Over the past two or three seasons, Jimmy Rollins has not been the guy at the plate the Philadelphia Phillies need him to be.

Instead of playing small-ball and just trying to get on base, Rollins has been acting like he's a power-hitter and swinging for the fences every time he picks up the bat.

This has become evident not only in his batting average, but in the way the Phillies have approached who they put behind him in the No. 2 slot.

Shane Victorino caught a lot of flack when he was hitting behind Rollins, but a lot of Victorino's problems seem to come from pressing at the plate because he felt he needed to make up for Rollins who had just gotten finished popping out to shallow center.

Since Rollins' MVP season in 2007 in which he hit .296, his batting average has dropped to a good-but-not-great .277 in 2008, then completely plummeted to .250 in 2009 and most recently .243 last season.


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JRoll is perfecting the art of the (very) ugly strikeout.


Not once, but twice.

Unfortunately, I'm not talking about the number of no-hitters Roy Halladay threw in back-to-back playoff postseason appearances. Instead, I'm talking about the number of home runs Cody Ross had in back-to-back plate appearances against the aforementioned Halladay.

Ross has his name in the record books, and now the Phillies must regroup, look ahead to Roy II and his start on Sunday night and find a way to prevent themselves from falling to 0-2.

But in order to do so, they'll have to look back and figure out what went wrong in Game 1. The maddening part is it's not a long list and it's the same issues the Phils have had all year long.

If the pitching can't get the job done, the odds are against the bats picking up the slack.

For whatever reason, the offense has simply not been there. Overall the numbers aren't bad for the year, but even in baseball there's a lot to look at past the stats.

The clutch hits don't seem to be there as often anymore. The support for their pitcher when he has an off day hasn't been as prevalent. The big-name bats just simply are not pulling their weight and instead they're relying on Carlos Ruiz to produce for them out of the eight hole.

Shane Victorino, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez, and Jimmy Rollins were a combined 2-19 with 9 strikeouts and only one run scored. Jayson Werth -- who probably slumped harder than anyone on the team in the regular season -- was the only other guy to show up.

Werth, along with Ruiz, hit a home run. Both players accounted for all three RBIs on the team.

Someone needs to pull aside Victorino and Rollins and inform them that their game should be small-ball. They need to get on base and work from there. They are the fast guys who can score from first or steal a couple bases and walk home from second. Instead they're constantly trying to smack the ball out of the park and it results in nothing but strikeouts most of the time.

I recall closer to the beginning of the season when Rollins first hurt himself and the cameras caught him talking to Juan Castro before he went to the plate. Rollins pointed at the scoreboard and said something to the effect of "See that zero in the home run column? You have to change that. Just go for the fences."

I almost went through the roof.

Clearly Rollins' mentality all year has been to swing for the fences. He's not focused on hitting the ball in the gaps and running the bases. He wants to take the stroll with the fireworks in the background and doesn't seem to understand anymore that he's not that guy. Never has been.

It becomes quite evident his priorities are messed up when he's trying to convince Juan-freaking-Castro that he just needs to swing for the fences because not having a home run is a travesty.

Even the guys who are known for their ability to hit home runs quite often -- Ibanez, Utley, and Howard -- are trying for the long-ball too often. If they would just head to the plate thinking they're going to take whatever the pitcher gives them (especially against a guy like Tim Lincecum) they would be much better off as individuals and for the team.

But right now, the only guys doing that are Ruiz, Werth, and Wilson Valdez. No offense intended to any of those three players, but they're not the guys who are going to decide who wins and loses a World Series. Or, more to the point, who gets to play in the World Series.

If this team is going to make history they're going to need better decision-making from their superstars and get them back into the mentality that they're going to play as a team and for the team rather than seeing themselves on SportsCenter.

(Notice, by the way, I haven't said anything about Placido Polanco. He's really just a guy at this point and is playing as such. Not too much can be expected of him -- especially when the guys around him can't even make contact.)

This team going 0-4 with runners in scoring position and leaving seven on base is just not acceptable. There is far too much talent at every spot in the lineup for that.

