This just in: No timetable for Chase Utley’s return. No, really. And apparently we should all just try and calm down a little.
As if.
Two games for the Phils over the weekend.
Jim Thome played first base in an official Spring Training game for the first time this year yesterday as the Phils and Orioles played to a 3-3 tie.
Halladay started for the Phils and struck out nine over 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks. He has a 5.40 ERA and a 1.30 ratio through five starts, but has struck out 24 in 20 innings.
Bastardo took over for Halladay in the seventh, faced two men with runners on the corners and struck both out. Contreras pitched the eighth in his third appearance and allowed a run on a single and a double. He has now been charged with six runs in 2 1/3 innings, but the good news is there may be something magical about the way the ball is coming out of his hand. Papelbon threw a scoreless ninth to drop his ERA to 1.13. Juan Morillo threw a 1-2-3 tenth.
Thome played five innings at first and went 1-for-3 with a double and two RBI. No balls were hit to him. Ruiz was 2-for-4 with a double to up his line to 484/515/774 after 31 at-bats. Mayberry went 0-for-5 to drop his line to 217/266/263.
Galvis was 3-for-4 with three singles, upping his line to 271/292/475.
Orr, Galvis and Ruiz all homered for the Phils on Saturday in a 10-5 win over Boston.
Hamels started the game for the Phils and allowed two runs over four innings on four hits and two walks, raising his ERA to 4.00. Qualls and Diekman each threw a scoreless inning in the game, with Diekman keeping his ERA at 0.00. Raul Valdes went two frames and was charged with a run on three singles, pushing his ERA to 2.08. Sanches pitched the eighth and allowed a run on a walk and three singles, which pushed his ERA up to 6.43.
Galvis started at second and went 1-for-4 with his second spring home run and first error. Pierre was 2-for-5 with a double. Podsednik 0-for-2. Ruiz 2-for-4 with a double and a home run. Orr 2-for-4 with his first homer. Nix had two hits, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and raising his average to .226.
Polanco played third base on Sunday and went 1-for-2.
Ryan Madson will have Tommy John surgery and miss the 2012 season.
March 26th, 2012 on 11:50 am
Finally saw my first Spring game on Sunday; good to see Galvis actually play. I was left with 2 thoughts:
1) That first inning diving play, I’m not sure a healthy 2012-model Utley is capable of making.
2) The guy has good at-bats, but gosh darn is he lucky with where the ball drops.
March 26th, 2012 on 11:57 am
I really feel highly skeptical that Galvis can handle the bat well enough to be much of anything other than a disaster offensively at this point.
I believe the defense is for real, though.
I don’t think the Phillies can go with him as the starting second baseman for long. The scary thing is what if it’s really true and they don’t know when Utley will be able to play?
I think they’ve got to add a player. That might be tough, given that their minor league system is pretty awful.
March 26th, 2012 on 8:36 pm
uh huh. another player, spelled “B-A-T”, would be nice. i have no idea who is around. i assume you’re not talking about someone who gets released by another team. if you’re RAJ, who would you look at?
March 27th, 2012 on 9:31 am
I don’t think I have anyone other than the guys people have been talking about. Pretty much any veteran middle IF would help, I think. If Galvis moves from starting 2B to backup SS, I don’t think the guy needs to play short. Mike Fontenot, Ryan Theriot, Mike Aviles, Orlando Hudson, Maicer Izturis are the guys I’ve heard mentioned the most. I think Izturis is the best of that group, but I’d guess the list of players the Phils have thought about is much longer.