Polanco helped off field after straining right knee

Placido Polanco reportedly needed the support of two trainers as he hobbled off the field and was taken to the clubhouse, where he was diagnosed with a strained right knee. The Phillies' third-baseman, who signed an $18 million contract this winter, appeared to suffer the injury around the pitchers mound fielding a pop-up, according to reports. Greg Dobbs, Juan Castro and non-roster invitee Cody Ransom could serve as alternatives if Polanco is lost for an extended period.

Comments

[thephaithful]

Chone Figgins wouldnt have got hurt.

I kid(kinda).

[Jack Parsons]

Uh-oh!

[Andy]

arrrrrgggghhhh

[awh]

From two threads previous:

"The timing of the Howard/Pujols rumor and the source is what I am most interested in. A trade like this would almost never happen and certainly not in spring training even if the players were more comparable."

MG, exactly.

I'll bet someone in the FO was speculating:

Exec. A: "I wonder what woudl happen if the Cards can't extend Albert? Do you think they'd try to trade him?"

Exec B: "Maybe if they tought they could get equal value for him."

Exec A: "What's equal value?"

Exec B: "I don't know...maybe if we offered them Howard and a prospect they'd take it as long as they could sign Howard long-term."

Exec A: "Would they take that?"

Exec B: "If it was the difference between just getting two draft picks or having someone like Howard what would you do? He hits .380 at Busch."

Exec A: "I'd do the deal, I guess. But, could we really pay Pujols the money he's looking for? Who could?"

Exec B: "Well, I guess the Yankees could, but they'd have to move Texiera. The Red Sox. The Cubs could, Lee's contract expires after this season, and it would be a huge coup for them to sign Pujols as an FA, especially given that they'd weaken a division rival. The Mets could. So could some of the other big market teams line the Angels or Dodgers. Maybe even the White Sox. He's also make a tremendous centerpice for the Nats - Lerner has the money if he wants to spend it.

"Let me check with Monty to see if we'd even be willing to sign Albert for what he's looking for."

[Dials phone, has conversation, hangs up and turns to Exec A]

"Monty says 'NO 'EFFIN' WAY'.

He says you have a better chance of him paying to clone Ted Williams from his frozen head than lay out $275MM for one player."
____________________________________________

Exec A then mentions it to Olney as a funny anecdote, and Olney reports it to drive up blog traffic and get his name out there. (Olney conveniently forgets to include Montgomery's reaction.)

[awh]

Let's see how bad it is before we declare:

Season = over.

[loctastic]

PANIC

[R.Billingsly]

Not a big fan of this news.

[Bedrosian's Beard]

At least we have the versatile Juan Castro to take over 3b.

[Tim from Williamsport]

Ugh, it had to be at third base too, where there is ZERO depth.

[Michael Baumann]

Yeah...I don't know if characterizing Polly's leg injury as "breaking" news is tempting fate or not. I'd err on the side of caution.

[awh]

If it's just a "strained" knee ligament and not "torn", he could potentially be back by opening day.

Where this really hurts is it limits his reps at 3B and limits his ability to work with the other starters in the IF.

My bet is that they get a cautionary MRI.

[loctastic]

Does this mean Cody Ransom is going to find his way onto yet another Opening Day starting lineup? Lucky bastard..

[awh]

In other news, there is expected to be flooding in the Mid-West again this spring.

In Fargo, ND, home to BL poster 'phargo', volunteers are filling 60,000 sandbags per day, just in case they get hit with severe flooding again.

Polly's injury seems kind of minor when you compare it to people losing their homes.

[NEPP]

Fantastic...just fantastic.

[clout]

The last thread passed quite quickly, but before it disappears completely, I'd like to note that the overwhleming majority of Beerleaguer posters hailed Matt Smith as a great addition, a solid LHP and someone whose success you neededn't worry about.

[NEPP]

From the report: Polly hobbled off the mound, then collapsed to the turf.

That could be pretty serious. So, who's available for the Phils to sign if it is an ACL tear or something else fairly major?

[awh]

clout, in fairness to those posters, neither you nor they have any idea how things would have turned out had Smith not hurt his elbow to the point of TJ surgery.

That said, eve if he hadn't gotten hurt and flamed out anyway, what's the point of trying to rub people's noses in crap that's 3 years old.

Your "I told you so" attitude makes you sound suspiciously like tommy.

[awh]

Murph tweets on the right that Polly's knee is "sprained" not "strained", which I guess, is worse.

[Jack]

NEPP: Look to the side. Murphy and Zolecki both saying it's not serious and it's day-to-day. Considering none of us saw the injury, I think until further notice we should go with what the reporters are saying.

