Injuries, Injuries, Injuries

The injury bug has clearly bitten the Fightins pretty hard this year, with the starting rotation and bullpen taking the biggest hits. Here’s where we stand for the time being.

-Jimmy Rollins will be back with the team starting tomorrow. There has been no official word on whether or not he’ll be in the starting lineup, but the smart money says he will be. Wilson Valdez will likely be the one sent back to the minors, but since he is out of options, he will have to clear waivers first. Shane Victorino has done a tremendous job hitting out of the leadoff spot, batting .300 and entering the night second in the league in RBIs with 32, but J-Roll is the spark that makes this team go. They’ll be thrilled to have him back.

-Carlos Ruiz will also likely be back with the team tomorrow; Tuesday at the latest; after leaving Friday’s game against the Rockies with a sprained ligament in his right knee. Because Brian Schneider is on the 15-day disabled list, Paul Hoover will remain on the roster. Personally, I was silently rooting for Hoover to get hurt as well so we could see The Bearded One’s catching abilities, but the baseball gods didn’t share my hopes and dreams.

-On a not so happy note, Brad Lidge is back to the DL with inflammation in his right elbow. The team says that they knew that another trip to the DL was a possibility after an MRI showed the inflammation, but did not want to risk injecting it with anything, instead hoping that rest would clear up the mess. When it did not, the decision was made to sit Lidge down for a few weeks. In his absence, Jose Contreras will take over closing responsibilities. Contreras is 2-1 with a .68 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 13.1 innings this year. He has been far and away the team’s best reliever, so the hope is that he can keep his hot streak going until Lidge’s elbow is stabilized.

-Finally, J.A. Happ’s return is still a few weeks away. He was able to play catch this weekend and is looking to throw a bullpen session next week. If he is able to do so, he is still a few rehab starts away from returning to the rotation, so my guess is we’ll be seeing Happ some time in mid-June. A long way away, but Kyle Kendrick is finally starting to hit his stride and give the Phils some quality innings, posting a 2.77 ERA in two starts in May, so Happ’s absence doesn’t hurt quite as badly as it could… for now.

-On a totally unrelated note, my buddy Turk and I made it down to Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight. Words could not even BEGIN to describe it. If you watched the game, you could hear how loud the place was. The crowd, the game, everything about the night just screamed Philadelphia passion. I was at the clinching game of the NLCS last year and Game 4 of the World Series, and neither of them even came close to the electricity that was running through the Wach tonight. I’m a baseball man through and through, but this hockey game was hands down the coolest sporting event that I have ever been lucky enough to be a part of. If you can get to a game this series or (fingers crossed) the next one, it’ll be worth every penny. I promise.

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