They made it through the regular season and the NLDS with an underachieving offense, but the Giants' pitching staff is too good to allow them to just waltz their way into the World Series. They will have to earn it this year perhaps more than any other year, and can't rely on Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels to do it for them.

Yes, Halladay could have been better, but he's only human. These guys should be able to bail him out at least once since he's done it countless times already -- including the night of his no-no.

And I leave you with this thought: what if Oswalt is as shaky Sunday night as he was for Game 2 against the Cincinnati Reds?

Oh boy.
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The Phils should not try to rush Rollins into action.


At this point, Jimmy Rollins has missed eight straight games after tweaking his hamstring about a week and a half ago. Overall, Rollins has only played in 82 games this season, is on injury number four, and is only hitting .245.

All of that, combined with the way Shane Victorino has responded as the lead-off hitter and the way Wilson Valdez has been playing the field, makes me think the Phils should just sit Rollins down until the playoffs.

That allows them to keep the lineup the way it is so they don't risk messing up the rhythm these guys have established, and it helps Rollins get ready for when the team will really need him. As of now, they're doing just fine holding off the Braves and have themselves in position to win the NL East.

With the expanded roster, they can probably even afford to sit him down without having to put him on the DL, making him available to pinch-hit or pinch-run if he's truly needed. There's always the risk he could re-tweak his hammy doing that, but the option is available to the team should they feel obligated to use it.

But even that might not be necessary with Ross Gload, Ben Francisco, Brian Schneider, and (soon) Dominic Brown available to hit off the bench.

So put Rollins on the bench and let him get to 100 percent. He hasn't been great during the regular season, but as we've seen over the past couple of seasons there might not be a more clutch guy in the postseason than Rollins.

And if the Phils are able to head into the second season with him at full strength and a guy like Wilson Valdez in the dugout just in case, Charlie Manuel's team could be the deepest and most talented squad in the tournament regardless of league.
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Can the Phillies count on Jimmy Rollins in October?


Jimmy Rollins is either the most unlucky guy on the planet, or he doesn't do nearly enough work during the offseason and throughout the regular season. Muscle pulls can, of course, be freak things, but three times in one year leads me to believe he simply doesn't train hard enough.

When the muscle is worked properly, it gets stronger—obviously. You don't need a medical degree to understand how that might work. It also doesn't take a genius to understand that not only does training make it stronger, but it makes the muscle more resilient.

More resilient means fewer tweaks, strains, pulls and a much lower chance of a tear. So the fact that Rollins has now tweaked/strained/pulled a muscle in his leg three times in one season can most likely be traced back to laziness in the weight room.

No one is that unlucky. There has to be an explanation for it.

Jimmy has a reputation as a hard worker and a tough player which has led to a lot of games played and few missed. So the fact that he's now been injured three times in 2010 would lead me to believe his training has dipped.

The fact that "dehydration" was listed as a cause of the injury doesn't help. Is there anything easier to avoid? Just drink some water. He's sitting on the bench for how long while the Phillies are batting and there's no possible way he's just too busy to have a cup of water.

If he's truly being that lazy this season, he could probably have someone get it and bring it to him on the bench, so there's no excuse for that to ever be an issue.

Basketball players, soccer players and maybe even hockey players might be able to use that as an excuse because they're constantly going and truly might not have time to get enough water, but baseball players should never have that kind of trouble.

The bottom line is that Rollins has to step up and start doing the things expected of him. That means getting in the weight room, drinking some water and doing whatever else he must do in order to stay on the field and actually help his team, because right now Wilson Valdez is just a more reliable option at shortstop.

Yeah, Wilson Valdez. How about that?

Or, maybe my assumption is all wrong, and all Jimmy needs is a rabbit's foot, a horseshoe and a four-leaf clover.
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Another Rollins injury killed the mood Wednesday.


Cole Hamels, the subject of a lot of warranted scrutiny in 2009, has bounced back something fierce in 2010. Anyone who has seen him pitch can see he's a guy who has been playing with a chip on his shoulder and has absolutely no thoughts of slowing down.

