Kuzul

Tell me you haven't heard this one before: Philadelphia Phillies' closer Brad Lidge is likely to spend Opening Day and the 14 days thereafter on the Disabled List. After several offseasons filled with surgeries and rehabilitation for Lidge, he and the Phillies' fan base were overly optimistic of a full, healthy season from the once perfect closer.Though he had the tell tale signs of an arm injury—most notably the lack of velocity on his fastball—Lidge told the media several times over that he was healthy. As it turns out, he's not. The injury came as a bit of a surprise Friday morning, as Lidge had just returned to the mound this week after being sidelined with some tendinitis. No one anticipated the news that he had been dealing with some shoulder soreness—something that he had successfully kept hidden away from the spotlight. For that reason alone, when Lidge and general manager ...

When Cliff Lee decided to re-join the Philadelphia Phillies in mid-December, the first thought racing through the mind of every Phils' fan rotated around a star studded rotation that would help the team get the revenge they declared they would seek following a bitter ending to the National League Championship Series.As the initial shock wore off, some of us baseball scribes posed a more interesting question—How many pitchers are too many for the Phillies? The addition of Lee shored up a mediocre bullpen an interesting way. He would now join Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels to form a front four that averaged at least seven innings a start in 2010. Even the fifth starter, Joe Blanton, averaged more than six innings a start last season. In large part thanks to Halladay and Lee, the Phillies' lead the league in complete games with 14, and the bullpen threw a ...

Generally, when some of a team's best prospects are having a good spring, the first thing that comes to your mind isn't whether or not they've improved their trade value—but that's one of the greatest things about baseball. After you get past watching your favorite team don their spring uniforms for the first time, and later on in the spring, have a general idea of what the team will look like when it takes the field on Opening Day, some of the spring's most impressive players will have found new homes with minor league affiliates, the most notable of which are the team's promising young talents. Despite tearing the cover off of the ball or throwing scoreless inning after scoreless inning, the team isn't ready to promote your favorite prospect. Their performances haven't gone unnoticed, however. Scouts have been following your team all spring long, watching some of most promising ...

There's been no shortage of drama in Philadelphia Phillies camp, specifically in regards to the health of an aging club. When Brad Lidge and Placido Polanco joined All-Star second baseman Chase Utley on the sidelines this week, the city of Philadelphia went into what some would consider panic mode. With little middle-infield depth, are the Phils in a bit of a bind? An interesting possibility arose early Friday morning when another camp riddled with a bit of drama, the New York Mets, finally announced the inevitable—the team had released another former All-Star in second baseman Luis Castillo. After months of speculation, the two sides finally parted ways, when Castillo, who was scheduled to start for the Mets at second base today, asked for and was granted his release. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, as general manager Sandy Alderson and manager Terry Collins had reportedly preferred other options at ...

For those of us who we're hoping for a healthy spring for the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater, Fla., we may be in for a rough month. Future left handed specialist Antonio Bastardo has been moving slowly and gingerly through the month of March and Chase Utley is nursing patellar tendinitis in his right knee, which was recently treated with a cortisone injection. The Phillies may have received their biggest blow of the spring on Saturday, however, when rookie right fielder Domonic Brown learned his hand was broken. It's been a rough spring for Brown, and at a glance on Saturday, things seemed to be improving. After going 0-for-15 during the first few weeks of spring training, Brown finally broke loose of that goose egg, hitting a solid single up the middle. Once he got to first base however, it wasn't hard to tell he was in a good deal of ...

With both the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues underway, Spring Training has officially begun. As pitchers fine-tune their command and overall "stuff" and hitters try to refine their swing, the rest of us can only look on in awe, now waiting for the games that actually count in eager anticipation. However, there are a select few who are looking forward. Heading that group of select few are General Managers who will be looking to upgrade their teams next off-season. It seems ridiculous to think that, but as they send scouts to watch potential free agents, we must realize that is indeed the case.So, as teams prepare for the long haul of the regular season, general managers and players in contract years alike will look to strut their stuff, hoping to land the big contract. From power-hitting first basemen to slick fielding shortstops, these players will not be flying under anyone's radar. ...

Earlier today, the baseball world got some difficult news to swallow when the St. Louis Cardinals' ace Adam Wainwright was experiencing some serious pain in his right throwing arm, and that more than likely, the 29 year old will undergo Tommy John surgery, ending his 2011 season before it begins. The subject of numerous highlight reels thanks to that nasty curveball, not being able to watch Wainwright throw is a loss to baseball fans everywhere—not just those in St. Louis. His injury sets the stage for another interesting debate. With the runner up shelved, can anyone stop the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner from re-capturing his title? Without Wainwright, there is a significant gap between Halladay and the rest of the league. The Cardinals' ace finished second in last season's voting, capturing all but four of the second place votes after Halladay took home the award unanimously. To sum last season up ...

With all of the hype and expectations surrounding this Philadelphia Phillies team, we can't say we didn't expect this insane media coverage. That being said, it seems like anything that the Phillies' rotation (insert catchy nickname) does is newsworthy. Before their grand introduction press conference last week, it was reported that the group gathered around a table for breakfast. Yes, that made the tabloids. So, of course, when word hit the media that new "ace" Cliff Lee was "injured," the media sounded off in a frenzy and had Phillies fans scared half to death. Personally, the first I heard of any such injury was when Ryan Lawerence of the Delco Times reported that Lee's first bullpen session was cut short. That's probably what sparked this whole powder keg. However, there does seem to be some validity behind it. According to multiple sources, including Lee and Ruben Amaro Jr., Lee had felt some discomfort in ...

Heading into the 2011 MLB season, we all know about the players who are going to be their good old, productive selves. Roy Halladay is going to anchor a star-studed rotation, Albert Pujols is going to continue to hit bombs as a St. Louis Cardinal, at least for one more season, and Joey Votto will continue to show us why his 2010 National League MVP Award was no fluke—and those are just a few of the MLB's consistent greats. However, a baseball team is composed of 25 players, and they can't all be All-Stars.A lot of times, it's a team's role players that make them great. I think you needn't look any further than the 2010 San Francisco Giants club, who won the World Series by riding the likes of rookie starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner and August waiver-claim, Cody Ross. For the sake of this article, we're going to call ...

Maybe it's just me, but this off-season has seemed incredibly long. From the moment that Cliff Lee's deal with the Philadelphia Phillies became official on December 15, 2010, to Phillies' fans, the wait for Spring Training never felt longer. The days seemed like weeks and the weeks, like months. Now that pitchers and catchers are reporting in just two days, the feeling is almost too good to be true. With that in mind, however, not everything can be roses, even for a team that has a legitimate staff of four aces. Even the Phillies have numerous questions surrounding their arrival in Clearwater, Florida, and though some of them have been given the "dead horse" treatment, the following story lines are certainly worth keeping an eye on throughout Spring Training. Take a look at the top five Spring Training questions the Phillies' will look to resolve and/or answer before re-packing that bus with ...