IS LAMENTING OVER THE LATISSIMUS
As expected, third baseman Placido Polanco returned from the disabled list in time for Saturday's game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
His reinstatement cost utility infielder Juan Castro his job.
"Basically what happened ... is that other guys stepped up and were playing better baseball -- (Wilson) Valdez in particular," general manager Ruben Amaro said.
When the season started, Valdez was at triple-A Lehigh Valley and Castro, who signed a one-year $750,000 contract in the offseason, was considered the primary infield bench player. Valdez, however, got a chance to join the Phillies early in the season because of an injury to Jimmy Rollins and, despite briefly being outrighted back to Lehigh Valley in late May, consistently played better than Castro, who batted just .198 with 13 RBIs in 54 games.
The Phillies also decided to keep infielder Cody Ransom instead of Castro. Ransom, promoted from Lehigh Valley earlier this month, contributed a game-tying home run against the Cincinnati Reds.
"Ransom is a threat off the bench as a power guy and he has some versatility, too," Amaro said.
The Phillies are hopeful that Polanco's return will kickstart their struggling offense, but manager Charlie Manuel also tinkered with the lineup for Saturday's game.
Shane Victorino moved into the leadoff spot and Jimmy Rollins moved down to third with Polanco hitting in between the two.
Bob Brookover and Matt Gelb team up for their third straight season covering the Phillies for the Inquirer and philly.com.
This is Brookover’s second stint writing about the Phillies, having joined the coverage team after seven years as an Eagles beat writer. Brookover was hired by The Inquirer in 2000 as the Phillies beat writer after spending 13 years writing about the team for two suburban newspapers. While on the Eagles beat, Brookover, who had covered just two winning Phillies teams in 15 seasons, saw the Phillies move into a cash-cow new ballpark and begin playing a brand of the game he found unrecognizable. Follow him on Twitter here.
Gelb is in his third season covering the Phillies. He was hired by The Inquirer in August 2009 after graduating from Syracuse University. He has also covered baseball at The Star-Ledger and Cape Cod Times. Born and raised in Bucks County, he attended Central Bucks High School West. Follow him on Twitter here.
To submit a question for Matt Gelb's Phillies mailbag, click here.
 | Join on Facebook |  | Follow on Twitter |
