Placido Polanco will miss Game 1 with back soreness
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Placido Polanco will miss Game 1 with back soreness
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
The Phillies just announced their lineup for Game 1 of the National League Division Series and there is an omission that is both surprising and notable: veteran third baseman Placido Polanco is not starting at third base. Instead, utility man Wilson Valdez is at third and hitting eighth.
Polanco has battled a sore elbow all season, but a Phillies spokesman said today that the veteran third baseman is not in the lineup because of back soreness. Manager Charlie Manuel said Polanco told him yesterday that he had a stiff back and that it got worse overnight. Polanco told him today that he could not bend over or move side to side, Manuel said.
As for a prognosis for Friday's Game 2, the Phillies are hopeful, but Manuel said they would just have to wait and see.
Polanco's elbow condition, which required a fourth cortisone shot of the season last Wednesday, is believed to be caused by a bone chip. The injury a painful one that limited Polanco to 132 games during the regular season. But Polanco said yesterday that he felt good, and there was no indication that he was in danger of missing Game 1.
"It's good," Polanco said.
Apparently, though, the back is not good.
The loss of Polanco for at least Game 1 is a big one. The 34-year-old led all National League third baseman with a .986 fielding percentage (Reds third baseman Scott Rolen was second at .977). He also hit .298 with a .339 on base percentage, driving in 52 runs and scoring 76.
Valdez hit .258 with a .306 on base percentage and .667 OPS during the regular season, driving in 35 runs and scoring 37 with four home runs in 333 at-bats. Valdez played seven games at third, three of them starts, and did not make an error in 15 chances. Valdez started 50 games at short stop in place of Jimmy Rollins and 35 games at second in place of Chase Utley. He combined to committ just three erros at al three positions this season.
Because Polanco, the Phils' normal No. 2 hitter, is out of the lineup, Manuel decided to put Jimmy Rollins back at his usual spot atop the order, followed by Shane Victorino. Manuel indicated that he would not have had Rollins at the top of the lineup if Polanco had been available.
Here is the Game 1 lineup:
- Jimmy Rollins SS
- Shane Victorino CF
- Chase Utley 2B
- Ryan Howard 1B
- Jayson Werth RF
- Raul Ibanez LF
- Carlos Ruiz C
- Wilson Valdez 3B
- Roy Halladay RHP
Red finalize roster
The Reds have left veteran centerfielder Jim Edmonds off the roster for this series and instead have tabbed infielder Juan Francisco. Edmonds hit 11 homers in 246 at-bats and would have supplied a bit of power off Dusty Baker’s bench, but he’s still bothered by an injured Achilles’ tendon.
Francisco spent most of this season in the minors. The 23-year-old hit .273 in 36 games with the Reds, mostly as a pinch-hitter but with a few starts at third base. He struck out 20 times in 59 plate appearances and, like many of his teammates, has never appeared in the postseason.
The Reds starting lineup for today’s game (bats):
1. Brandon Phillips (R), 2B
2. Orlando Cabrera (R), SS
3. Joey Votto (L), 1B
4. Scott Rolen (R), 3B
5. Jonny Gomes (R), LF
6. Jay Bruce (L), RF
7. Drew Stubbs (R), CF
8. Ramon Hernandez (R), C
9. Edinson Volquez (R), P
he must be in some serious pain to miss a postseason game....this is obviously a huge hit....ugh...David, whats teh rest of hte lineup?— TR- Wow! Not good— FireTMac&Wheeler!
- whaaatt???
- ah cr@ap!
- This is a disconcerting development.
- This better be a bad joke!— harry & whitey
- What? Where did this come from? Although that explains keeping Dobbs in the lineup— micconway
- You've got to be kidding me. Now this probably means Jimmy Pop-Up will lead off, and the Phils will lose.— n62
- RAJ just said on 610 he has a stiff back...Rough time for the old timer to start feeling old.— jabaro9
- Todd Zolecki is reporting that a "back injury" is the reason, not his elbow. And Jimmy will lead off. So, the Phils have an automatic out to the start the bottom of the 1st. AWESOME— n62
- Ah cmon, I wake up everyday with a sore back.— micconway
- oh boy...and the chips fall. Thank God Chooch seems "OK", but then again who really knows? Hard to play through pain in your elbow.
