Phillies' Polanco may need another cortisone shot

CHICAGO - Placido Polanco rode a stationary bike in the visitors clubhouse at Wrigley Field. That is a task the bulging disk in his back does not prohibit. But dismounting the bike? That requires a ginger maneuver with a trip to the trainer's room next.

The frustration is evident in the way Polanco speaks. His sentences are short; his voice is dulled. Four times last season, he was injected with cortisone through a large needle, and after the fourth shot at the beginning of the postseason, he vowed to never do it again.

"I don't want to have to rely on that after baseball," Polanco said recently.

But the pain in the 35-year-old third baseman's back is so great that he actually went to the Phillies training staff Monday and told them he wants another injection - either a cortisone or epidural - to aid the bulging disk. It could happen as soon as Thursday when the team returns home.

Polanco is eligible to be activated from the disabled list Wednesday but that is obviously out of the question. He will need minor-league at-bats before returning and there is no timetable for any progress.

The hope is an injection expedites a recovery.

"I didn't want to get a shot," Polanco said. "I wanted to avoid it. I was the one who came up to them and told them. It's just the second option."

Polanco said he felt fleeting improvement after hitting Friday at Citi Field, but it did not last.

Assistant general manager Scott Proefrock downplayed Polanco's condition. He noted Polanco had played through the condition earlier this season and wondered aloud if it weren't July and the Phillies weren't 24 games over .500 if Polanco would be playing. That's why, he said, the team isn't necessarily targeting an infielder before the July 31 trade deadline.

"Our concern is to get him ready for the long haul," Proefrock said. "Our impression is that it's not 'if,' but it's a matter of 'when.'

"We're not in the position where we need to play him."

Shane Victorino rejoined the team Monday and will be activated from the disabled list before Tuesday's game. He'll take his normal spot in center field at Wrigley, where he's had his share of incidents.

"I just hope there's no beer," Victorino laughed.

The Phillies are happy to have their best offensive player in 2011 back from a sprained right thumb. Actually, in the nine games without Victorino not including Monday, the team averaged 6.22 runs per game.

So Victorino, who leads the team in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, chose an opportune time to sit.

His thumb is still not 100 percent, Victorino said, and he was not able to test it with a head-first slide during the two rehab games he played for double-A Reading. He said he plans to slide head-first on the bases and will wear a thumb guard only when he's on base.

"It's fine," Victorino said. "There's discomfort but nothing that's going to be there. There's going to be something there. But it feels good."

The Phillies will have to make a corresponding roster move to clear space. Pete Orr is a logical candidate to go down, but that could leave the Phillies short on the infield with Polanco sidelined. John Mayberry Jr. has swung a hot bat, but was optioned earlier in the season. Ben Francisco still has an option remaining, but that move is unlikely because the team is paying him $1.18 million this season.

Brad Lidge (rotator cuff) will resume his rehab assignment Wednesday at single-A Lakewood. Proefrock said the righthander will be evaluated by the team's doctors after that outing, meaning his return to the majors could come this weekend. . . . The team has yet to decide if Joe Blanton (elbow) needs to see a doctor after experiencing a "hiccup." . . . Roy Oswalt (back) will throw a bullpen session Tuesday at Wrigley.