It’s preseason and already there are injuries!! Right fielder Domonic Brown is scheduled to undergo surgery on Tuesday to repair a fractured hamate bone in his right hand. The 23 year old is expected to be out for 4-6 weeks. The injury took place during a second inning swing in Saturday's 4-3 spring training loss to Pittsburgh.
Chase Utley is also out and injured right now. Less than an hour before the team boarded the bus Chase Utley remained in street clothes. Utley has not played in the team's first 11 Grapefruit League games because of patellar tendinitis in his right knee. Having received a cortisone injection on Friday, he can take batting practice but cannot run or field ground balls. Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said on Friday that "the team would know if the shot was a success before the end of the weekend." There is growing concern about Utley's right knee. He has had pain there before and has likely received other cortisone injections to ease it. The inflammation resurfaced before Spring Training, which seems troubling, because Utley has not played baseball since October. Many of his teammates are staying positive right now and feel he will be right there with them on the field on game day.
The Phightin' Phour
Monday, March 7, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
What are the boys bringing to the table??
To have a pitching rotation that includes Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay (who is a Cy Young winner and also known as the ace), Roy Oswalt (who has the fifth-best winning percentage of any right-handed pitcher in the live-ball era), Cole Hamels (who is a World Series MVP), and Joe Blanton is a pretty damn good rotation. This group combined has six for 20 win seasons, thirteen all-star game appearances and three Cy Young Awards. If you ask me that’s an awesome combination to have on one team. It’s The Fantastic Four plus Joe to make this rotation one of the best of all time.
Halladay, Oswalt, Hamels and Lee each had a WAR (wins above replacement) of 4.3 or better this past season, according to Baseball-Reference.com. Only three teams in history have ever had four starters do that in the same year. All four of the Phillies starters hit 130 or better this past season. The Phillies now have 3 of the top ten pitchers in strikeout-walk ratio to where no other team has more than one.
On February 14 the Phillies were set in Clearwater, Florida to start their spring training. I like to say they started on Valentines Day because Cliff Lee looks pretty darn good in red <3.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
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