Phillies Notebook: Polanco could return to Phillies lineup today

CHICAGO - Placido Polanco apparently left little doubt that he was ready to return to the active roster after an 18-game absence due to triceps tendinitis. The veteran third baseman went 3-for-3 with a double and two RBI for the Phillies' Gulf Coast League affiliate in Clearwater yesterday.

While no official announcement has been made, manager Charlie Manuel expects Polanco back with the team today.

"There's a good chance he'll come back," Manuel said after the Phillies fell to 47-42 with a 4-3 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field yesterday afternoon. "More than likely he'll be back [today]."

It can't happen soon enough for the Phillies, who have hit just .230 with a .285 on-base percentage since Polanco and second baseman Chase Utley hit the disabled list in late June. While Utley isn't expected back until late August at the earliest, the return of Polanco's team-leading .318 batting average should bolster the floundering lineup.

It will allow Shane Victorino to hit in the bottom half of the order for the first time since early April. Victorino, who spent most of the first 3 months of the season filling in for injured leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins, is hitting just .246 with a .258 on-base percentage in 13 games in the two-hole.

Polanco has a .349 on-base percentage, five home runs, 15 doubles, and 39 runs scored in 62 games. In late April, he was hit by a pitch in Atlanta, and has battled soreness in his elbow since. The Phillies decided to shut him down for 2 weeks, but have been pleased with his progress and are optimistic about his prognosis for the rest of the season.

"That's going to help a whole lot," Manuel said. "That's going to give us a .300 hitter in the top of our order. That's what it's going to do for us."

For all the talk about the Phillies' desire to upgrade their rotation, the club hasn't given up on second-year lefty J.A. Happ returning from Triple A to provide a boost. In fact, Ruben Amaro Jr. was adamant yesterday when asked if Happ was still a realistic option.

"Absolutely," he said. "He's going to help us this year. I don't know when."

Elbow soreness derailed Happ's season after two starts in which he pitched 10 1/3 scoreless innings but issued eight walks and saw a dramatic decrease in his velocity. After a six-game rehab assignment, the Phillies still weren't satisfied with the consistency of his command and velocity. But Amaro said the club was impressed with what it saw on Thursday, when Happ allowed three runs in five innings with seven strikeouts and four walks in his second start since the demotion.

"He started out a little tentative and then threw the [heck] out of it the last two innings," said Amaro, who added that his velocity sat between 92 and 95 mph. "That was a good sign."

Happ went 10-4 with a 2.99 ERA in 23 starts last season, and Amaro said the team "absolutely" is looking at him exclusively as a starter.

Ryan Howard's two-run home run off Ted Lilly in the sixth inning was his 20th of the season and his third in 2 days . . . The Phillies will send Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels to the mound in the final two games of this four-game series before heading to St. Louis for a four-game series against the Cardinals (48-41, in second place in the NL Central heading into last night's game with the Dodgers) . . . Ryan Madson, who allowed a solo home run to Aramis Ramirez while trying to protect a 3-3 tie in the eighth, was charged with his first loss since Sept. 12 of last season.

For more Phillies coverage and opinion, read David Murphy's blog, High Cheese, at http://go.philly.com/highcheese.