He continued to show that Wednesday night as the first-place Phillies took on the Florida Marlins at Citizens Bank Park. They needed to win to stay on top of the division, and they did just that behind Hamels and seven scoreless innings.

Over those seven innings, Hamels allowed only four hits, one walk, and struck out five. He also extended his streak of scoreless innings pitched to a very impressive 25. It's the longest streak by a Phillies starting pitcher since 2002, and is only three and a third innings away from tying J.C. Romero's 28.1 scoreless innings pitched in the 2007 into the 2008 season.

Something tells me Hamels won't allow himself to fall short of breaking Romero's streak. He's a man on a mission this season and this streak clearly means a lot to him. He made that very evident when, even with a 9-0 lead, he was pitching for strikeouts as opposed to throwing fastball after fastball and pitching to contact.

Not to be outdone by a pitcher, Ryan Howard had one of his best games of the year, driving in six runs -- including a three-run shot in the fourth, his 28th of the season.

But in a stroke of bad luck expected by the 2010 version of the Phillies, Jimmy Rollins left the game with what appeared to be a pulled hamstring. He's officially day-to-day, but Rollins has had awful luck with leg injuries this year, so it's a cause for concern.

I would expect Charlie Manuel to hold Rollins out of a few games until he's absolutely positive Rollins is good to go, but it's also possible things take a turn for the worse. Neither of Rollins' other two injuries were supposed to be all that bad, but we saw how that turned out.

The Phils have Thursday off before starting what is sure to be a very difficult series with the New York Mets, so they'll need Rollins back sooner rather than later if they're going to keep their spot at the top of NL East.
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Polanco's RBI knocked the Phillies into first place.


With an 8-7 win over the Florida Marlins on Tuesday night, the Philadelphia Phillies got back to a place that many people thought they might never see again -- first place in the NL East.

The game was winding down when the result of the Atlanta Braves' game came in. The Braves dropped a game to the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates 5-0, and first place was just sitting there in front of the Phils waiting to be taken.

Mike Stanton and a Ryan Madson wild pitch gave the Phillies a scare, but they did what a first place team should do and pulled it out in the end with some clutch hitting and baserunning by Shane Victorino and Placido Polanco.

But now that they're in first place, the hard part starts. They have the bullseye on their backs and can't afford to get into a funk at any point in the final three weeks (or so) of the season. One wrong move and they could find themselves behind the Braves without much of a shot at redemption.

The Phils and Braves both close out the season with a gauntlet of NL East teams, including six games against one another, so Charlie Manuel's group will have to play their very best baseball every single game.

You can bet the Nationals, Mets, and Marlins will be doing everything they can to play spoiler and would love nothing more than to knock one of their NL East rivals out of the playoffs altogether.

If you're looking for a guy to watch, make it Victorino.

If Manuel keeps him in the leadoff spot, a spot in which he's flourished, the Flyin' Hawaiian can do some serious damage. Hitting him in the seventh spot hasn't had the effect they've wanted, and with Jimmy Rollins showing a lot of versatility in the lineup, Victorino could remain at the top of the lineup.

If you're looking for a guy who could potentially be the goat, look no further than Joe Blanton or Jayson Werth.

Blanton has been unbelievably erratic on the mound, either giving up nothing or putting his team into a huge hole right from the get-go. He's played well down the stretch in the past, but he hasn't done a lot this year to breed any confidence that he'll be able to make a turn-around.

In that same vein, Werth has not been nearly as good as his numbers would suggest. Most of his hits have been meaningless with the bases empty, and anyone even showing menial interest knows the historic struggles Werth has been having with runners in scoring position.

The last thing Werth has been is clutch, and at this point I'm about as confident that Werth will get the clutch hit as I am that Cole Hamels will.

So even though the Phils are in first right now, they've shown how easy it is for a team to sneak up and steal that spot. It's important that Manuel doesn't allow his team to get complacent in the slightest, or it could turn into an ugly September.
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Prado and the Braves are poised to take the NL East.


Things have certainly not been going well. It might be the Year of the Pitcher somewhere, but not in Philadelphia.

I’m sorry. Perhaps that wasn’t supportive. Let’s petition to focus only the positives.