[awh]

tweet brigade is now saying it's not serious.

[NEPP]

That's good at least. Though, sometimes it takes a day or so to find out just how serious it is.

[JW2]

Anyone else hear the Howard to Royals in 3 team deal rumor? Any truth in that?

[Pete Happy]

awh: I'm betting your imagined "internal discussion" is dead on.

[awh]

Hey clout:

"Scott Eyre not ruling out pitching"

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/03/scott-eyre-not-ruling-out-pitching.html

[joe]

>Murph tweets on the right that Polly's knee
>is "sprained" not "strained", which I guess,
>is worse.

As long as I don't hear a "torn ligament", I'm a happy joe.

[awh]

Danys Baez says Ryan madson can close:

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20100315_Been-there_Baez__Madson_fit_to_close.html

[Jack]

NEPP: That's true, and I'm not categorically saying nothing is serious, but since we have absolutely no way of knowing, I'll just defer to what I hear from the people there. No sense in speculating otherwise.

[donc]

Ok. Everybody take a breath. Looks like he's gonna pull tru tank god. Wow that was a stunning display of over-reaction. Gtown Dave's probably sitting in his running car in the garage.

[mike cunningham]

@Tim says "Ugh, it had to be at third base too, where there is ZERO depth."

Actually, this is the one place we're we have depth, in the form of Dobbs.

Imagine what kind of screaming there woudl be in JROLL or Utley were to go down... where there REALLY is no depth.

[donc]

A buddy was at the game on Saturday sitting right behind home plate. Said, of course, Happ looked terrific but also said Baez was absolutely filthy.

[awh]

donc, bap peobably decided to join GTown in th epassenger seat. :)

[Tim from Williamsport]

I agree that we do have guys that have played third base before Mike but no where near the defensive ability that Polanco has, not to mention his bat is pretty useful as well.

[MG]

Why would you not have a player take an MRI just to be sure? MRIs are utilized for much more needless and ridiculous purposes.

[clout]

awh: Not an "I told you so." Just a reminder that the enthusiasm for prospects, and that's what Matt Smith was, is sometimes overdone. And when they don't pan out as you project, posters just move on and pretend it never happened.

[donc]

awh:Yeah. I couldn't decide which one to make fun of. They were the obvious 2. Haven't seen either on here for quite some time. Especially BAP who is almost ubiquitous.

[clout]

MG: I cannot imagine they won't do an MRI on Polly's knee.

[awh]

OMG OMG OMG! Roy Halladay allowed one run today.

Season = OVER.

[joe]

>Why would you not have a player take an MRI
>just to be sure? MRIs are utilized for much
>more needless and ridiculous purposes.

Honestly? If there is no immediate and drastic swelling, there is nothing torn.

In addition, any halfway decent ortho can check the integrity of the ligaments through manual manipulation.

[donc]

OMG OMG OMG! Roy Halladay allowed one run today.

Season = OVER.

Everyone take notice. That is how you over-react. Well done awh.

[denny b.]

"OMG OMG OMG! Roy Halladay allowed one run today."

Uhh, ohh. This could put Doc's rotation spot in jeopardy. Hope he rounds into shape soon.

Doc with a spring ERA of .90, now has the 3rd worst ERA of the 5 man spring starting rotation (since Moyer hasn't pitched in a regular ST game yet, he doesn't count).

[thephaithful]

Abraham Nunez says he hasn't lost a step, so I think we can survive at 3B.

[Dan]

I'm more worried that Pal would try to rush back and re-injure himeself than losing him for a week or two. Here's hoping they learned from when JRoll had a similar rush back from injury.

[AL]

I'll never forget a game 4 years ago that went to 14 innings against the reds and no-hit nunez went like 0-9

[donc]

John Bolaris reporting that Phils thirdbaseman Placido Polanco will have his leg amputated after Theismannesque injury at pitchers mound.

[awh]

donc, that's gross. Ugh.

[R.Billingsly]

doc: I laughed aloud after your 3:41 post. (I refuse to type LOL!...I guess I just did. Damn!)

[The_GodfatherSJP]

Polanco's hurt?!

That's it. I'm canceling my season ticket package. What's the point?

[R.Billingsly]

should be addressed to "donc," not "doc". Unless "donc" is actually a doctor.

[awh]

Tim Marchman has a writeup on "Fearsome Foursomes" in MLB:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/tim_marchman/03/15/core.fours/index.html

[TTI]

MG: If there is a lot of swelling in an area they usually wait to take an MRI because any damage may not necessarily show up. It's possible they are waiting on that for an MRI.

