Game 87: The injured
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Game 87: The injured
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- The list grows by the day. With five games remaining until the All-Star Break, the Phillies will gladly take a few days off.
There is no news on Shane Victorino. He flew back to Philadelphia and was scheduled to see hand specialist Randall Culp at about 5 p.m. The team probably won't have any updates until Wednesday.
Victorino was administered a few tests on his jammed right thumb Sunday and he passed those. But when the swelling wasn't improving, the Phillies decided to send him north.
Is it serious?
"I don't know," Charlie Manuel said. "Will he miss some time? Probably. How much? I don't know. I don't think it's going to be a whole lot. I say that sometimes and the guy goes from two weeks to six months. We'll see."
Victorino said Monday he didn't think it was too bad. Apparently that changed.
"I know his hand is swollen up," Manuel said. "He has a jammed thumb. He can't grip the ball. And it's hard to grip the bat, of course. They wanted to run some tests and see if something was wrong with it."
***
Placido Polanco asked out of the lineup Tuesday because the pinched nerve in his back was acting up. Polanco is 0 for his last 15 and down to .216 since May 1.
"He said it was hurting a little bit," Manuel said. "It comes and goes. He has a lot of aches and pains. He's not hitting well right now. He also think it's affecting his swing. I thought it was a good time to get him rested."
***
Here is some positive news: Ryan Madson threw a bullpen session Tuesday. "He was good," Rich Dubee said. He will throw another Thursday and could get into some minor-league games during the break. A return when the second half begins July 15 is possible.
***
Brad Lidge's fastball velocity hovered around 86 to 88 m.p.h. during his first rehab outing with single-A Lakewood. Not where the Phillies want it to be, but not an unreasonable number in his first game since spring training in mid-March.
The team has not said when Lidge will pitch next.
***
Vance Worley will pitch the first game of the second half, July 15 against the Mets. Cliff Lee was named baseball's pitcher of the month for June.
Without Victorino and Polanco, your Phillies lineup looks like so:
1. Jimmy Rollins 6
2. Michael Martinez 8
3. Chase Utley 4
4. Ryan Howard 3
5. Raul Ibanez 7
6. Carlos Ruiz 2
7. Domonic Brown 9
8. Wilson Valdez 5
9. Cole Hamels 1
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
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I was expecting Mayberry or Francisco in center but since Martinez is swinging such a hot bat he makes more sense.— TooManyAdsOnThisSite
Comment removed.- Have a link, Tonka? Or just looking for some attention? Your schtick is as tired as Lonewolf. — Bella914
- it's spelled nickels, genius.— root em in
- How do you call a GM who overlooks a team with a payroll of 160,000,000+ dollars "nickels?" You're just plain stooopid.— SeanMan
- Well, I called for the radar gun numbers. So if course now we get them....are they to be trusted? The issue is not so much his velocity yet but how he feels the day after or the next. I doubt with his rotator cuff tear that he'll be able to bounce back and pitch more than once a week and that just won't cut it on a ML staff, that's why the Phillies can't say when he'll pitch again.....second, his velocity may top out in his first few visits and then start to slide down to his 81-83 recent norm. This is what happens with this type of injury. But Brad will say he "feels good" nonetheless.— Mark1npt
- Victorino will probably need to have his thumb amputated. The Phillies are still trying to figure out a way to blame Victorino's asinine baserunning on his injured thumb.— scootch
- Polanco ask out of the line up when they were already down Victorino?
Albert comes back after 2 weeks from a broken wrist and Polanco has a sore back. Our closer takes a month off with a bruise. Bunch of tough guys on this team— Ssteve115 - and our guys are going to be playing in Oct and ALbert will be busy trying to find a team to pay him more then A-ROd overmakes. Our guys are fine. Polly needs a break and good for him to finally admit it. I'd just wish he'd skip the all star farce as well— jeff gross
- Yeah, that Polanco, he's a goldbricker. He's as lazy as Amaro is cheap.— PhillyfaninMD
