Pregame notes: Injured Phillies on the up and up

Several hurt Phils took positive steps forward on the road to recovery.

According to reports, Chase Utley ran around, or as they say in Lenhartsville, ran arawnd. Matt Gelb of the Inquirer says Domonic Brown is set for an extended spring training game today down in Florida. Lastly, Roy Oswalt completed a successful 40-pitch bullpen session and appears ready to make his next scheduled start, which will come Thursday. Lineups for tonight have been announced: Victorino CF, Polanco 3B, Rollins SS, Howard 1B, Francisco RF, Ibanez LF, Ruiz C, Valdez 2B, Blanton P, against the Brewers' Shaun Marcum. The Phils see two straight lefties after that in Randy Wolf on Tuesday and Chris Narveson on Wednesday. The Phils are hitting .296/.348/.422 against lefties in the early going.

Comments

[GTown_Dave]

Wednesday would be an ideal time for Ibañez to take a day off (LH opposing starter, Day game after a night game). If he's out there we'll know Charlie has no intention of making common sense decisions when it comes to Raul.

[Mayor]

Jason - why isn't Mayberry seeing any signficant playing time, to date? He rocked up during Spring training. And, he had the game winning hit in Game 1. I would have expected some sort of platooning with Francisco by now. Your thoughts?

[Dukes]

I'm not sure if HK coined the phrase, "in the early going," but every time I hear it I think of him. I love that description.

[Spitz]

I have always thought that the backup quarterback was the most popular player in Philadelphia sports scene. But I was wrong. Its actually the 4th and 5th outfielders.

[MG]

Dave - If Cholly doesn't start Mayberry either Tues. or Wed., he is being a stubborn fool. There is no reason that he doesn't for several reasons.

[CJ]

Raul just had an off day, why does he need another one so soon?

[PhillyJoe]

There is no reason he doesn't for several reasons?

[GTown_Dave]

Because it's a long season, & because it's smart to get as many players as possible ABs when the opportunity arises.

[Old Phan]

"There is no reason he doesn't for several reasons?"
Yea, that just gave me whiplash. Please explain.

Oh, and no one would ever really choose Ben Fran over Bobby except those obsessed with age.

[MG]

1. Mayberry hasn't started a game yet this season. How can you expect a guy to remain relatively productive when he simply doesn't see more than 1-2 PH ABs a week?

2. Narveson has particularly weaker career numbers vs. right-handed hitters.

3. Ibanez is hitting .200 the last week without an XHB

4. There is a day after a night game on Wed.

[CJ]

Every player has had at least 3 off days in the first 17 days of the season. The most game days we've had in a row is 6 and our only road trip so far was to DC and Atlanta.

We're starting a stretch of 11 games in 11 days including a west coast trip. It makes much more sense to give a day of rest to a player who needs it during the middle of this stretch than at the beginning. I'd expect an off day in San Diego.

[MG]

Ibanez playing Tues vs. Wolf makes some sense given his career numbers (5-16) with a a HR. During the day vs. Narveson on Wed? Nope. Mayberry should start but probably won't.

Cholly will likely be a stubborn mule who will start Ibanez almost everyday though the end of May because 'Ibanez is the starter' or whatever hair-brained reason he has.

[MG]

CJ - I don't care about the rest but more the production. Ibanez isn't hitting. No one is saying 'bench Ibanez' but just put in a player who desperately needs some PT and will be a good spot to give you a production boost.

Cholly was pissing and moaning about the lack of power & production his team has had lately but yet I bet he starts Ibanez every game this series. That's foolish.

[GTown_Dave]

Why not Milwaukee AND San Diego? Raul's hitting can be issue enough at times, but I truly cringe at the thought of Ibañez attempting to cover the vast expanses of Petco Park OF any more than is absolutely necessary.

[CJ]

Apart from knocking in half of the team's 6 runs in the last two games... of course...

[CJ]

Everyone's favorite player is the backup QB.

[MG]

CJ - That's the best you can do for a rationale? Because he had an RBI on a fielder's choice and got a 2-out bleeder through the INF? He's hitting ground ball after ground ball.

Hell's even not even working counts and getting on bases via walks (1 BB the last 10 games with 13 Ks over that same period). He's ice cold right now.

Doesn't mean you do something ridiculous like bench him for 2-3 games but how is Ibanez the better play at this point on Wed? He's simply not besides 'he's the starter.'

[GTown_Dave]

Here's another good reason:

8 GS 31 AB 10 H 1 HR 9 RBI 3 BB 4 K .323 BA/ .400 OBP/ .452 SLG/ .852 OPS

6 GS 24 AB 3 H 0 HR 1 RBI 1 BB 10 K .125 BA/ .160 OBP/ .167 SLG/ .327 OPS

These are Ibañez's Home & Road splits, respectively. And for the "small sample size" contingent, Raul's Home/Road splits were similarly striking last season.

[CJ]

MG: I'm not opposed to rest days... but he just got one on Saturday. I'd much rather see one in San Diego, particularly with the large OF there. Every game there's a half dozen people whining that Raul should be rested that particular game. It's tiresome. There's been no reason to give him any rest because he's gotten plenty of it.

And you're not arguing that he should be benched... so what's the point of arbitrarily picking Wednesday as the rest day?

I think Friday makes more sense. It's in the middle of the 11 game stretch and in the middle of the road trip and it's in Petco and it's against a lefty who pitches better against lefties.

[CJ]

David Hale tweets: Dom Brown was 2-for-3 in 5 inn in 1st ext. spring game today. "He seemed to come out of it OK healthwise," Amaro said.

[Iceman]

"The longer Brad Lidge remains on the DL the better off this team will be."

GTown bringing the comedy early tonight.

[MG]

CJ - Picked Wed because it makes little sense to start Ibanez for a few reasons.

I would also bench him Friday too until he starts to hit a bit. He's simply isn't hitting anything hard and showing poor discipline right now. He's also been a clear defensive liability.

[Iceman]

AL (from the last thread): I know I took part in the Undeserved Win (UW) category last year but I'm not sure I was the one that created it. It was mainly due to dennyb coming on here after every victory and explaining why they really didn't deserve to win that day ("The opposing pitcher was a bum," "The other team made a lot of defensive mistakes," etc etc). There hasn't been much of that this year but I'm almost positive you'd have to at least count Opening Day as an UNDESERVED WIN because of how awful the offense looked for the first 6 innings.

[Old Phan]

""The longer Brad Lidge remains on the DL the better off this team will be."

And I thought he was serious. Drat.

[MG]

Dead horse:

- Even if you 'benched' Ibanez Wed. & Fri. (and there is strong rationale for both right now), he still should start 5 of the next 7 games through Sunday.

[GTown_Dave]

Game Chat's up ==>

(Am I serious, or just havin' a laugh? Only one way to find out!)

[Old Phan]

GTown, I think you were being serious. Personally, I look forward to a (hopefully) healthy Lidge.

[Kutztown Fan]

JW sure is referencing his PA Dutch roots lately. First dopic (which I looked up - dappich), now arawnd. I can't wait to see what's next. Wunnerfitz? Iwwerzwarich? Schtodderich? Stay tuned.

Oh, and no conjecture about Blanton's performance tonight? I'm hoping he makes it past the sixth inning without falling apart.

[cut_fastball]

Kutztown Fan -- Boyertawn?