I’ll start: Jimmy Rollins is the current active leader in consecutive steals, Placido Polanco is back from the DL with his team-leading batting average, and Ryan Howard leads the league in RBI.

Jayson Werth, however, has developed an unexplained aversion for touching his bat to the ball.

Someone should tell him it won’t make you blind.

Here’s another petition: stop the Tweet-volume graphs on the game recaps. There’s nothing more irrelevant to the game. It’s no secret that the volume of twits tweeting about the Phils is directly proportional to stuff happening during the game.

It’s just as circumstantial as the level of disgust rising in my house when my husband uses the john.

It’s not rocket science.

Supposedly things are so bad people are petitioning to get Pat Burrell back.

Fat chance. He feels right at home peeking over at old teammate, Aaron Rowand, in center field in San Francisco. But Pat's move to the Bay Area has people wondering about those rumors that he got married—to a girl.

Or maybe I just made that up.

Now the Phillies have three more chances to turn it around against the newly crowned NL Central kings fresh off their six game winning streak.

Perhaps under the lovely shiny arch the Phils will figure out why the early season hitting explosion had an expiration date. Like a Viagra pill for batters, maybe they’ll find something that makes a big, stout piece of wood more effective.

How ‘bout putting Marisa Miller on the mound?

Or just paint her on the center field wall?

Now, you usually only have to glance at stats to tell when a team stinks, but in this case it makes no sense. The Phillies’ lineup leads the division in runs, home runs, RBI, total bases, slugging percentage, intentional walks, extra base hits, and fielding percentage.

They also lead in stolen base percentage because they think like I do: If you don’t steal, you won’t get caught.

And Jayson Werth leads the team with 92 strikeouts—most of which he’s earned since the All-Star break.

That might seem like a rather dubious honor but other players who’ve appeared on the annual “Special K” list are: Babe Ruth, Mickie Mantle, Reggie Jackson, Michael Schmidt, Sammy Sosa, Jim Thome, Adam Dunn, and Ryan Howard—not long before he signed a bank breaking contract.

It’s also possible that those other guys led their league in another important hitting category that Jayson’s failed to conquer. I’d love to investigate this further but I have dishes to do, a cat box to clean, and re-runs of Hawaii Five-O on at three.

Besides we’re staying positive: The Phillies are a better second half team.

The only reason that’s a scary statement is because the current first place team, Atlanta, leads the division in only one stat: on-base percentage. They’re like the Rudolph Valentinos of the NL East. They could sweet talk a girl out of her pants with a timely hit, a little hustle, and enduring patience.

Matter of fact, for their next stadium giveaway they’re handing out EPTs.

Even without extraordinary stats, they’re contenders. And trading off the slacking Yunel Escobar for the slugging Alex Gonzalez is a sure indication that they know this. As long as Brian McCann is the McMan, Chipper Jones continues to take his retirement advice from Brett Favre, and the Mets find the formula to forego flunking late in the season, it’s going to be a tough semester.

So while the Phillies search for the MLB equivalent of the Bunsen burner, I looked for the magic stat that could determine who the next division champ would be. As much as I tried to sway my decision to Philadelphia, the only conclusion I’ve come to is this: The devil wears Prado.

Martin Prado is on course to having a career year. He leads Atlanta in endurance and studliness, and was one of five Braves who made Charlie Manuel’s All-Star roster even though the skipper couldn’t say his name.

Hey, five team members on one All-Star roster? Doesn’t that sound like the 2009 Phillies?

I hate to say it, but if I’ve struck stat gold, Phillies fans might have to settle for good baseball, sexy facial hair, and appealing camera angles this year. Diehards should be asking themselves if they can survive a season unadorned by pennants or trophies or even postseason TV.

Hey, if it’s any consolation, I heard Kim Kardashian has decided to just appear naked in her next season on E!. And Survivor is having a reunion—only breasts and penises are scheduled to compete.

Or maybe I just made that up.

Stay positive.

See you at the ballpark.

Don't forget to follow Flattish via her Twitter account for a constant female point of view on the Phillies!
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Cole Hamels does his best Roy Halladay impression.