- I would love if the lineup was Victorino, Utley, Rollins, Howard, Werth, Ibanez, Ruiz, Valdez, Halladay— micconway
- In the words of Tom McGinnis "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!"— DennyP
not good news at all- disaster. most reliable hitter out of the line up.
- who's batting leadoff?— PYW
- Phils' lousy training staff strikes again.— n62
- Hopefully, this is something that will resolve itself with a day or 2 of rest and maybe a shot of cortisone. I'd rather get him feeling better in time for the next series. I thought that Victorino was batting leadoff and Rollins was going to bat 6th or 7th? Did that change because of this injury?— ericyshel
- gulp— sla6yer
- mannn god wtffffffffffff— Dr. Heller
- Although this sucks, Valdez has been a pretty good replacement on the field and the bat lately. If this were Ruiz, I would be devasted— micconway
- I think its more precautionary; Charlie has a lot of faith in Valdez, and he's performed respectively this season. I think he'd rather have Polanco as healthy as possible, esp. in those later games/rounds, then risk injuring him more early and losing him for the rest of the post-season— TKE_535
- Wow, Phillies fans are even experts on the team's training staff. Impressive.— MVKrum
- You would think they just announced that Kendrick was replacing Halladay. Everyone needs to relax. They can beat the Reds with Valdez at third.— mvp15
- smh this out of no where? It must be really hurting him because he's had since sunday night to and days off before that because we were up in the standings and didn't need to play all of our starters.. what is going on? weird— twistedmetalone
- what a bunch of chicken littles....this is the Reds 2010 version NOT the 1976 version.
- It's not Valdez that is worrisome, it's the .240 lead off "hitter".— n62
I think we can all exhale now, Valdez can pull it off, and he's a decent little hitter. Hopefully Polly can rest up and be back next game.— DaveCicc- Holy lord, Everyone calm the f down. We still have a solid lineup.— barefoot
- Man, the postseason finally comes and this jits at the last minute. The problem is that he's one of their few contact hitters. I think the only thing that can derail this team this year is if the offense goes ice cold as it does several times a year. You know how it goes. The free swingers in the lineup start whiffing, runners are left in scoring position and then everyone starts trying to hit a 5 run homer to break out of the slump. Lets pray that this doesn't linger.— Sewellmatt
- Very strange...with all of the rest he had recently? He hasn't hit for months, but I don't see Valdez hitting Volquez much...At least with Polanco, you could hope for a well-timed blooper or something.— auntesther
- Uh-oh.— CiceroSpuriousDeodatus
Maybe Wilson Valdez for MVP... Just a thought.— baworks- Not good. But the Phillies should still have enough firepower to beat the Reds.— Muckrakers
- Deep breath. We can do this. Valdez has been a real team player, just like the rest of the boys.— TT2
- I hope Rolen gets beaned!— Joseph DeSantis
- Cmon people Valdez has been a very solid replacement for months now— micconway
- I forget, has Placido Polanco helped us in the post-season the last two years? Someone please jog my memory.....— ESFjellin
- I guess we should just throw in the towel now that our leadoff hitter from the last 2 postseasons is actually going to be hitting leadoff...
Good God, settle down.— blastula99 - Hey, yes Valdez is no Polanco, but he's the best sub/back up the phillies have and not an automatic out either. He also has the best arm in the starting line up and he will get a hit or two a game.. Sohang the krapes and root the Phillies to a win. Sure, it would be better if J.R. was out tonight, but just be glad you have Wilson filling in.. Go Phillies— wes
- why not have shane lading off thenhave Ibanex htting 2nd and rollins 6th?— wxdavid
Hey, if you are all jumping off the bandwagon, make sure you jump really far so I don't have to read your stupid posts any more. Go Phils!- We'll be ok just look at all the games that the Phillies Won with Valdez in the lineup.— Pennbama
Relax!— pedge- a back suddenly sore enough to scratch polanco could be a bad omen. he can miss a game but he will be a very big loss if it is much more than that. manuel definitely thinks rollins can definitely produce leading off. the weight on doc's shoulders in his post-season debut just grew heavier.— cowpoke
- no problem,the Phillies will play with the cards they are dealt and prevail...— phillyaztec
- can ANYONE look at Facts? In VALDEZ in Sept/October is batting .313/.410/.403 and Polly is batting .261/.336/.316. (BA OBA OPS). Sure Polanco has a LOT more bats but its not a HUGE drop off.— wxdavid
- Remember that guy behind the plate at the Vet, he would yell...
