GaryMrMets
06-01-2004, 03:14 PM
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/8807496.htm
Posted on Tue, Jun. 01, 2004
Rollins, Padilla join injury list
By MARCUS HAYES
hayesm@phillynews.com
You'd think maybe a team steadily near the top of its division would have more pertinent daily news than which injured pitcher incrementally improved overnight or which limping regular isn't quite as hobbled. That's not the case at Citizens Bank Park.
Phillies manager Larry Bowa and general manager Ed Wade have juggled things proficiently enough to keep their team close to the Florida Marlins despite a consistent stream of maladies.
Most recently: shortstop Jimmy Rollins, the best defender and latest leadoff solution; and Vicente Padilla, the starter whose cold-bloodedness helped to keep the club in the playoff hunt late last season.
Padilla left Saturday's game after five innings, again complaining of tightness in his pitching elbow. The tendinitis first flared in his previous start. He immediately was placed on the 15-day disabled list. Geoff Geary was recalled Sunday to bolster the bullpen and Josh Hancock, who arrived in town yesterday, will get Padilla's start Thursday in Atlanta. The Phils hope Padilla will miss only one start.
Rollins, the erstwhile leadoff solution for the next decade as recently as the start of last season, already has missed more time than that. He was slated to get his first extended shot of this season at regaining the leadoff role on Sunday in place of foundering Marlon Byrd. However, Rollins fouled a ball off his right ankle Saturday, bruised the bone and was unable to play the last 2 days.
This, amid the continued DL absences of second baseman Placido Polanco (thigh) and star closer Billy Wagner (groin). Don't forget the specter of future rests for superstar slugger Jim Thome, who has missed eight of the team's 49 games with assorted hand problems that won't be fully healed this season; or the missed start Randy Wolf's slight tendinitis cost him last week (he since started and says he's fine); or the DL stint veteran reliever Roberto Hernandez endured in May thanks to a strained calf.
Did manager Bowa feel fortunate to be 27-21 on Memorial Day, before a 5-3 loss to the Mets? Absolutely, considering he's been without both his bullpen gem and his most complete regular player for 22 games.
"Considering where we've been and what we've lost, we've done all right," Bowa said. "Losing Wagner for as long as we've lost him? And people forget what Polanco did last year."
Polanco batted .289 last season before tearing a muscle in his left thigh. That injury recurred in early May, the scar tissue from the original tear tearing - a factor in his pedestrian .223 average this season.
He'll run the bases today, but the earliest the Phils can expect him back is after next weekend, when he hopes to be ready for a minor league rehab assignment.
If everything goes well, Polanco might pass Wagner on the highway back to Philadelphia. Wagner spent yesterday's pregame throwing about halfway up the mound in the bullpen, his second incremental mound work. He'll throw off the rubber tomorrow for the first time since May 22, do that again Friday and Sunday, throw to hitters once or twice next week and then, if everything's OK, he'll head to the minors.
Wagner's journey through this bout with his groin (it's an almost-annual episode that usually occurs in spring training) has been particularly tortuous and long. He first missed time May 8 in Arizona with back spasms, another recurring malady; then, having recovered, he hurt the groin at the end of warmups May 13 in San Francisco and declared himself done for 15 days. However, at the suggestion of the team's medical staff he tried throwing off the mound May 22, aggravated the injury, criticized the medical staff and started a more lengthy rehab program he followed while with the Astros that typically takes 15 days.
Tim Worrell, signed as a setup man but the Giants' closer savior last season, has converted seven of eight save opportunities since Wagner's injury. Rookie Ryan Madson, whom the Phils hoped nothing more of than competent long relief, filled in nicely, first for Hernandez and now for Worrell. He's allowed only three earned runs in 31 2/3 innings.
Elizardo Ramirez, a rookie A-ball callup when Padilla first reported his elbow woes May 23, has allowed one run in his three appearances, has walked none and struck out four. A highly regarded starting prospect, he likely will be sent to Double A Reading on Thursday to allow Hancock to join the roster.
Meanwhile, the team has gotten splendid backup performances from its backups as well.
Tomas Perez, a gifted fielder, replaced Rollins the last two games. He also replaced Thome on Friday and beat the Braves with a walkoff, 10th-inning homer after tying the game with a double. At second base, in place of Polanco, top hitting prospect Chase Utley has a .270 average and 18 RBI (Polanco has one). Utley has observers of the team longing for him to be retained when Polanco returns instead of being sent back to Triple A. But Wade and Bowa indicated that Utley staying around is unlikely.
"A guy like 'Polly' doesn't lose his job because he has a quadriceps problem," Wade said. "We have some decisions to make. Some people won't like them."
Wade didn't dismiss the possibility of adding a seventh reliever to the aged and well-used bullpen, which carries only six arms and has been unexpectedly taxed with the starters' recent injuries and inconsistent performances. He did note, however, that interleague road games June 8 to 13 might help keep relievers in games longer and tax fewer of them, since pinch-hitting for pitchers would be unnecessary.