For the second game in a row, the Philadelphia Phillies have pulled off a 1-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds and, for just the first time since 1975, have swept the Reds in a four-game series.

And for the second game in a row, it came down to great pitching and a clutch base knock by Jimmy Rollins. It wasn't quite as dramatic as an 11th inning walk-off hit, but Rollins came through in the third inning to drive in what would turn out to be the game-winning run.

Not surprisingly, it was Carlos Ruiz coming home from third with two outs. If anyone was doubting the impact Rollins could make on this lineup, they're not anymore.

But even more important than Rollins was Cole Hamels and his rough-looking-but-effective 7.2 scoreless innings with six scattered hits, three strikeouts, and three walks in 112 pitches.

Hamels was around the plate all day, but wasn't getting a lot of the calls and had to work himself out of a jam a couple times. He then gave way to Jose Contreras for the final out in the eighth inning with a man on second. Contreras walked the first man he faced, then forced a ground ball to get out of the inning.

Then in the ninth, a perfect combination of J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge finished off the game.

Romero came in to first the first batter -- left-hander Jay Bruce -- and struck him out in four pitches. Charlie Manuel then made a decision unpopular with the sell-out crowd at Citizen's Bank Park and took Romero out to make way for Lidge to face two consecutive right-handed batters.

But the crowd got behind Lidge as he struck out Drew Stubbs and got Miguel Cairo to fly out on the very first pitch, ending the game and completing the four-game sweep.

Great teams win the close games, but the Phillies' bats are still a cause for concern. Only four hits is not going to get the job done on a normal day. They've benefited from outstanding pitching the last 21 innings as the pitching staff held the Reds scoreless, but sooner or later this team is going to have to win with their offense.

That's how they've won in the past, and that's how they're going to have to win this season.

Hopefully Chase Utley and Placido Polanco can come back strong and this lineup can be complete for more than a couple weeks and start making their annual late-season push. But without a lot more offense than we've seen over the past week or so, the Phillies are still going to struggle to stay in the middle of the pack in a competitive NL East.

But, for now, it's at least good to see the Phightin' Phils back to their winning ways.
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It's certainly nice to see Chooch back in the lineup.


It took a full eight innings for the Phillies to even get a man on base, but they needed only four hits and one run to take their third straight game from the Cincinnati Reds -- all of them coming in walk-off fashion.

Rookie pitcher Travis Wood took a perfect game into the ninth, but watched it evaporate as a fresh-off-the-DL Carlos Ruiz hit a leadoff double. And because Roy Halladay also had a shutout going with only five scattered hits allowed, Wood was pitching to avoid the loss.

He got out of the jam by stranding Ruiz at third, and a scoreless tie would send these two teams into extra innings for the third game in a row.

Brad Lidge, not surprisingly, had the bases loaded at one point in the tenth, but worked his way out of it. The Phillies weren't able to get anything going in their half of the tenth, but after Jose Contreras shut the Reds down in the top of the 11th, Jimmy Rollins and Ruiz went to work.

Ruiz, for the second time in the night, hit a double into the gap in left center to get things started for the Phils' offense. Wilson Valdez drew a two-out walk and it was all set up for Rollins to become the hero.

This is the situation in which superstars are supposed to come through, and Rollins didn't disappoint as he hit a base knock into right field allowing Ruiz to come around from second and end the game.

It marked the third consecutive walk-off win in extra innings -- the first time in franchise history that has been done.

The Phils have one more game in the series against the Reds on Sunday before the All-Star break, but hopefully the streak won't continue and the Phils can simply take care of business in the first nine innings.

Halladay continues to show why he truly is the best pitcher in baseball, but he's not going to be able to pitch like that every time. The Phils still need to start getting the bats moving a whole lot sooner than the ninth inning, or they're going to start dropping a lot of games.

With anyone other than Halladay on the mound, the Phils would have lost this game. So while the win is great to have and was exciting to watch, they still need to realize how inept their bats truly were during regulation and make a greater effort to resolve the problems once and for all.
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This is how all of Philadelphia has felt all season long.


