Phillies activate Victorino, demote Mayberry

With the activation of Shane Victorino, for the first time this year, the Phillies lineup will be fully intact. Victorino, who was has been out since May 18th with a strained hamstring, will return to the Phillies lineup on Friday to face the Pirates. To make room for Victorino, the Phillies demoted John Mayberry to the minors.

The return of Victorino means the Phillies offense is going to feature its complete lineup for the first time this season. With Jimmy Rollins likely to continue leading off, Victorino will probably slip into 6th or 7th spot in the lineup and help to solidify the bottom of the order. As long as everyone stays healthy, no longer will the likes of Wilson Valdez and Michael Martinez pollute the Phillies starting lineup.

Speaking of Martinez, I was surprised that he wasn't removed from the roster to make room for Victorino. Mayberry has proven useful as a solid bat and excellent outfielder while Martinez hasn't proven much at all as a pinch runner and utility guy. The only thing that is keeping Martinez on the roster is his Rule 5 status, but is he really worth holding onto for the entire season if he brings very little value to the team?

Late rally helps Phillies salvage Opening Day win

Well, that was a fun way to start the season. After it slept through the first 6 innings, the Phillies offense woke up just in time for some late heroics, knocking off the Astros, 5-4, on a John Mayberry walk-off single.

Brett Myers shut down his former team for most of the game, only allowing three hits and one earned run in the 7th inning. The Phillies offense looked as bad as many feared it would be early on, failing to work the count and barely threatening to score. Once the Astros turned to their closer Brandon Lyon, though, the offense ignited with a string of singles, culminating with Mayberry's game winning single to center.

Roy Halladay was his usual dominant self early in the game, mowing down Astros hitters with relative ease. He hit a few bumps here and there but only gave up 1 run in 6 innings of work.

Phillies fans who spent the last few weeks worrying about the offense likely cringed through the early innings in this one but were rewarded with a thrilling late victory. While it wasn't pretty, the Phils are certainly happy to start the season with a win. Oh, and some guy named Cliff Lee will look to make it two in a row tomorrow.
(AP PHOTO)

Phillies place Ryan Howard on the DL

After the news came out that he was going back to Philadelphia to be evaluated, we knew this was coming: Ryan Howard has been placed on the disabled list. While the initial reports were that Howard's ankle sprain wouldn't keep him out for long, apparently it was severe enough to keep him out for at least 15 days.

John Mayberry has been called up to replace Howard on the roster. Mayberry is an outfielder so he won't likely be playing first base, meaning Ross Gload and Cody Ransom will likely platoon at first for the next two weeks.

Howard is just the latest in a long line of Phillies players who have spent time on the disabled list. It's amazing this team has even been able to stay in the race with most of their starting lineup having been out for weeks at a time.

Phillies win 6th straight but may lose Victorino

Now this is the Phillies team that we've all been waiting to see! On Tuesday night, the Phillies won their 6th straight game, beating the D'backs 9-5 behind three 2-run homers. With Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and Cody Ransom providing the home run fireworks, the Phillies looked a lot like the team that has represented the National League in the World Series the last two years.

Not everything went perfectly for the Phillies on Tuesday night, however, as Shane Victorino suffered an injury that forced him to leave the game. Word after the game was that Victorino strained his left oblique muscle and he will be evaluated tomorrow. While all the initial reports are that the injury isn't serious, an injury like this could linger and could force Victorino to go on the disabled list. Should that happen, Jayson Werth will likely move to center (and won't get traded) and prospect Domonic Brown could get his long-awaited call-up to the majors and play in right. With the way Brown has been tearing up Triple A pitching (.340 AVG, 5 HR, 19 RBI in 27 games), he could provide a huge spark to the Phillies offense. Of course, the Phils could also simply start Ben Francisco in right and call up John Mayberry, a right-handed bat that has some experience in the majors and can platoon with Raul Ibanez in left.

