Philadelphia Phillies: Brad Lidge, Placido Polanco, Mike Stutes & More

With the Grapefruit League in full swing now, there is plenty of news and notes making it’s way out of Philadelphia Phillies’ camp, and it isn’t all bad (though, most of it is, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.)

Be it injuries or hot starts, spring training always seems to have its fair share of surprises for the Phils.

The first bit of news should be a bit of a concern for the Phillies, though most people who have spoken about it have stated it isn’t. Closer Brad Lidge missed his scheduled appearance this week with what the team has been calling “biceps tendinitis.”

Of course, the word “tendinitis” has been terrifying Phillies’ fans over the past couple of weeks in association with Chase Utley. The good news? Apparently, the two cases are on different ends of the injury spectrum.

“Honestly, it’s not really a big thing,” said Lidge. The closer expects everything to go his way over the next couple of days, stating that he’s had this type of soreness several times before.

“If it doesn’t, then obviously it would be cause for concern. But right now we’re good. I have plenty of time to be ready for April 1.”

Apparently, it really isn’t a big deal this time. According to Ryan Lawerence of the Delaware County Times, via Twitter, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. is on the record saying that, if everything goes well, Lidge will be throwing off of a mound again this week.

The right-hander played catch today, will throw tomorrow and could be on the mound by as early as Thursday.

That’s good news for the Phillies, who will need Lidge to be strong this season. Though their rotation is phenomenal, there are no guarantees at the end of ball games, and a healthy Lidge and Ryan Madson combination goes a long way in shoring up the Phils’ chances.

Continuing with minor injury news, third baseman Placido Polanco left today’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays early, injuring the same arm he had surgery on over the offseason.

Once again, the Phillies have stated that the injury is no big deal, and according to one team official, “It was the opposite side of the arm.”

Polanco’s injury is currently being described as a hyper-extended elbow, something Polanco says he has dealt with before in the past.

“It’s right where I had the surgery, but it’s nothing bad,” said the third baseman. “I’ve had it before. I’ve had it a million times. But the fact that I had surgery in that elbow, we’re being safe. We’re playing it very safe. We’ll see how it feels tomorrow and the next day, take it a day at a time.”

A day at a time is what the Phillies are hoping for, though Polanco said he’s not sure when he could return to Grapefruit League action. The injury may not be a bad thing, as long as the third baseman is ready by Opening Day.

Infield hopefuls like Josh Barfield and Delwyn Young could see some increased playing time, which would be beneficial to the Phils’ 25-man Opening Day roster.

In non-injury related news, rookie pitcher Michael Stutes has been impressing the right people this spring. A day after the Phillies’ made their first roster cuts, the young right-hander was still around and for the right reasons.

Though the Phils’ bullpen seems to be stocked to the brim, the team is keeping Stutes in camp long enough to give the young pitcher another look. Appearing in nine innings this spring, Stutes has allowed just one earned run on three base hits. He’s walked just one while punching out nine batters.

Though Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel called Stutes making the roster on Opening Day a “long shot,” there are obviously some within the organization who think that his chances might be a bit better than that, after an excellent outing against the Minnesota Twins.

“That went better than expected,” Stutes said jokingly after three near-perfect innings against the Twins on Sunday. “I thought it was pretty cool to face Justin Morneau and Thome and guys I watched growing up.”

At this point, I would consider Stutes making the team a long shot as well, with guys like Danys Baez almost assured a roster spot. In the event of an injury though, which is quickly becoming a problem for an older Phillies team, he could be one of the first guys the Phillies call on, and having that depth isn’t a bad thing either.

In other non-injury related news, and almost non-baseball related news, Bill Hall had some interesting comments about Cole Hamels following the Phillies and Astros matchup on Monday.

During the game, an erratic Hamels, who struggled with control for most of the game, threw a pitch up and in at Hall—something he apparently wasn’t all to satisfied with.

When the new Astros’ second baseman got back to his feet, he had some words for Hamels, none of which were very kind, and according to sources, Hamels jawed right back at him.

After the game, both men had very different views of the way the situation played out.

“I don’t know if he was mad he gave up a homer or if he was mad the umpire gave me time, but I’m not going to let him speed-pitch me,” said Hall. “He threw a pitch in, and I’m not going to let him disrespect me either. He kind of said something I didn’t like too much. It’s over with.”

It was far from over with, however, as Hall had some more not-so-pleasant comments shortly after that, when he told reporters, “[Hamels] is definitely a marked man for me now, so when I can do some damage off him, I’m going to let him know I did some damage off him. I can guarantee that.”

For a guy who is a life-time .136 hitter against Hamels, I don’t see much “damage” being done any time soon.

Hamels, on the other hand, didn’t take the situation as seriously. He had “no hard feelings” after the game and reiterated to reporters that he was simply trying to speed the game up—something that Hall was admittedly trying not to do.

“I don’t know him personally, but I do know he’s a good guy,” said the Phils’ starter.

“That’s just something you do to get the game going,” said Hamels, who continued trying to explain what happened on the field between he and Hall. “It wasn’t anything major. I don’t really want to talk about it.”

Finally, we’ll end with a couple of important Phillies’ stories to keep in mind this week. Though it doesn’t have the same type of ring to the position battle that recently ended with Domonic Brown’s injury, the battle for the final spot on the bench is really starting to heat up in a big way.

While some believe that Michael Martinez has an upper-hand on the job thanks to his Rule 5 status, Delwyn Young (hitting .333 with a home run), Josh Barfield (hitting .476) and John Mayberry Jr. (hitting .350 with four home runs) certainly aren’t going down quietly.

Also, in something I’m not sure constitutes as an injury for this Phillies’ team, left-handed reliever JC Romero was hit on his pinky finger (glove hand) with a line drive today. He finished his inning of relief, so everything seems to be okay.

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