Placido Polanco kept his hip injury a secret. It’s been bothering him for at least a month, and he’s hit very poorly since June 1st. Luckily, with the Phillies big lead, they can afford to take the time to allow him to heal. Third base has been a bit of an offensive black hole for the Phillies in 2011, with very little power coming from the position.
The IBWAA did have me submit an All-Star ballot, and I differ with the fans at three positions in the AL. I put Ben Zobrist at second base, Asdrubal Cabrera at shortstop and Jacoby Ellsbury in the outfield instead of Josh Hamilton. I don’t really have a problem with Robison Cano and Josh Hamilton making the team. If fans want to use a bit of career stats in selecting players, I don’t have a problem with that. Obviously, in selecting Derek Jeter over Cabrera at short, the fans want to see the legend.
In the NL, I disagreed at two positions. I thought Ryan Roberts should have gotten the nod at third base. I will admit, with David Wright and Ryan Zimmerman missing most of the season, the pickings for the NL at third base were pretty weak. I also would like to have seen Shane Victorino make the outfield instead of Lance Berkman, but Lance is certainly a fine choice.
All in all, the fans did a very good job.
Placido Polanco is playing like he’s 25 instead of 35 as a four for five day against the Diamondbacks brought his average up to .389. He scored three runs as Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard and Ben Francisco combined for four extra-base hits behind him. Polanco, a .304 career hitter, really hasn’t faded much since turning 30, hitting between .285 and .341 in his past five seasons. He’s helped the Phillies miss Chase Utley less, and his performance today was part of moving the team back into first place in the NL East with an 8-4 win.
The Phillies came back from a 3-0 deficit as Placido Polanco hit a three-run homer to tie the game in sixth, and Shane Victorino hit a solo shot to give the Phillies a 4-3 win in the eighth. Rather than setting the table for the heart of the order, the Phillies 1-2 pitchers hitters simply put the runs on the board themselves.
Placido Polanco needs work on his elbow:
Polanco will have bone fragments removed from his elbow, in addition to having his extensor tendon repaired. He is expected to need eight to 10 weeks of recovery.
Placido posted a .207/.294/.276 slash line in the post season.
For the second time in as many plate appearances, Placido Polanco walks. He came around to score last time. He’s on first to start the bottom of the third for the Phillies.
Update: Jonathan Sanchez hits Chase Utley in the back. Chase flips the ball back to Sanchez as Chase goes to first, and Sanchez didn’t like it. Utley goes to first and the two argue, and the benches clear. I wonder how much of that was theater to give the Giants bullpen time to warm up.
Update: Jeremy Affeldt comes in to pitch for Sanchez. Jonathan threw 26 balls and 24 strikes.
Update: Affeldt strikes out Ryan Howard.
Update: Jayson Werth flies out to right.
Update: Victorino grounds out to end the inning. Lots of drama early in that half inning, but no action late. The game is tied at two at the end of three innings.
The Phillies announced Placido Polanco won’t play in game one of the NLDS due to a bad back. Wilson Valdez takes his place. The Phillies lose about 33 points of OBP with the substitution.
The Evil Player program selected Placido Polanco as Sunday’s evil player. Opponents find Polanco’s ability to finish a rally quite evil this season. He’s hitting .355, 11 for 31 with two out and men in scoring position, the perfect time for a hit to drive in a run. While he’s hitting 37 points above his 2010 average in that situation, throughout his career, Polanco hit rather poorly where that split is concerned. His .304 career BA is 48 points higher than his career average with two out and runners in scoring position, .256. The demons of small sample sizes possessed him this year.
Placido Polanco pushed across the game winning run with a single in the top of the 11th inning as the Phillies come back from an early 4-2 deficit to defeat the Nationals 6-4. Polanco collected three hits on the day, including a double, scoring two runs and driving in two and he accounted for a large part of the Phillies offense. With a .317/.349/.437 slash line, a big improvement over the .259/.304/.382 line from Philadelphia’s 2009 third basemen. The Phillies are now 9-2 in their last 11 games and have cut the Braves lead to 2 1/2 games.
Both Chase Utley and Placido Polanco land on the disabled list:
The Phillies put second baseman Chase Utley and third baseman Placido Polanco on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday. Utley sprained his right thumb while sliding into second base during a 7-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night. He’s batting .277 with 11 homers and 37 RBIs.
Polanco missed the last three games with an inflamed left elbow, aggravated last Friday while diving. Polanco is third in the NL with a .318 batting average. He also leads NL third basemen in fielding percentage.
Utley was hitting better over his last 10 games, after battling a knee problem. This trip to the DL may be a blessing in disguise if the injury heals quickly, as it also gives his leg a needed rest.