As more players continue to drop like flies, manager Charlie Manuel was also forced to miss today’s game against the Pirates due to a suspension.  On Thursday night, Manuel bill-butted the umpire with the brim of his hat as he argued a call.  Manuel has been ejected 3 times in just over a week, obviously frustrated with how this season is going.  This suspension was just one more blow to this already limping Phillies team.

The Phillies went down against the Pirates today with their anemic offense again giving no run support to the pitcher.  The final score was 2-3 and the Phils had only 8 hits.  Wilson Valdez hit a solo homer and the 2nd run was unearned due to a Pirates throwing error.  Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez both went hitless. 

Ibanez has had one hit in his last 8 games and 34 at-bats.  The Phillies need to put Ben Francisco in left and be done with it already.  Ibanez has not contributed in any significant way in a long time.  In fact, in the month of June, Ibanez had 5 hits…total.  That is the entire month.  Francisco had 11 hits in 37 at-bats compared to 5 hits in 96 at-bats for Ibanez.  This is a NO brainer.

So another good pitching performance was wasted by the Phils offense.  Cole Hamels allowed 3 runs in 7 innings and deserved a win.  Instead, he gets another loss and to a last-place team no less.  But sadly, that was not the only drama tonight. 

Just when you thought, after having 7 players on the DL and Chase Utley going in for surgery today, things could not get worse…they did.  Back-up catcher Brian Schneider got hit in the hand with a pitch and has a hyper-extended left thumb and had to leave the game.  No word yet on how serious it is, but if he goes on the DL too, the Phillies will be left with a 3rd string catcher and have to call up a 4th from the minors.  My head hurts.

And by the way, Utley’s recovery time has been changed from the original 6 weeks reported to 8 weeks.  By tomorrow, who knows?  They may go with 3 months.  But realistically, this kind of surgery can have widely varying recovery times based on the extent of the damage and how the surgery went.

As for Placido Polanco, he has 3-4 weeks before he can return due to bone chips in his elbow.  And catcher Carlos Ruiz was examined in Pittsburgh today and the tests for his concussion apparently did not go well.  That means he may be out even longer than 15 days.  The Phils may as well open their own ER at this rate.

Will GM Ruben Amaro Jr. find a quality infielder to help out?  This will be interesting.  We already know Amaro screwed up when he traded Cliff Lee and probably every team in the league wants to get Lee now.  I have heard many fans say they think we can get him back to Philly.  Stop right there.  Here is the one reason that will never happen: to bring Lee back would mean Amaro would be admitting he made a mistake by trading him in the first place. 

Some men admit when they are wrong, like umpire Jim Joyce admitted he blew the call that cost Armando Galaraga a perfect game.  And when Andy Pettitte admitted he did steroids and was obviously ashamed.  But Amaro?  It will never happen.  Put it out of your minds and move on.

And now the infield is a bigger concern than the pitching.  The Phillies will have at least a month without their 2 All-Star infielders and then an additional month without Utley.  They need help and Amaro has to go make something happen.  Right now, I really don’t want his job.

 

Player photos and photoshopping by Jenn Zambri Photography

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