Inside the Phillies: Decisions to leave DL can be dicey

In a world that's always in a rush, major-league baseball players are no different.

In the last six weeks, Placido Polanco, Shane Victorino, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard have returned from the disabled list after short medical rehab assignments.

It's difficult to say exactly how long these things should last, but it is obvious that big-league players do not want them to last very long. Given their choice between meaningless minor-league at-bats and a chance to help the team in Philadelphia win, it's always an easy decision.

You have to wonder whether it's always the right one.

Polanco, recovering from an elbow injury that likely will require surgery after the season, was adamant immediately after the all-star break that he was ready to return, despite getting just seven combined at-bats in two games with single-A Clearwater and the rookie-level team in Clearwater.

In his case, a quick return seemed like the right move. He came back hitting and fielding the same way he has all season. For Polanco, it's a matter of how much pain he can tolerate in his elbow before season's end. More rest is probably not going to help solve the problems being caused by a bone spur.

Victorino was scheduled to play in three games when he started his rehab earlier this month after missing 13 games because of a strained oblique muscle. A groin injury to Ross Gload and the fact that Victorino went 4 for 6 in his two games with triple-A Lehigh Valley accelerated his return by a game.

Again, the expedited timetable seemed harmless enough.

The cases of Utley and Howard are different.

Utley, after missing 43 games and undergoing surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right thumb, played in just four games and had 12 at-bats with single-A Clearwater before getting the green light back to the big leagues.

The second baseman was applauded for returning nearly two weeks ahead of schedule from his injury, but it's fair to question whether the Utley playing now is the same guy who was playing for the Phillies earlier this season.

Ditto for Howard, whose rehab from a severe ankle sprain lasted one game and two official at-bats at single-A Lakewood.

After the Houston Astros completed a four-game sweep of the Phillies on Thursday, manager Charlie Manuel did not hide the fact that his two biggest stars are not right. Manuel said they were struggling because they did not have their timing down after returning from the disabled list.

"The only way they're going to do that is by playing," Manuel said.

The manager was asked whether both players could have benefited from longer rehab assignments.

"I don't know," Manuel said. "I know we wanted them back. At the same time, people saw them play . . . and both of them wanted to come back, of course. If we had left them down there a long time to get quite a few at-bats, they definitely would have benefited from it. But we figured we wanted them back when they got healthy."

Except did they get healthy?

The Phillies paid special assistant Charley Kerfeld to go watch Utley at Clearwater, and here's what Kerfeld said after watching the second baseman play four games with the Threshers: "They'll make the final decision in Philadelphia, but I think he probably needs a few more games."

Utley did not think so and was in the lineup the next day. The Phillies went 3-6 in the first nine games he played after his return, and Utley batted .235 with two extra-base hits.

The Phillies had won 18 of 23 before Utley's return. The team is obviously better with a healthy Utley, and he said after Thursday's game that he feels as if his swing is improving. But one or two more days in the minors would have been better for Utley.

Howard, meanwhile, went 4 for 33 in his first eight games back from the disabled list. Gload's slow-healing groin injury persuaded the Phillies to end Howard's rehab assignment after one game at Lakewood. The team had planned on Howard also playing at least one game for triple-A Lehigh Valley.

"We wouldn't have activated Howard unless he was ready to go," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said last week.

Wonder whether Amaro wants a mulligan on that comment.

It could be argued that the Phillies have mishandled Howard's ankle injury from the start. Instead of immediately sending him back to Philadelphia when Howard suffered the ankle injury earlier this month in Washington, they allowed him to get on an airplane and fly to South Florida with his teammates. Airplanes are not good for swollen ankles.

Howard would have been better served to start immediate treatment at home for his ankle injury. It's also important to remember what Howard said after his only rehab game with Lakewood.

"With the swelling and whatnot, there's always going to be a little bit of tenderness," Howard said. "But it didn't bother me. I feel good. We'll see what happens."

The swelling and tenderness should have been enough of a red flag to make Howard play at least a couple of more games in the minor leagues.

Howard would not say his ankle is causing his current problems at the plate, but both he and Utley struggled in the early days back from the disabled list and, predictably, the Phillies did, too.

Read The Inquirer's Phillies blog, The Phillies Zone, by Bob Brookover and Matt Gelb, at www.philly.com/phillies.

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