Ruiz activated; Polanco begins rehab Monday
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Ruiz activated; Polanco begins rehab Monday
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
Good news today on the injury front for the Phillies.
(Pause. When was the last time you heard that?)
Firstly, catcher Carlos Ruiz was activated from the 15-day disabled list. He's missed the last 20 games with a concussion. Originally, the injury was viewed as needing a few days to recover from. So much for that.
Ruiz said he feels comfortable at the plate and behind it. In his second rehab game, he was hit with a foul tip square off the mask and didn't feel any ill effects from it.
To make room for Ruiz, Dane Sardinha was designated for assignment. Ruiz is starting and batting seventh tonight.
The time off also gave Ruiz a chance to heal all of his other injuries, among them: a right knee sprain, a sore right shoulder and a sore left ankle.
"During the course of a season, catchers get banged up a lot," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "You have to be tough. At the same time, when you keep getting banged up -- one injury after another -- pretty soon it's time for you to sit down and take a break. Chooch was probably there, especially after getting hit in the head with a bat."
Manuel said the one thing Ruiz will bring is stability to the pitching staff.
"I think our pitchers are comfortable with Chooch," Manuel said. "They like him. They follow him better. That's one of the biggest things he's accomplished in the last two years. The pitchers want him back there because it's a comfort thing. It's something you earn."
The news is good on third baseman Placido Polanco, too. As reported here last week, Polanco is still aiming for a return during the series in St. Louis that begins July 19. Manuel said Saturday that Polanco will go to Clearwater on Monday to begin baseball activities. He will take infield and batting practice there and could play in a rehab game.
"He says he's ready to go," Manuel said.
When Polanco returns, Manuel said he will primarily be a third baseman, even with the void Chase Utley has left at second. Polanco won a Gold Glove as a second baseman in 2009.
"He signed on here as a third baseman," Manuel said. "I want to keep him there."
Lastly, Wilson Valdez, who was a late scratch Friday with a sore left wrist, is available to play tonight. Manuel stuck with Juan Castro at second base because lefty Travis Wood is starting for Cincinnati. That also means one of Friday's heroes, Cody Ransom, earns a start at third base over Greg Dobbs.
"how did the Braves keep Smoltz, Glavine, and Maddux with lower attendance than the Phillies have now?" BySaam ever heard of a couple little companies named TBS and CNN? The Braves also had those guys at a time when Maddux could be paid less than Joe Blanton makes today. Maddux's 5 year free agent deal was for $28M total. An ace starter is 4 or 5 times more expensive than in the 90's - ticket prices can't make that up. The Braves were broadcast content for TBS and the Braves were also the "team" during that period of most of the southern states.— bird11
Amaro could have kept Halladay and Lee if he did not sign Blanton. I would rather have one year of Halladay and Lee than 3 years of Halladay and Blanton. They could have re signed Pedro Martinez for half of what they are paying Blanton.— foreclosure11- I got Daysrum's back too...how did the Braves keep Smoltz, Glavine, and Maddux with lower attendance than the Phillies have now? With the perfect storm of position players at their peak, Werth in his walk year, and Lee joining Halladay for just the one year at 9 million, keeping Lee is not only baseball common sense, it's like potentially beautiful poetry or art being discarded in exchange for Ruben's ego. His machismo thinking caused the fiasco...he offered Lee what he wound up getting Halladay for. Lee's agent balked. So he pounced on Roy and, rather than being measured, and at the very least getting the best possible prospects for Lee (but why, really?) in a bidding war, he DUMPED him unceremoniously. It's as simple as that, immature macho posturing. The Lee deal was Ruben's middle finger to Lee and his agent due to ego. And by the way, Lee did way more for the Phillies I've been following for 44 years than Ruben Amaro Jr. ever has. Phils have 2 WS Championships in all of these years...how marketable is one of those?— BySaam
I guess Chooch made that immediate impact philly.com was asking about! If there's another catcher who is as clutch as Ruiz and at the same time as underappreciated (by the rest of the country, not us) I'd like to know who that is.- daystrum defends his postion well.— ameadie
- Chooch had two key hits on Sat. Where is that guy who was dissing him ????— mick314
- Yes he will make an immediate impact .. I envision 2 late doubles and the second one wins the game in overtime. I see a shortstop knocking him in.. might be Jimmy?— sportsdead
- Yes he will make an immediate impact .. I envision to late doubles and the second one wins the game in overtime. I see a shortstop knocking him in.. might be Jimmy?— sportsdead
- Whatever any thoughts were or might be, Chooch was a definite link for success tonight!!!— J-Joe
- Lovin' the big cans in red sitting two rows behind home plate tonight!— 25years/100seasonsandcounting
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- UGGGHHHH!!!!!! The Phillies are up to thier usual tricks. They dont have a hit in 6innings off a ROOKIE. Phillies used to pound rookies. It just takes the joy right out of you from last nights game. You would think they would come out on fire after last night and knowing the braves keep winning. But NO they look lifeless again and might ruin another great start by Halladay.— Joey0210
- Hi, The Time is Now. Do I really have to explain what my "point is"? Uh....if Amaro had either kept Lee or more importantly acquired a top bullpen stopper, you could add at least 5 - 8 games to the win column and that would put them in...first place. Is that point enough?— daystrum
- JesseH - the "get over it" line is SO cliche:-) So just because they won last night, admittedly an exciting come from behind, that will suddenly erase the catastrophic trade and contract blunders of Amaro and the fact the Braves have two bullpen stoppers and the Phils have NONE? Again, to cop another cliche, "do the math". If the Braves have two proven stoppers and we have Zero, who is going to win the division? No Ph.D. required to guess that one. Our best hope is a wildcard and then the Cox "jinx" of blowing playoffs:-)— daystrum
- (let's not forget that Dobbs was a hero last night too)— T.Paine
- daystrum, uhh what's your point?— The Time Is Now
- daystrum - watch the game last night? get over it.— JesseH
- The national media is massively disparaging Amaro for the Lee trade and the fact, he got NOTHING in return for Lee last winter when he should have at least shopped him and received a far stronger package of players in return. Amaro's (or who ever is pulling his strings) decision was "unfathomable" according to most experts. The local Amaro apologists are are making the pathetic case that the Phils couldn't afford to keep both Halliday and Lee, but if that were remotely plausible (which it isn't) Amaro has never given an explanation as to WHY the organization could NOT afford to keep Lee, but COULD afford to keep Moyers, Ibanez, Blanton, Lidge and all the other scrap metal that are weighing the Phils down into a second division team this year. According to one source, there isn't a contending GM in the majors that would not have salivated to have both Halliday and Lee in the same rotation and would have done what ever was necessary to keep them.— daystrum
- Two games out in the loss column for the wildcard. I don't care how we get into the playoffs, just get in.— KMG
The good news is happening this week and maybe a great sign heading into the second half of the season. Please.— shawnmac- Wilson is a DP machine. Who cares what Polly was signed on as! Time for Charlie to turn it up a notch or two as well.— Dull
- Ruiz is important because he handles pitchers very well, and he can get those balls in the dirt. Lidge was pitching up in the zone the other night and he is not effective there. He has to get that slider down in the dirt---- and Ruiz can get it.— 4thand10
- If we can play winning baseball for the next,say, 30 games (20-10) I think we can win the Division. And if they do THAT....— TBear
- Polanco to 2nd. Platoon at 3rd. We need firepower!— paladin6
