After finally getting Jimmy Rollins back in the action and off the DL this past week, the Phillies took a hit, placing second baseman Chase Utley and third baseman Placido Polanco on the 15-day disabled list.
Utley’s out with a sprained thumb that occurred while sliding into second base in Monday night’s game against Cincinnati. He unsuccessfully tried to stretch a leadoff single into a double, staying in the game until the ninth.
An MRI wasn’t conclusive about how bad the sprain is, so Utley is headed back to Philadelphia to get more tests done.
Polanco may require off-season surgery for his ailing left elbow. He received a cortisone injection on Monday for his inflamed elbow that was provoked while diving last Friday. He’ll be a hard loss for the Phillies right now. Polanco leads the National League third basemen in fielding percentage and is third in the NL with a .318 batting average.
Polanco was hit by a pitch in April and has a bone spur in his left elbow that has bothered him ever since. Despite two injections to help the healing it still seems to be a bother and some rest will hopefully do the trick to get him well.
Utley and Polanco were both candidates for starting spots in the All-Star Game in Anaheim, but those hopes are faded. Meanwhile, the Phils have to find players to fill their spots for the time being. It’s still up in the air how long they’ll be out.
So how are the Phils going to look without them?
With seven players now on the DL, if Utley and Polanco are out for longer than two weeks, Philadelphia might be looking to trade.
The Phillies lost a huge part of their lineup with these two infielders, but this gives other players a chance to step up and make their mark.
To replace them short-term, the Phils called up infielder Brian Bocock and utility player Greg Dobbs from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Dobbs was outrighted to Lehigh on June 23 where we was 2-for-17 with one RBI. With the Phils, he’ll play some games at third base. With Lehigh Valley, Bocock was hitting .179 with 12 RBIs and one homerun in 65 games.
Let’s hope Utley and Polanco hurry back.
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