As if the 2010 version of the Philadelphia Phillies wasn't aggravating enough, the thinned-down and beat up version of the Phillies is enough to drive a man insane.

Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco, Carlos Ruiz, Chase Utley, J.A. Happ, Ryan Madson, Brad Lidge, and others have all seen time on the bench or the DL. In fact, the only guy to see time in every game this season has been Ryan Howard -- that's it. One guy.

And due to the mix of injuries to big-name guys, it's likely the Phillies could miss out on the playoffs altogether, much less repeat as NL East champions for a fourth consecutive season or NL champs for a third consecutive season.

The Braves sit atop the NL East right now and don't appear to be slowing down. They're winning the close games when they have to and are doing all the little things they need to do to stay atop the standings.

Then there's the Mets who look like they're just a few weeks from hitting a real stride and perhaps challenging the Braves for the division. Or, as the Mets are known to do, completely fall apart.

Quite honestly, there's just no telling with that team.

The Phils are only four games back right now, but I expect that number to go up now that they're without a couple key players.

And then with teams like the Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, and Los Angeles Dodgers, it's likely the Phils wouldn't even be able to win a playoff spot as the wild card team.

I would expect the Cardinals and Dodgers to win their divisions, which would leave the Phils in a wild card battle against the Mets, Reds, Padres, and Rockies. And honestly, they're just not going to be able to compete with those teams in their current state.

Everyone is expected to be back this season, but it could be too little too late. Utley is gone for two months and it's obviously going to be very difficult to replace their best hitter and a guy who has been a rock in that No. 3 spot in the lineup.

Polanco could struggle with that elbow all year long and could eventually wind up getting shelved altogether. Happ has looked awful in his rehab starts, and Ruiz is still bouncing around from specialist to specialist trying to figure something out with his head.

And even with Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Jamie Moyer all pitching well -- along with a decent season out of Kyle Kendrick but a struggling Joe Blanton -- the bats can't get enough run support for the guys on the mound.

Even when they only allow two or three runs, it's just too much for this depleted unit to put together. In fact, it appeared to be too much while everyone was healthy, so it's not exactly a surprise.

The Phillies have become to beacon of hope for Philadelphia, and I understand that, but it might be time to temper the expectations and take this team for what it is this year -- just a middle-of-the-pack squad who might get lucky and get hot at the right time.
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Halladay couldn't have asked for more from the bats.


As great as it was to see Roy Halladay beat his former team, the Toronto Blue Jays, for his ninth win of the season, it was even better to see the offense put up nine runs and finally give Halladay the run support he deserves -- even if he didn't actually need it.

Ross Gload, playing first base for Ryan Howard, led the way with four RBIs, including a base-clearing double in the fifth inning, which counted for half of the runs the Phillies would go on to score in that inning.

Chase Utley and Shane Victorino also contributed with two RBIs each. Victorino got one of his RBIs on his 12th home run of the season to put the icing on the cake in the top of the eighth.

Howard, who became the first DH ever used at Citizen's Bank Park due to the odd arrangement in this series, also contributed with an RBI of his own -- his 54th of the season.

Jayson Werth also hit his first triple of the season and crossed the plate three times.

But even more astounding than all of that (expect perhaps Gload's four-RBI performance) is the amount of walks Jimmy Rollins was able to draw. Rollins was walked on four -- yes, four -- separate occasions and only recorded one official at-bat because of it.

That's showing a lot of respect to Rollins, a guy who is by no means a power hitter. The way the offense has performed over the past three games with Rollins in the lineup might give a slight glimpse into why the Phils were struggling without him.

His presence has clearly had a major effect on this team positively over the past few days, and it might be time to admit that the lack of his presence could have had a whole lot more to do with the Phillies' funk than anyone was willing to acknowledge.

Cole Hamels takes the mound for the Phils in game two and gives them a great chance to finally get on a respectable role as they look to make it five in a row.

There's no word as to who Charlie Manuel will peg as the designated hitter, but it's likely Howard resumes his role at first base and Gload simply becomes the DH.
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Everyone, including Rollins, knew this ball was gone.


