Liberty Ball

One of the more productive weeks of the 2011 campaign for the 4 time defending NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies(33-20 as of May 29th) due to the return of franchise 2B Chase Utley(Knee). Utley, who has been out since spring training, has a homer, two rbi and a steal in 6 games, looks healthy and that is the key. His presence jump starts an average offense and lengthens a lineup that was already down a big bat with the offseason free agent defection of popular RF Jason Werth. 3B Placido Polanco(.315 batting average,63 hits)  and 1B Ryan Howard(11 home runs,4o rbi) have carried the offensive load have just seen that weight decrease tremendously without the front office making a move. Lets look at several other Phillies related news items from the past week.

CONTRERAS BACK,VICTORINO CLOSE: Cuban RH Jose Contreras(0.00 ERA, 5 saves and 1 hold in 10 innings) returned Thursday May 26th from a DL stint with an elbow issue. The 8 year veteran , who was incredible early in the season, did not skip a beat and continues to look dominant in two post DL appearances. CF Shane Victorino(Hamstring) made his 1st rehab appearance at Low-A Lakewood May 28th and his leg felt good. The native of Hawaii flied out,singled,walked and scored two runs in 3 at bats while playing the field for 5 innings. The team plans to rest him Monday then play him 3 straight games before activating him from the DL.

BABE VALDEZ: INF Wilson Valdez earned the win with a scoreless relief inning in crazy 5-4 19 inning victory over the Cincinnati Reds May 25th. The Phillies ran out of pitchers and got an inning out of their super utility man, who also went 3 for 6 with a walk in the game. Valdez joins Hall of Famer Babe Ruth as the only other player to win a game after starting the game at another position.

BLANTON, LIDGE UPDATES: Good news on two pitching fronts, 1st an update on 5th starter RHPJoe Blanton, who is on the DL with a right elbow injury. After an exam from world renowned elbow surgeon Dr. James Andrews, Blanton does not have any structural damage in the joint. The righty will be shut down for close to month and hopes to begin a throwing program at that time.  If all goes well, Blanton should return around the all star break. RH Closer Brad Lidge(Right rotator cuff strain) threw 24 pitches in an extended spring training game Saturday May 28th,striking out 1 and giving up 1 hit.  The Phillies hope to have him back before the end of June.

PHILLIES PRIDE: This team wins for a lot of reasons,  namely talent and the pitching staff but I saw two games this Friday(May 27th) and Saturday(May 28th) that showed why this is a great, great team. Philly rallied late to take out the New York Mets in both games. Admittedly NY is not a great team right now but their bullpen has been excellent all year and they got two solid efforts out of their starters in both games. The Phillies pecked, battled and never quit. Saturday, they scored 4 runs in the 8th and 9th(3 in the 8th) led by two huge rbi hits from Utley and Howard in the 8th. More of the same Friday night, as Philadelphia small balled Mets star closer Francisco Rodriquez for 3 9th inning runs to secure a 6-3 victory. K Rod entered that inning with a 0.74 ERA, leaving with the number at 1.80. Incredible. Cannot say enough about the heart of a champion and these Phillies clearly have it.

Incredible week of news specifically involving the health of several star players for the 2011 Philadelphia Phillies. First the positives, the team’s best all around player 2B Chase Utley(Knee) is set to make his season debut Monday May 23 while one of the big four rotation members, RH Roy Oswalt(Back), started and pitched well Sunday May 22nd in defeat. Relievers Brad Lidge(Right rotator cuff strain ) and Jose Contreras(Right flexor tendon strain) are both progressing well in rehab. Now the negatives. 5th starter RH Joe Blanton(1-2,5.50 ERA in 6 starts) was placed on the 15 day DL May 22nd with inflammation in his elbow. The injury is not considered serious, an MRI Friday(May 20) showed no structural damage. A bigger loss occurred Friday when team energizer and centerfielder Shane Victorino(.284,6 home runs, 19 rbi, 8 stolen bases)  was also put on the DL with a strained right hamstring.  Lets Look at the impact of some of these moves.

UTLEY: Obviously, a huge addition to any club but for a team that lost a major offensive component in RF Jayson Werth to free agency in the offseason, much needed. The team has won early with stellar pitching in all areas despite injuries and just enough offense. Opposing pitchers fear and respect him and this makes Ryan Howard better, Jimmy Rollins better, Raul Ibanez better, Placido Polanco better, etc.  Manager Charlie Manuel can now fill out the lineup card and the names seem to fit their slots better. Utley ,for my money, is the best 2nd baseman in the game and when you add him to this lineup the Phillies become the  team to beat in the National League.

BULLPEN-With both Lidge and Contreras rehabbing, normal 8th inning stud Ryan Madson(2-0,0.47, 9 for 9 in save opportunities)  has grabbed the closer job. Manuel will keep him that spot when both return but these things tend to work themselves out. When you consider both the depth and quality of the Phillies starting pitching, a deep late inning relief core could be devastating.

