Polanco to the DL, But Perhaps a Day Too Late?

Okay, so maybe the guy they called up is really Michael Schwimer, (@mschwimer) and not Ross from Friends. He's the guy with the 9-1 record at Lehigh, an ERA that would make Roy Halladay blush, and a career 12+ K/9. Not bad, and likely necessary with Kendrick moving to the rotation this weekend to cover for Cole Hamels for a start or two.

But when the news came down immediately after the game that Placido Polanco would be hitting the DL retroactive, I couldn't help but wonder why the move wasn't made prior to the game in any one of those previously mentioned 48 hours of downtime. When the Phils came up in the bottom of the 9th, it sure would have been nice to have another option to pinch run instead of wasting John Mayberry Jr... I understand the situation: Michael Martinez lays down the bunt to move Ruiz. So you want to pinch run for Chooch so a single can tie the game, but your only option is Mayberry because you have to save Valdez for later. You're then stuck with Ross Gload in what would normally be a favorable Righty-Lefty matchup were it not for his decrepit body and .307 SLG. Mayberry may be the better hitter in that situation, but missing that extra bat off the bench really limits what you can do and 10 times out of 10 a manager like Charlie is going to play the handed matchup. But if Polanco had been shelved a day earlier an extra bat/set of legs brought up in his place, maybe you're looking at Pete Orr standing on 2nd base as the tying run with one out. Let him run, let Mayberry hit, and let the chips fall. I don't think you'd have nearly as many people playing Wednesday Morning QB... then again, with two outs in the bottom of the 9th  Jimmy Rollins shouldn't be made to look so foolish by a guy like J.J. Putz who hadn't been a regular closer for almost 3 years coming into the season.

It's just one, but it stings a little.

Victorino up, ______ down?

After a handful of rehab appearances and a Reading Phillies game in which he went 0-4, Shane Victorino was scratched from this morning's AA Game and appears to be en-route to Pittsburgh to meet up with the big club. As much as a give Victorino a hard time (dude takes the worst routes to fly balls of any CF I've ever seen win a Gold Glove), he offers a set of skills that no one else on this team is really capable of replicating. 20HR/40SB isn't really out of the question for him, and unlike a lot of guys in that category, he can mix in a .285+ AVG. He was arguably on that pace to start the season. And more importantly, the Phillies are 26-13 with him and only 8-9 without.

But less we forget that Victorino's stint on the DL is what resulted in the surprise call up of Domonic Brown. So who loses their job when Victorino comes back?

• Domonic Brown: He's the obvious choice because he has the most options left and Charlie really wanted to see him get more ABs in the minors before coming up in the first place. But he's been hitting the ball well, even some hard hit balls against lefties. Were it not for what could possibly be the play of the year by Laynce Nix in yesterday's game, Brown would have been a hero.

• John Mayberry Jr: Another guy with options in the minors, but he's really your best bench option at the moment and plays a pretty solid defensive outfield. The long legs really get him moving to the ball. His OPS is a bit low for a guy his size, which have kept his speed numbers down, but with Gload nursing a hip, Mayberry is also one of your only options to spell Ryan Howard at 1B.Which brings me to...

• Ross Gload hits the DL: This is a solution that saves everyone's job. Gload has been limited as of late due to a tear in his right hip which is manageable, but will likely require surgery in the offseason. Chase Utley played through a similar injury... but he's Chase Utley. They do not need Gload to play through an injury like this and quite frankly, his doing so takes a spot away from a player who could probably do more to help the team. He's said in interviews that the pain won't land him on the DL, but it probably should. Give him a few weeks off, maybe the hip feels a little better, and he's useful around the AS Break.

• Mike Zagurski: The Phillies currently carry 3 LHP on the active roster which is a little strange. My best guess is that Zagurski was called up temporarily for the last series and will be sent down shortly anyway. But it's doubtful that the Phillies go with only 11 pitchers right now so the Zagurski spot will be filled by a guy like Scott Mathieson once again. 

• Michael Martinez: This is the solution that makes the most sense to me. He's a Rule5 guy and in order to get rid of him, the Phillies would have to offer him back to the Nationals. But the Nationals have a pretty crowded outfield of their own and there's still a chance they wouldn't be interested in him. Martinez's only saving grace is that he's capable of playing the infield as well as the outfield. But quite frankly, I think Charlie can manage resting players just fine with one utility infielder in Valdez, and by plugging guys like Gload and Mayberry on the corners. If you bounced a ping pong ball around a SEPTA bus, chances are you would hit a guy with the kind of skills of Michael Martinez. Zero power and zero speed aren't good attributes to mix with a down offense. 

Pour One Out For Your Homie, HK, & Notes on Last Night's Game.

Pour one out today for your favorite announcer, Harry Kalas today. He passed two years ago today.

As for last night, well, I completely missed the game. I did however catch a few dozen highlights and my take is pretty simple: Joe Blanton looked very Joe Blanton-ish. The knee jerk reaction is something along the lines of "We pay $9M/ year for this! Why can't we trade him and get the same results out of Kyle Kendrick or Vance Worley!?!"

I don't necessarily disagree with either of those statements. But before pulling any triggers, consider this...

2009 - 8.41 - 4.05
2010 - 5.68 - 4.82
2011 - 10.45 - ?

The first number represents Blanton's ERA at the end of April, and the second represents where he stands at the end of the year. Those are just his numbers in a Phillies jersey, but his career is littered with 5+ ER performances in April. His "innings eater" nickname clearly doesn't come from his spring performance, but rather what he does during the stretch runs in the summer. Maybe it's a physical issue, maybe it's mental, but for whatever reason, Joe Blanton does not start strong. Fortunately he's surrounded by such a package of pitchers that the memory of his clunker last night will be erased by about 7:15 tonight when Roy Halladay takes the mound.

The bigger question out of last night's game is Charlie Manuel's use of John Mayberry over Ross Gload in the top of the 7th with the bases loaded and down by four. Mayberry is off to a hot start off the bench, but a free swinging right handed youngster against a soft tossing veteran righty was simply a bad matchup. Especially knowing that the Nationals new closer, Sean Burnett, is a lefty. The fact is, the Phillies didn't need to score all four runs at that moment. In the 7th, they needed to bring Ross Gload to the plate to challenge Nats manager Jim Riggleman to keep Livian Hernandez in the game. A base hit would have cut the lead in half. John Mayberry would have been the better pick in the 9th inning against a lefty. Chalk this one up as the first blown Charlie Manuel decision of the season. There will be plenty more.