"Everybody Hits...Woohoo" We need that kind of effort today.
Let's show the Reds some Lumber & give Halladay some breathing room. Go Phils !!!— Fan74 - Relax y'all we'll be fine.— jcpaul
- This team won 97 games with half their lineup on the DL. I'm pretty sure they can win three over the Reds with Valdez at third.— PhillyTru
- Valdez vs RHP in OCT is Htting .265/.311/ .689 (BA OBA OPS)!
valdez vs CIN .316/. 381/ .960— wxdavid - Bad, bad news. This must be very, very serious. I wonder what happened? He just woke up on an off day and couldnt move? Hmm— gluteman
Call Houston. Tell them we have a problem. They solved our last one.- Why would you even bother posting some hateful comment about Jimmy Rollins?— Jim C.
- "most reliable hitter out of the line up" ... Come on, dude. Among the eight regular starters in the Phils' lineup, Polanco ranks 6th in onbase percentage and seventh in slugging percentage. He will be missed because he's a great fielder and a nice contact hitter, but singles hitters are not difference makers.— GoPhilsGo
- Valdez has played very good ball as a utility man for the phils. Get Polanco close to 100% and let Valdez do his thing; he has been very serviceable.— the sichee-ation
- They should be able to hit Volquez who is off the juice now, unless he's taking HGH which MLB does not test for.— borncynic
- I agree with micconway, split up Utley & Howard due to the 4 leftys in pen. If Charlie wants JRoll leadoff,( I DON"T AGREE) then I would bat Victorino 3rd to split up Utley & Howard. Loss of Polanco's bat could hurt, but confident Valdez will make the plays at 3rd.— duckman15
Shoulda kept Lee.— Crixus- Relax... they can win with Valdez.— TerryW
Comment removed.- Relax people, we're ok— RealBigFan
- Calm down everyone. This team posted the best record in the majors with injuries to every starting position player except Ibanez. Take a pill. We'll be fine.— JT123
- No question Valdez can make the throw, but losing Polly is a major defensive and offensive loss! Let's hope Halladay can put these guys down so we don't have to worry about it.— bgrasmeder
- And I hope Halladay snaps Rolen's bat in half all night long. That is one former Phil I can't stand. He's second only to that other bonehead Billy Wagner.
— JT123 - Speaking of Lee, he's pitching a 4 hit shoutout right now. I will always root for him and Pat the Bat (that is until they play the Phils)— micconway
- Eat a Perk and man up!— cman730
- Micconway's lineup may have something there but if Rollins doesn't get on Utley has no one to advance with a sacrifice or bat in. Valdez will do the job at 3rd both offesively and defensively. Thank God Charlie didn't pick Dobbs. With Rollins leading off he, Dobbs and Halladay would have been automatic outs leaving it up to #2 thru #7 to produce. If the Reds take one game in Philly, it's going to go 5 games. I say it's the Phils in 4. They win the first two, lose the third game and close it out in Cinncinnati.— 1republican
Although Polanco is "the man" at third, I've really been impressed with the way Valdez fills in wherever needed, and produces both offensively and defensively. THANK GOD Charlie didn't put Dobbs in at third. He needs some desperate help with hitting...maybe his eyesight is failing as his mechanics look O.K... whatever it is, he has definitely lost something the last two years. GO Phillies!! Sock it to'em Roy!!!— dogman5- If there was anybody I'd rather have as an infield replacement it's absolutely VALDEZ!
Polly will be back before it's over and we'll still have Valdez too.
This team is deep enough that we're not in danger with one man out, as far as this is concerned we're still a full-bred team, no hurts, we are ready for Cinsey to come on down to Cinzey Bank!!! MEET THE REAL RED...BABY!!!— J-Joe - Let's all breathe deeply and exhale and not overreact!— boris
- cry your eyes out phillie fans reds are going for the sweep, rolen MVP— jpenny
- i bet valdez has a good game, probably gets a clutch drag bunt single and th phils breeze through the game.— FunCakes
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