Thursday injury roundup
The latest Phillies and baseball news from Philly.com.
Thursday injury roundup
Matt Gelb
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Ryan Howard wore two sneakers Thursday morning.
That's sort of a big deal, but not really. Until Howard doesn't wear the boot during his activities in the field, he's still constrained by it. The wound is healing enough to the point where Howard can at least walk without aggravating the area.
It's been 24 days since Howard underwent a procedure to clean the wound from his left Achilles surgery. He's been doing workouts for about week now. Nothing has been too strenuous because of the boot. And whether he must start from scratch once the boot officially comes off is up for debate depending on who is doing the talking.
Nonetheless, there is finally some movement from a significant setback.
>>> Placido Polanco took some swings in the cage Thursday morning. He hasn't played since March 17, when he sprained his left ring finger.
>>> Michael Martinez was hobbling on crutches two days after breaking a bone in his right foot. The Phillies have yet to establish a timetable for his recovery, but safe to say he'll start the season on the disabled list.
>>> Domonic Brown is not in the lineup, or even the entire lineup card for that matter, for the sixth straight game. But Brown said his neck problems are gone. "I'm good," Brown said.
>>> Justin De Fratus is scheduled to pitch off a mound next week. De Fratus has been slowed all camp because of soreness in his right elbow, but the pitching prospect said he's throwing at his max long toss without pain. He'll probably miss the first few weeks of the minor-league season, but there is optimism that a more serious injury was avoided with the rest.
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It's a marathon, not a sprint. Hopefully we can tread water til mid-season when the cavalry arrives.— evolutionary- Pence will be MVP candidate. Hamels Cy Young candidate. We need someone unexpected to step up to pick up the slack (Wigginton? Galves? The old Polanco?). It's going to be a grind to win this division this year.— guyguy4
- Pence will be MVP candidate. Hamels Cy Young candidate. We need someone unexpected to step up to pick up the slack (Wigginton? Galves? The old Polanco?). It's going to be a grind to win this division this year.— guyguy4
- Nice to see some positive commentary on here evo, I agree.— sjuhawk122
- It seems like the Phillies are taking it easy with Brown. Like I said when Brown sprained his thumb, it would have been smart for the team to hide Domo in the minor league complex instead of throwing him outthere given his fielding issues. Let him play with the guys he's most likely to start the season instead of exposing him even more with the big league club and keep diminishing his trade value.— EL Zorro
- I've had enough of Brown. Take what you can get for him. It doesn't seem like he is ever going to be the player they had hoped for.— Paul Bobo
- Didn't Dom Brown say he was out to win the LF spot at the beginning of spring training? Yeah good luck with that.— Matt
- "I've had enough of Brown. Take what you can get for him. It doesn't seem like he is ever going to be the player they had hoped for.
-- Paul Bobo"
LOL. You've had enough of WHAT? Him not playing? His .983 OPS this Spring?— schmenkman - Agreed. For all the howling and wailing about offense, the complainer/hypocrites demonize DomB for his lack of defense yet won't stand for letting him play to get the practice IN SPRING TRAINING, for crying out loud, to improve. I say play the man. What's to lose?
— 24sDad - Agreed. For all the howling and wailing about offense, the complainer/hypocrites demonize DomB for his lack of defense yet won't stand for letting him play to get the practice IN SPRING TRAINING, for crying out loud, to improve. I say play the man. What's to lose? — 24sDad
- Brown has the potential to be a good hitter, but don't expect for him to be a good defensive OF. And with all the hype, and don't think he'll survive Philadelphia, to be honest. The best case scenario right now is for him to get a good start in AAA and be a trade chip for another young infield prospect.— EL Zorro
- ...for another young player, preferably an infield prospect, I meant.— EL Zorro
- Go with what you got. The heat will be on the starting pitching for the 1st 2 months of the season. Polanco will be fine. Howard will be back AFTER the all star game. Utley will be back by May 1st. Brown will start the season at AAA and finally learn how to field his position. DeFratus will feel better and got to AAA to join the best AAA bullpen ever. Worley/Blanto will outperform any other 4/5 duo in the league. Freddy Galvis will learn on the job, and make some mistakes as all rookies do learning on the job. Time to get the heavy sneakers on because this is a LONG season, and by July, the Phillies should be back to full strenght ready for the stretch drive. The glass is always half emply/half full. Based on the past 5 seasons, I'm going with 1/2 full.— drhoffman
- It's a good thing some of the posters here have never been GMs, otherwise Mike Schmidt (.191 BA first full season) and Willie Mays (1 for his first 32) might never have seen the light of day. Dom Brown hasn't been given a full chance yet. Don't sell low on talent.— Thon1990