If there is no swelling though there are plenty of range of motion things they can do to test for ligament damage. A common one is to have the person lay on their stomach with their knee slightly bent. Then you press down on the bottom of their foot. If there is a lot of pain there is a good chance the ligament is messed up because instead of stretching down with the leg it stays stationary. Conversely you would then pull up on the leg. In that that direction the ligament stays stationary but is reacting more the way your ligament would by working with the flow of your knee.

They may have run through some of the techniques and saw nothing that indicated any ligament damage. I would think though that in a few days they probably do an MRI just to make sure everything is fine.

[mvptommyd]

Polanco should be fine. Scary moment for sure.

Even with the Howard/Pujols "news" things are still slow around here.

I can't wait for Opening Day...

[mvptommyd]

Also, I am glad that AWH stood up and called clout out on his "I told you so" statement regarding Matt Smith.

clout's response to AWH's post was even better. Typical clout spin.

"awh: Not an "I told you so." Just a reminder that the enthusiasm for prospects, and that's what Matt Smith was, is sometimes overdone. And when they don't pan out as you project, posters just move on and pretend it never happened"

Ahhh, I got it clout. So if any posters remind you of things you said regarding prospects or anything for that matter that you were wrong about i.e. Savery or anything else, they aren't saying "I told you so", they are merely using it as a "reminder" of your "enthusiasm".

Got it.

[Greg V.]

Placido says he's fine. Stop being Chicken Littles!

[GrandSlamSingle]

Cliff Lee was a bad boy today:

Ejection abruptly ends Lee's second start

[MG]

On Fan Graphs and ranking of Astros @ #30 in their annual Organizational rankings:

"And, unfortunately, they just don’t seem committed to doing that. They spent the winter pursuing middle relievers and stop gap role players who won’t help the team contend now or in the future. Their owner is one of the most involved in the sport, and not in a good way. They have large payroll commitments going forward, and the GM is not exactly a shrewd market analyst or adept at finding bargains on a budget."

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/organizational-rankings-30-houston-astros

Poor Ed Wade. Irony though is he is saddled with a bunch of guys with no-trade clauses this time around instead of giving out so many no-trade clauses.

[awh]

crashburnalley has a nice article on Lidge's HR to Pujols and how Morgan Ensberg says it should never have happened.

http://crashburnalley.com/

Interesting read.

Ensberg basically says he was out of position.

I wonder how that affected his UZR?

[gobaystars]

The phillies could win the east with or withour polanco. They could realistically miss anyone for up to a month and still win the east. What matters is not the teams health on april 1 but their health on october 1.

[Klaus]

"On Fan Graphs and ranking of Astros @ #30 in their annual Organizational rankings..."

I suspect they'll rank the Phillies poorly too--or comparatively poorly: outside the top 10.

[phargo]

Oh fer crying out loud.

[denny b.]

After watching the replay of the Polanco play, I wonder why Rollins didn't come in and catch the ball?

Would have been a much easier play, with as windy as it was today, for the SS. Especially with a novice 3B.

Maybe he was playing up the middle?

[clout]

MG: BA also ranks Astros 30th but their ranking has nothing to do with Ed Wade. It has to do with their bad drafts in recent years.

[mvptommyd]

Wow, something that hasn't been mentioned regarding the Philadelphia Blog-o-sphere.

How about Comcast Sportsnet and another Philly blog (name will be withheld) becoming partners.

The owner of the blog will be a Comcast employee and have access to all the teams. Also, some writers like Jim Salisbury will be writing on the blog for their respective sport.

The thing is the blog that Comcast partnered with ISN'T a stat crazed blog. It is a serious blog that delievers the enws but likes to have fun as well. Hmm, so maybe all these obsessions over the "newest" and "advanced" stats don't matter to the main stream market.

JW, take note.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/the-insider/The700Levelcom_and_SportsNet_are_a_team.html

[doubleh]

mvptommyd: The blog you speak of is a nice blog, but is dedicated to ALL Philly sports--not just the Phillies. That's the reason that Comcast partnered with it. They want to get into the blogosphere and they cover all sports, so they took the most successful blog that covered all 4 and partnered with them.

I don't think it has anything to do with stats. I mean, ESPN partners with Crashburn Alley and that's a stat heavy site.

[TTI]

doubleh: That is a quality opinion backed by facts. Tommy will immediately dismiss it for that very reason.

[mvptommyd]

DoubleH: True, that blog is all the sports. But that is still no reason why Comcast wouldn't parter with an all Phillies blog as well.

I am just saying overall that stats thing is a relevant discussion. Not that it matters to this blog, because I am not sure JW wants to go that route. But if he did, I think that most "average" fans don't want to read about that kind of material.

