Polanco leaves game with elbow injury
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Polanco leaves game with elbow injury
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
UPDATED, 3:16 p.m.
DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Another day, another Phillies injury.
Third baseman Placido Polanco left in the bottom of the second Tuesday's game against Toronto with what the team is calling a hyperextended left elbow. Polanco said he does not expect to be out for an extended period of time.
Polanco, of course, had left elbow problems all of 2010 that required offseason surgery to remove a bone spur and fix tendon damage. He said the hyperextension occurred in the exact same spot as where the surgery was performed.
"But it's nothing bad," Polanco said back in Clearwater. "I've had it before. I've had it a million times. But the fact that I had surgery in that elbow, we're being very safe. We'll play it safe and see how it feels tomorrow and the next day."
Is it possible the hyperextension was caused by tenderness in the elbow from surgery?
"Probably not," Polanco said. "But you can develop some scar tissue there and we have to keep an eye on that -- stretch it all the time and ice it. But it's right on the same spot. It didn't make it any worse. I mean, what I had there is gone. But remember, every time they open you and you have surgery, it's the not the same. Hopefully with a couple days off and anti-inflammatories I should be back."
He appeared to injure the elbow during a first-inning swing. Polanco stepped out of the batter's box for an extended period and took some practice swings. He then popped out to the pitcher, Jesse Litsch.
Polanco played defense the next half inning and made a diving play to his right at third.
"The good news is this is spring training," Polanco said. "At the same tinme, you want to be in shape for opening day. But it's just a day-to-day thing. When I've had it before I never stopped playing from it. But I had surgery so they took me out."
With fewer than two weeks until opening day, the oldest team in the majors is quickly discovering how painful life may be in 2011. Chase Utley remains sidelined with knee problems and Ruben Amaro Jr. said Tuesday there is "no news" on any progress.
Closer Brad Lidge has biceps tendinitis but he played catch Tuesday and will do the same Wednesday. If that goes well, he could be back into a game by Thursday, Amaro said.
But it's not even April and all we're talking about is injuries.
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
Download our NEW iPhone/Android app for easy access to all of our Phillies coverage, plus app-exclusive videos and analysis. Get it here.
Looks like we have to win every game 1-0— shawnmac- Spittoon guy apparently does not give a spit about RAJ— NewMick314
- It is March, it is Spring Training. Its too early to worry about the oldest team in baseball or brag about the best pitching staff. Hopefully we will find good fill-ins for any injuries and get to June with reasonable health and in first place. Then the fun begins!— JohnFC
- Just the beginning of the injuries. This is what happens when the conditioning goes south, age should be a concern for this team. Madson, Romero are still going to be problems coming out of the bullpen. Ruiz can't hit Anything else to be answered later— eaglesman1
- Yeah, spittigonzalez is sounding more and more like Howard Eskin, calling everybody on this board clowns, idiots and morons. The guy has issues.— EL Zorro
- let's keep this in perspective. As lousy as this sounds at present, there are MILLIONS of Japanese folks that would love to have this as their "worst case scenario" right now. My thoughts are more for them at present....— TBear
- I'd feel better if it was his right elbow. Anything that's had surgery makes me nervous. Hopefully he's truly fine in a few days.— kmon
- Is there sky ever not falling for you guys? It's spring training...we had suffered a lot more injuries than this last year and we had the best record in baseball. You guys get negative so fast. We have a 13-7 record in spring training so far, despite injuries, which by the way, involve one serious, and one minor. I'm not even including Brown since I wasn't really expecting to him a difference maker this season. He had a huge hole in his swing, which is the reason they were trying to adjust his swing, despite everyone saying how they screwed up in doing so...Of course, if they just sat idle, everyone would be calling for our coaches jobs. It just never stops with you guys, and what's worse, the media has actually starting to cater towards your whine-baby attitudes. We haven't even played the first game of the season, and some of these comments act like we're 140 games into the season. Yea, that's right...165 games to go and stock in kleenex has already went through the roof.— MFPhils
Comment removed.