Jimmy Rollins had a slow start coming off the DL Tuesday going 0-4 and not really contributing to the Phillies' 2-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

Wednesday, however, was a different story -- kinda.

Rollins was more of a liability than anything through the first eight and a half innings. He was once again 0-4 at the plate and even had a throwing error to his credit (rare for Rollins) that allowed the Tribe to take a 6-5 lead in the top of the ninth inning.

But when Jimmy messes something like that up, he usually comes back and makes up for it in a big way -- which is exactly what he did in the bottom of the final inning.

With a 1-1 count, one out and a man on second, Rollins blasted a pitch right down the middle just this side of fair down the right field line for his very first walk-off home run of his career.

That's right, for all the years J-Roll has been around, that's the first time he's ever hit a walk-off home run.

Brian Schneider and Jayson Werth both had key home runs to keep the Phillies in the game as Kyle Kendrick got knocked around early and couldn't even make it through five innings. He's been a pleasant surprise this season, but he's got to make sure he rebounds in his next start or Ruben Amaro, Jr. might have to put Pedro Martinez on speed dial.

Either that or pray J.A. Happ ever comes off the Mark Prior list.

For weeks we've been looking for something to get this team jump-started. They've been playing on auto-pilot for so long and unless something woke them up very soon it was going to start getting very, very ugly.

I'm not sure if this walk-off shot will be enough to get the team energized, rally around one another, and start putting a stretch together, but it's certainly nice to enjoy it for the time-being.
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The Phillies choice should be very easy: keep Valdez.


With Jimmy Rollins set to come off the DL and return to the lineup on Tuesday, the Phillies will face a decision on which of their backup shortstops they want to keep on the bench, and which one they want to send down to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

For me, the decision would appear to be an easy one.

Over the past few games Wilson Valdez has been clutch. Whether it's coming up with a key hit to get a rally started -- or keep a rally going -- or being a wall in the infield, Valdez has shown more than enough to warrant a spot on the bench.

Valdez is only a .229 career hitter, but he's hitting .250 this year with two homeruns, 12 RBIs, seven doubles, one triple, and two stolen bases.

His competition, Juan Castro, just doesn't stack up.

Castro is hitting .222 with zero homeruns, 12 RBIs, five doubles, zero triples, and zero stolen bases. Castro also has three errors in 32 games, whereas Valdez doesn't have an error to his name in five more games.

The numbers seem to speak for themselves. Valdez is outperforming Castro in every category, and also has the speed and awareness to fit that Eric Bruntlett-type utility role the Phillies seem to have been missing while guys are dropping like flies.

Not only that, but from an overall roster management standpoint, it makes a lot more sense to keep Valdez and option Castro -- mainly because Valdez is out of options, and Castro isn't.

Valdez would have to once again clear waivers, but after the way he's played over the past week or so, there is no way he makes it through. There is at least one of the other 29 teams that could use a guy like Valdez.

Castro, however, could be sent down outright to Lehigh Valley. He could start down there, get some at-bats, and be ready if something were to happen to Rollins again.

But for now, Valdez has done more than enough to warrant a spot as the backup infielder for the remainder of the season.
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Rollins' second calf injury isn't as bad as first one.


For the first time since mid-April, the Phillies lineup was the way it should be. Every starter was playing and they were handling John Lackey and the Red Sox fairly well along with the help of a stellar performance by Cole Hamels.

But once Jimmy Rollins hit a single in the sixth inning and had to limp to first base, the mood was immediately sucked out of the air.

The Phils got by without Rollins for an entire month, but no one wants to see if they could pull it off again. Even Juan Castro and the newest-but-not-so-new member of the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs, Wilson Valdez, weren't happy to see Rollins pull up like that.

It was clearly his right calf again as Rollins aggravated the injury that kept him out of the lineup, until recently, since mid-April.

However, Rollins doesn't seem all that concerned.

"An hour later, it feels a lot better than it did when I came out," Rollins told the media after the Phillies' 5-1 win against the Boston Red Sox, "so we'll see."

Charlie Manuel, on the other hand, seems a bit more worried than Rollins.