I am mostly busting chops, but serious in the fact that if this blog wants to get over the hump and get noticed more, less stats.

[mvptommyd]

TTI: True. It was a reasoned opinion.

Answer me this then, why when JW went on not 1, not 2, but 3 Piladelphia sports forums to discuss his largely statistic book did he get cut off in two of the three situations after 4 minutes and in the Mikey Miss situation, got disrespected live on air?

Hmm...

[Tray]

"Just a reminder that the enthusiasm for prospects, and that's what Matt Smith was, is sometimes overdone. And when they don't pan out as you project, posters just move on and pretend it never happened."

You suggest they grovel on the virtual floor? We're not professional analysts here. And even the professional analysts move on and pretend their mistakes never happened when they get something wrong.

[mvptommyd]

Anyway, enough with that nonsense.

Phillies upcoming TV schedule

Tomorrow: vs Det Tape delay on MLB Network

Saturday: @ Det on at 1:05 on PHL 17/MLB Network

Sunday: vs Bal at 1 on Comcast Sportsnet

Monday: vs Yankees at 1 on ESPN

[TNA]

Tommy- if you want to converse with a different crowd and annoy the crap out of another blog, by all means, please do so. While you sometimes make decent points, your generally blowhard commentary makes this blog less and less readable (for me at least) each day.

[sifl]

Tommy, take note: you are boring. Please post less frequently.

[TTI]

Tommy: Why does it matter how 3 different hosts treated the material. Radio and TV are geared towards hard and fast news or opinion and are not geared towards in depth thought.

You're really comparing apples to oranges. The700Level.com is a catch-all Philadelphia sports blog. They cover all 4 major teams (and even the minor team news). There are plenty of Eagles fans in Philly who don't like the Fightins. There are tons of Flyers fans who don't like the Phillies or Eagles. There are like 4 Sixers fans right now so they probably cross over some.

Beerleaguer is devoted to one entity in the city- the Phillies. Because of that you will see a lot of different aspects of the team broken down. Sometimes that means going through hardcore stats. Beerleaguer is for hardcore baseball fans. It looks at this team at every single possible angle. Maybe that does lose some people but even if you're not totally into stats there is enough here to hold your attention on most days. Quite often there is some good discussion back and forth too on issues.

Look, in trying to focus on one thing and do it many different ways you are bound to have ebbs and flows in what people like. Think of something like SNL. The past three weeks they had hosts: Jennifer Lopez, Zach Galifinakis, and Jude Law. There isn't a lot of overlap in audience probably between the three as far as drawing in more than the normal hardcore fans who just want to see the sketch show like always.

And you say at the end "I am mostly busting chops, but serious in the fact that if this blog wants to get over the hump and get noticed more, less stats." I know on the Internet there is a general lack of decorum, but that is completely disrespectful to frequent the site as much as you do and then slam it like that. If it bothers you that much than stop visiting. I assume you're here because in some ways you like the in-depth discussion of the Phillies. If you find a home that will have you and you like visiting, and you have a bunch of people who will engage you in discussion there even if they disagree with you, then you don't try and mess up the place.

[bullit]

.

[bullit]

according to the schedule at phillies.com, today's game is being broadcast live on comcast's TCN station.

[Beer-a-Thon]

Son of a biscuit! I sure hope Polanco is back in a week.

[Bedrosian's Beard]

Frankly, I don't want JW turning into Dave Spadaro or Metsblog's Cerrone. Guys who went "mainstream".

[J. Weitzel]

Frankly, I'm tired of your bullshit, MVP. Time to "get over the hump," as you say. Starting by sending you on your merry way.

[toddzilla]

here here. That will help in getting BL "over the hump"

[R.Billingsly]

So, is mvp banned from the site? Am I reading JW's post correctly?

Interesting.

[Kutztown Fan]

Thank you, Jason.

Sheesh.

[Deutsche Phan]

If that is the case, I applaud you JW for a difficult decision. It's never easy to censor the peanut gallery, but when one individual's antics turn the comments section into a daily stream of consciousness (for lack of a better word), it was inevitable. Not to mention that his smug remarks toward the purveyor of the site were usually underhanded or directly insulting. I appreciate your efforts to make this dialogue enjoyable again.

I am ready for Opening Day (is it Clout Day yet?), and a season of MVP-less banter is even more exciting!

[Deutsche Phan]

Oops - answered my own question. Clout day is traditionally March 20, giving me something else to look forward to this weekend.

[thephaithful]

"JW: Frankly, I'm tired of your bullshit, MVP. Time to "get over the hump," as you say. Starting by sending you on your merry way."

Christmas in March?

