Polanco returns; Castro released
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Polanco returns; Castro released
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
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.
Bruntlett got hits for the Phils in the World Series against the Rays. I can especially remember him hitting a pinch hit double. Castro and Valdez are both worse than Bruntlett. Valdez is double-play machine, didnt cover first during bunt and missed one easy pop up and nearly made Werth drop one to end game. Phils need to replace Utley production, hence they need to aquire an infielder with some pop in his bat. Valdez, Castro,Ibanez, Werth, and Dobbs have been rally killers all year long. Every game one of these guys will come up with atleast two runners on and blow it. Pitching as been inconsistent,stupid Lee trade but right now offense is the problem. Really ever since binocular-gate. Ty Wigginton or Kelly Johnson could really help, maybe Happ comes back strong this year and he can help the starting rotation out. Phils need much better bench, so go out and get strong utility infielder!!!- He made a difference alright, I wish our guys could get the lead and hold it for a change. These 9th inning come from behind wins lately are giving me a cardiac. All Hale to Polly today, he was the missing link for the rally.— J-Joe
- Its great to see Polanco back. My friend and I, down here in Florida always talk about how the Phillies hitting has taken a dive since our coach with the binoculars was found out in center field. We think our hitting slump began when he was pulled out.— Hearts
- This article was posted 3 1/2 hours ago and Amaro is not an "idiot", "stupid" nor has he "crippled the organization with (insert player's name here)'s contract"? C'mon people! You disappoint me.— vafan
Comment removed.- Good $ news---as Jayson Werth slowly declines at the plate his contract parallels the descent----he is affordable now at $13/14M per year and heading south.— Romus
- Yeah can't figure out why baez stayed over figueroa. They didn't want to eat his contract?— rocky1234
it makes no sense to harp on a player like Castro, a career journeyman ball player. He was a defensive sub who filled in nicely while J-Roll was out with the occasional RBI. Definitely didn't hurt us with the glove. Re: hitting...other than Victorino??? Have you noticed he's batting .250+ all year? And he gets on base LESS THAN the other regular 7 batters in the lineup with a .317 on base percentage?? Sure, 15 home runs...but that's just an indication of how he's swinging the bat and where his selfish brain is. Half of his HRs are solo shots and any team will take selfish Shane's solo bombs than him being on base for 2 and 3-run bombs from Howard. I'll say it again, 1 and 2 hitters getting on base means SO MUCH MORE to 3-4-5 hitters with regard to getting in the pitcher's brain, 3-4-5 seeing better pitches, gettin the runners in motion, etc. Many Phils fans need to take off the rose-colored glasses when it comes to Shane. As a manager who understands hitting, I'd sit Shane down and tell him to take a look at his clips from previous years when it was nice and level and not the windmill you see this year swinging at 0-0, 1-0, 0-1 counts....take some pitches, get on base. 4 regulars have more walks than Shane by a significant amount and he spent more time than anyone in the leadoff spot. One of those regulars is Ruiz who has played 30 less games than Shane. Shane has been to a 3-ball count (3-0, 3-1, 3-2) 40 times in 400 plate appearances. Awful if your job is to get. on. base. Don't let the 15 HRs fool you, it's not what he's here to do. You can argue that the other players aren't hitting, but part of that is our 1-2 hitters ability to get on base....you have to understand the types of pitching you will see once someone is on base, ESPECIALLY when they're a threat to steal bases.- F & A need to pressure RAJ to ink the Bull and Schmitty— mick314
- just what happened yesterday...go phils!— PHILLYMARK
- Polanco is the Phils only legit .300 hitter this season (although Utley is one, but not this year yet), so yeah his hit sparked the comeback in the ninth last night! Figgy they should keep because he has been more dependable, we'll need another decent SP I believe & BP help. Bring up D. Brown ASAP! GO PHILS WSC 2010!!!— BVPHIL
- So what all of u guys are saying is lets get rid of madson baez dobbs and trade werth...and win the world series and dont bring up the minor leaguers....oh yeah we dont have anybody--stop thinking u have all the answers because u dont Amaro is a fine GM-just to remind everybody his resume is 1 year 1 NL Champions and is taking this team to the playoffs this year and trading for 2 of the best pitchers in the game....get off Amaro please— Phillies Freak
- I know that when the 2 batters at the top of the order esp. rollins and victorino get on the people behind them see more fastballs because of the threat of stolen bases and putting runners in scoring position..but that is in a perfect world the phillies have been in a hitting slump since rollins left the line-up the 2nd time this year ibanez and werth are NOT driving the baseball at all(homers)and victorino IS at least when he hits and I am sure his avg will be over .280 by the end of the year. even if victorino was just a singles hitter ibanez and werth are not bringing them in and howard will be given a intentional unintentional walk(or swing at bad pitches)— only 9
- Over_exposed: Bruntlette had 2 good weeks at the end of 2008, and followed it up with an entire year of sucking in 2009. YOU have been "over_exposed" as the casual fan that you are!— jman
- I'm shocked that Amaro admitted a mistake! He has made so many of them, I guess he has to start admitting some of them.— carlosbeltran
