Tsunami headed toward Hawaii. Among the players watching the screens were native Hawaiians Shane Victorino and Dane Sardinha. At one point, third baseman Jeff Larish, a non-roster invitee who was teammates with Sardinha in Detroit, wandered over to the catcher's locker and checked in.
Neither Sardinha nor Victorino seemed too concerned. Victorino's parents house is high on a mountainside and out of harm's way. Sardinha lives about 100 yards from the ocean on the south side of Oahu, but didn't sound too alarmed about the situation.
Paul Hagen
Video: The Daily News' Paul Hagen and CineSport's Noah Coslov discuss Charlie Manuel's extension, Domonic Brown's injury, and another impressive outing from Roy Halladay.
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