Posted on Tue, Jun. 01, 2004
Rollins, Padilla join injury list
By MARCUS HAYES
hayesm@phillynews.com
You'd think maybe a team steadily near the top of its division would have more pertinent daily news than which injured pitcher incrementally improved overnight or which limping regular isn't quite as hobbled. That's not the case at Citizens Bank Park.
Phillies manager Larry Bowa and general manager Ed Wade have juggled things proficiently enough to keep their team close to the Florida Marlins despite a consistent stream of maladies.
Most recently: shortstop Jimmy Rollins, the best defender and latest leadoff solution; and Vicente Padilla, the starter whose cold-bloodedness helped to keep the club in the playoff hunt late last season.
Padilla left Saturday's game after five innings, again complaining of tightness in his pitching elbow. The tendinitis first flared in his previous start. He immediately was placed on the 15-day disabled list. Geoff Geary was recalled Sunday to bolster the bullpen and Josh Hancock, who arrived in town yesterday, will get Padilla's start Thursday in Atlanta. The Phils hope Padilla will miss only one start.
Rollins, the erstwhile leadoff solution for the next decade as recently as the start of last season, already has missed more time than that. He was slated to get his first extended shot of this season at regaining the leadoff role on Sunday in place of foundering Marlon Byrd. However, Rollins fouled a ball off his right ankle Saturday, bruised the bone and was unable to play the last 2 days.
This, amid the continued DL absences of second baseman Placido Polanco (thigh) and star closer Billy Wagner (groin). Don't forget the specter of future rests for superstar slugger Jim Thome, who has missed eight of the team's 49 games with assorted hand problems that won't be fully healed this season; or the missed start Randy Wolf's slight tendinitis cost him last week (he since started and says he's fine); or the DL stint veteran reliever Roberto Hernandez endured in May thanks to a strained calf.
Did manager Bowa feel fortunate to be 27-21 on Memorial Day, before a 5-3 loss to the Mets? Absolutely, considering he's been without both his bullpen gem and his most complete regular player for 22 games.
"Considering where we've been and what we've lost, we've done all right," Bowa said. "Losing Wagner for as long as we've lost him? And people forget what Polanco did last year."
Polanco batted .289 last season before tearing a muscle in his left thigh. That injury recurred in early May, the scar tissue from the original tear tearing - a factor in his pedestrian .223 average this season.
He'll run the bases today, but the earliest the Phils can expect him back is after next weekend, when he hopes to be ready for a minor league rehab assignment.
If everything goes well, Polanco might pass Wagner on the highway back to Philadelphia. Wagner spent yesterday's pregame throwing about halfway up the mound in the bullpen, his second incremental mound work. He'll throw off the rubber tomorrow for the first time since May 22, do that again Friday and Sunday, throw to hitters once or twice next week and then, if everything's OK, he'll head to the minors.
Wagner's journey through this bout with his groin (it's an almost-annual episode that usually occurs in spring training) has been particularly tortuous and long. He first missed time May 8 in Arizona with back spasms, another recurring malady; then, having recovered, he hurt the groin at the end of warmups May 13 in San Francisco and declared himself done for 15 days. However, at the suggestion of the team's medical staff he tried throwing off the mound May 22, aggravated the injury, criticized the medical staff and started a more lengthy rehab program he followed while with the Astros that typically takes 15 days.
Tim Worrell, signed as a setup man but the Giants' closer savior last season, has converted seven of eight save opportunities since Wagner's injury. Rookie Ryan Madson, whom the Phils hoped nothing more of than competent long relief, filled in nicely, first for Hernandez and now for Worrell. He's allowed only three earned runs in 31 2/3 innings.
Elizardo Ramirez, a rookie A-ball callup when Padilla first reported his elbow woes May 23, has allowed one run in his three appearances, has walked none and struck out four. A highly regarded starting prospect, he likely will be sent to Double A Reading on Thursday to allow Hancock to join the roster.
Meanwhile, the team has gotten splendid backup performances from its backups as well.
Tomas Perez, a gifted fielder, replaced Rollins the last two games. He also replaced Thome on Friday and beat the Braves with a walkoff, 10th-inning homer after tying the game with a double. At second base, in place of Polanco, top hitting prospect Chase Utley has a .270 average and 18 RBI (Polanco has one). Utley has observers of the team longing for him to be retained when Polanco returns instead of being sent back to Triple A. But Wade and Bowa indicated that Utley staying around is unlikely.
"A guy like 'Polly' doesn't lose his job because he has a quadriceps problem," Wade said. "We have some decisions to make. Some people won't like them."
Wade didn't dismiss the possibility of adding a seventh reliever to the aged and well-used bullpen, which carries only six arms and has been unexpectedly taxed with the starters' recent injuries and inconsistent performances. He did note, however, that interleague road games June 8 to 13 might help keep relievers in games longer and tax fewer of them, since pinch-hitting for pitchers would be unnecessary.