JOE AND SHANE: Blanton, who many thought would be traded before the season, will be replaced by RH Vince Worley(2-0,1.13 in 4 games(2 starts) and this the 2nd time he has he has missed time with a tricky elbow. Look for the club to be cautious with the veteran. Worley also has talent and could be a keeper. The Victorino injury is devastating but how the Phillies dealt with it gave fans a glimmer of hope. The team recalled top prospect Domonic Brown from Triple A, where he was dominating(.341, 2, 10 in 11 games). Brown, who entered spring training as the favorite to replace Werth in RF, broke his right hand in a spring training game in March then jammed his thumb diving for a ball in Mid May but is healthy now. Manuel has also tried to jumpstart the rookie, batting him 2nd Saturday(May 21st) between Rollins and Polanco. The plan is to get Brown as many at bats as possible, the youngster had never hit higher than 6th in his short major league career.

The Philadelphia Phillies continue to led the National League East(25-12 as of May 13th) despite some major injuries to key players in both the every day lineup and pitching staff. The team has been without superstar 2B Chase Utley since spring training while vastly underrated C Carlos Ruiz(Back inflammation) returned from the disabled list May 13th. Rotation wise,  4 of the top 5 have been fine while RH Roy Oswalt has missed time with both a personal issue and current DL stint(Sore back).  The bullpen has been a mess with closer RH Brad Lidge( Rotator cuff strain, has missed all of the season, possible June return) and his fill in veteran RH Jose Contreras(Flexor tendon strain) both injured.

How has this team won? Simply put pitching and just enough offense. The team’s pitching stats are amazing: Among the 30 major league teams, they rank 1st in quality starts, 2nd in WHIP, 3rd in ERA and 6th in ERA. The Phillies top 4 starters: RHs Roy Halladay(2.05 in 8 starts) and Oswalt(3.33, 5) as well as LHs Cliff Lee(3.78,8) and Cole Hamels(3.19,8) all have sub 4 ERAs while the bullpen has been brilliant, led recently by RH Ryan Madson(2-0,0.56 ERA, Leads the team in saves(6) and holds(2)) and   LH Antonio Bastardo(2-0,1.35, 2 holds).

Offensively, the team has been carried by the top of the order, specifically 3B Placido Polanco(.354, 24 rbi, 52 hits) and 1B Ryan Howard(.275, 9 home runs, 35 rbi). Table setters CF Shane Victorino(.289,6,19, 25 runs) and SS Jimmy Rollins(.280, 8 stolen bases, 24 runs, 20 walks) have also had solid starts. The team has missed free agent defection RF Jayson Werth in all areas but hopefully top prospect Domonic Brown(Broken bone in his right hand during spring training) can help the club over the 2nd half of the season. Brown is currently playing well at Triple A Lehigh Valley and  had a homer, 4 rbi with 10 total bases while reaching base in his first 4 games.

OTHER NOTES:   Oswalt should be able to make his next start May 17th vs the St Louis Cardinals. The team plans to have the veteran a bullpen session at Class A Clearwater then rejoin the team in St Louis…. Back up C Brian Schneider(Left hamstring) was placed on the DL May 12th…. Utley(Patellar tendinitis) continues to make progress with his right knee injury. He went 2 for 4 in a rehab game in Class A May 13th while playing 7 innings defensively . The club will rest their all star 2B Saturday and he will play Sunday in Brandenton,Florida…. Contreras threw a bullpen session May 13th that Pitching coach Rich Dubee said went well.

RHP Roy Oswalt(3-1,3.33) was placed on the 15 day disabled list Friday night(May 6th) due to lower back pain.  The Phillies will pitch RH Kyle Kendrick Saturday(May  7th) to fill Oswalt’s rotation slot, they club can back date the DL stint 10 days and hopes he can make his next start Friday(May 13th) vs the Braves. The veteran right hander felt pain throwing in the bullpen Thurday(May 5th) and he is not sure he will able to make his next start. “My biggest thing I don’t want to go out there and not be 100 percent,” Oswalt said. ” I don’t want to go out and throw three, four innings and they have to come get me. We may have to test it out before then in some game to just see where I’m at.” More than likely that would be a minor league rehab start and additional time away from the big club. However, Oswalt is right. This team has too many injuries in the bullpen right now to blow out that group. The strength of the Phillies is their rotation, even without Roy for a week or so, they still can throw Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton. The key is getting Oswalt healthy, if that means a couple of losses, thats ok. Short term pain, long term gain.

UTLEY UPDATE: The Franchise’ best all around player, 2B Chase Utley(Right knee), went 5 for 7 with two home runs in his first action of 2011 Saturday(May 7) in an extended spring training game. He also played four innings in the field, catching three routine fly balls.  The team has no exact time table as he comes back from patellar tendinitis but the all star seemed upbeat. “It felt good to just get back out between the lines, Utley said. ” So far so good, and we’ll see how (the right knee) responds tomorrow and go from there.”  The Phillies have survived without the 2nd baseman, going an MLB best 21-10(Tied with the Cleveland Indians) but his bat and glove would be welcomed additions.

PHILLIES NOTES: RHP Scott Mathieson(4.61 ERA in 13 games with Lehigh) was recalled to fill Oswalt’s roster spot…. Lee struck out a career high 16 May 6th vs the Braves but the team did not score a single run to support the southpaw in a 3-0 defeat… 3B Placido Polanco avoided serious injury May 6th when he left the game in the 7th after fouling a ball of his right foot. He was back in the lineup Saturday May 7th and has been outstanding for Philadelphia , batting .375 with 18 runs and 20 rbi in 28 games.