"Yes, I'm concerned about Jimmy," Manuel said. "He said he doesn't think it's bad, but we'll see. We'll probably be able to tell more about it tomorrow."

It's possible Rollins is simply downplaying the significance of the injury this time because he would rather try to play through instead of having to head back to the disabled list and definitely miss at least 15 days of action, but that doesn't seem like a move that would work with Manuel.

If Charlie thinks Rollins needs two weeks to sit on the bench, watch, and recover, then that is exactly what will happen regardless of what Rollins says. It will all come down to what the team doctors recommend, but it doesn't seem likely Rollins hits the DL again.

He will most likely miss a game or two, but Castro is ready to go and has shown he can fill in well enough for Rollins in the field and at the plate.

Also, now that Valdez has cleared waivers (surprisingly enough) and accepted an assignment to Triple-A ball, the Phils have an insurance policy should Rollins regress and have to be placed on the Mark Prior List.
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Valdez has likely played his last game as a Phillie.


With Jimmy Rollins slated to make his return to the lineup, someone will have to face the axe in order to make room on the roster.

And unless something drastic happens very, very soon, it appears as though the unlucky player to get the axe will be Wilson Valdez. But really, it's the only move that makes sense. Charlie Manuel has made it clear he's keeping all of his pitchers, and Valdez is the guy currently filling in for J-Roll.

In fact, that's not even entirely accurate. Juan Castro was Rollins' replacement, and Valdez is actually Castro's replacement, making him the third shortstop.

He might have survived and simply been used as an emergency guy throughout the season, but with pitchers dropping like flies the Phils seem to have decided they simply can't part with any of them and risk losing someone else.

Valdez has been good in the field, but his hitting has been slightly below-average, to put it nicely, with a .229 average, four RBIs, and four runs.

It's not a bad line for a replacement player, but when we look back and see he had a five-game streak of hitting into a double-play, it paints a picture of a guy who has had a hit here and there, but hasn't been able to contribute when it counts.

Valdez is out of options, so he will have to clear waivers first if the Phillies want to try to send him back to triple-A Lehigh Valley. However, it's likely he wouldn't make it through waivers and has likely played his final game as a Phillie.
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Rollins has been rehabbing and could be ready to go.


According to assistant GM Scott Proefrock via Matt Gelb and his Twitter feed, the Phillies expect to have Jimmy Rollins back next week when they start a seven-game homestand beginning with the Pirates, then the Cubs come to town, and it ends against the struggling Red Sox.

The Phils have played well without Rollins in the lineup, so having him back will make them that much better. Juan Castro and Wilson Valdez have performed admirably, but neither has been able to replicate Jimmy's offense.

Rollins has only played in seven games this year, but he was on a tear to kick the season off (before hurting his calf), hitting .391 with three doubles, a triple, a homerun, three RBI's, two stolen bases, and an OBP of .516.

Shane Victorino, who has been the target of recent trade speculation, has been batting well in Rollins' place at the top of lineup, but being able to move him back to the seven-hole will give the Phils back some speed at the bottom of the order.

And with Carlos Ruiz hitting the way he's been behind him, it could mean a much better offense all-around for the Phils.

However, the Phils better be 100 percent positive he's healed up and ready to go. Valdez and Castro have been playing well enough, so there's no reason to rush him back and risk another injury that could knock him out for the season.

Some injuries won't get worse simply by playing, but a calf strain will. If he has not fully recuperated, playing again could strain the muscle even worse or, worst-case scenario, he could tear the muscle entirely; Which could not only mean an end to his season, but his career if the tear was serious enough.

A lot of Rollins' game is predicated on being able to run and making the opposing pitcher fear him while he's on base; If he can't run the bases, then he's of no use to the team anyway.

The original reports said Rollins might not be able to come back before the end of the month, but now that he is expected back next week it makes me think the team might be rushing him back a week or two too soon.

Cutting two weeks off the expected time of return is difficult to do, so hopefully it just means that he truly is ready to get back in the lineup and not a move the Phils live to regret come September and (fingers crossed) late October/early November.
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