[ed]

It had to be done. His overbearing posts hased away too many regulars.

[ed]

"chased"

[NEPP]

About bloody time.

Good to see that Polanco is basically day-to-day. I wasn't really looking forward to a Castro/Dobbs platoon at 3B.

[awh]

"I am mostly busting chops, but serious in the fact that if this blog wants to get over the hump and get noticed more, less stats."

tommy, based on history, I think that statement is more than a little self-serving. Aren't you really saying:

"Because I sometimes post opinions here that are indefensible and get blown out of the water by even the most amateurish stathead, and because I find it personally embarrassing, and because I lack either the capacity or intellectual curiousity to actually expand my horizons and work to gain even a basic competency, I think we should limit the conversation to topics in which my comments cannot be so easily undressed."

tommy, if you find this place less enjoyable
because of the focus on data that actually helps explain the game - and because of your lack of understanding of said data - then I suggest you make at least a cursory attempt to understand it.

Of course, that would entail some actual work.

As for my calling clout out yesterday, I suspect I was merely the first person to notice his comment.

I find that most of the posters here try to be consistent (Yes, we are human, and, thus, flawed.). So, calling clout on his "I told you so" was just par for the course.

[clout]

The thing that makes this blog a rarity is the intelligence of the posters. That means it will never ever be a mainstream, most-hits blog.

There are tons of blogs for no-nothings and yahoos, but as far as I can tell this is the only Phillies blog for people who like to delve a bit deeper into their favorite team. It's like the difference between the New Yorker and a comic book. The comic book will always sell more copies and appeal to people like our board troll, but there is also an audience, albeit small, for a New Yorker as well.

I think some posters here really should look for a blog that fits more with what they enjoy posting and reading about.

[RodeoJones]

Frankly, I've never considered the amount a medium is consumed to be a judge of it's quality. However, it isn't an inverse relationship either.

J. Weitzel - get Yukon Blonde up on your album sidebar.

[Cipper]

MVP wasn't tall enough to post here anyways.

(sorry I couldn't resist)

[awh]

Oh, and JW, unlike the others who have posted previously, I am not for banning anyone, eve tommy.

If he wants to play the part of the village idiot then by all means let him.

If he is frustrated in the role he choses for himself, then it is incumbent on HIM to do either of two things:

Learn, which takes time and effort - or leave.

[clout]

awh: The fact is a troll like tommy won't leave. He chases others away.

[awh]

Cipper, nice!

[Bedrosian's Beard]

Clout: Exactly. Banning someone is a last resort. It's time.

[thephaithful]

OT: If Werth isn't resigned and Brown is the replacement(LH), would the Phils ever consider trying to move jroll into the 5th spot and encourage his power-focused approach at the plate that sometimes isn't best suited for the leadoff spot?

I know a big majority feel that he should be moved from the leadoff spot already, but with this lineup I think he is more valuable there than the 7th spot. However if Werth is gone, they really should consider breaking up a possible utley-howard-ibanez-brown lineup.

[awh]

clout, then the simple answer for the rest of us is to just ignore him most of the time.

I must admit, however, that I find it immensely amusing to see him post something silly and senseless, and then to twist himself into knots trying to defend the indefensible.

Schadenfreude, I guess.

Again, if tommy feels like a punching bag on this site, it's his own fault. (And frankly, it's easy work for the rest of us.)

A little extra effort and research would go a long way to mitigate some of the conflict he engages in.

Of course, there is the possibility that he does it on purpose because he enjoys the attention, despite his protestations to the contrary.

[RodeoJones]

thephaithful - as slavish as U.C. is to lefty-righty matchups I can't imagine he won't do something similar to what you mention.

[Robby J]

I certainly am not the most brilliant poster (nor frequent). If I get blown out of the water after I state an opinion, I view it as a good thing -- both for the posters and my education. MVP wasn't 100% wrong, just wayyyy too vociferous about every damn thing .. the old "know-it-all". Anyway, my two cents are here because I love baseball--of course the Phils come first. I skim the postings to learn prospects, injuries, drafts, etc.. On that score JW, Beerleaguer hits a home run...

[awh]

phaithful, you are my latest grammar victim.

Please, in the future, when discussing a players contract situation use the term "re-signed" as opposed to resigned".

The first one means:

–verb
1.to sign again.
2.to renew or extend a contract.

The second means:

–adjective
1.submissive or acquiescent.
2.characterized by or indicative of resignation.

I apologize in advance if this pet-peave of mine is a bit nitpicky, but it drives me as batty as a senseless 'tommy post'.

[awh]

Oops, that should say:

"player's"

[Bedrosian's Beard]

The old "don't feed the troll" line doesn't work.