Despite the bad news about Victorino, you can't help but get excited about how well the Phillies are playing. Their 6 game winning streak has pulled them to just 3.5 games behind the Braves and only 2 out in the Wild Card. With Roy Halladay taking the mound tomorrow, the Phillies look poised to continue their run back into contention.

From bad to worse: Ibanez to the DL

For a team that has been in first place for most of the year, the Phillies haven't exactly been full of good news this season, especially when it comes to injuries. First, the Phillies lost Brett Myers for the season, then Brad Lidge and Scott Eyre were sent to the disabled list. Now, their hottest hitter, Raul Ibanez, will join them.

Ibanez was placed on the 15 day DL today with a strained left groin. He is going to have an MRI on the strain to see if there is any extensive damage, and early word from Ruben Amaro is that Ibanez could be out for more than two weeks. Replacing Ibanez on the roster is John Mayberry, who swung the bat pretty well for the Phillies when he was up last month.

Obviously, losing Ibanez, who was on pace for 60 homers this season, is a big blow to the Phillies, who have already been swinging cold bats lately. We can only hope that the MRI will not turn up even more bad news. Hurry back, Raaauuuulll!

Fun with Phillies Projections, Hitters Edition

Now that we are more than a quarter of the way through the baseball season, the season is really starting to take shape. The quarter pole is the time to start looking at numbers to find the trends and the flukes. Let's take a look at some of the actual projected statistics for a selection of Phillies hitters and see if there is any chance they can meet these numbers:

Raul Ibanez
Current: 17 HR, 43 RBI
Projected: 64 HR, 162 RBI
Considering his career high in homers is 33, there is little chance that Ibanez will continue to be this hot, although he still seems a likely candidate to get a least 40 homers and 120 RBI. Ibanez has to be loving the transition from a pitchers park in Seattle to Citizens Bank.

Chase Utley
Current: 11 HR, 31 RBI
Projected: 43 HR, 121 RBI
While those numbers pale in comparison with Ibanez, Utley is crushing the ball this season. Those totals would dwarf his previous career high's by 10 homers and 16 RBI. Of course, with Utley, it's all about staying healthy. If he can remain in the lineup every day and close to 90%, he should at least get to 40 homers.

Jimmy Rollins
Current: 6 steals
Projected: 23 steals
A lot has been said about J-Roll's slump this season, and he can't steal bases if he doesn't get on them. Rollins hasn't stolen under 30 bases since 2003, and he has already started turning things around (4 steals in the last 10 games), so expect him to get close to 40 again.

Jayson Werth
Current: 8 HR, 8 steals
Projected: 31 HR, 31 steals
Werth was a 20/20 guy last year, can he make the leap to a 30/30 guy? I say doubtful, especially when you factor in that half of his steals came in one game. Werth has a shot at 25/25, which is still a darn good season.

Ryan Howard
Current: 51 strikeouts, 2 steals, 0 errors
Projected: 192 strikeouts, 8 steals, 0 errors
Howard had 4 career steals entering this season, he's absolutely tearing up the base paths this year. Those strikeouts are in line with his career averages, so expect the big man to continue K'ing at least once a game. The fielding seems like a legit turn-around, he had 19 errors last season and has made a concerted effort to become a much better fielder.

John Mayberry
Current: 1 HR, 3 RBI
Projected: 61 HR, 183 RBI
Small sample size be damned, those numbers seem about right!

Check back later for a look at projections for the Phillies pitchers.

Phillies release Giles, cut Mayberry, Carrasco, 3 others

The Phillies continued trimming down their roster in preparation of Sunday's opener and things are shaping up just as I have predicted. Marcus Giles, who signed with the club in the offseason with the hopes of playing second base until Chase Utley was healthy, was released, likely ending his major league career. Once Utley was deemed ready to play, Giles had to see the writing on the wall.

The Phillies also sent OF John Mayberry and P Carlos Carrasco to the minors and informed P Mike Koplove, OF Jason Ellison and IF Pablo Ozuna that they wouldn't be making the major league club. Mayberry had a decent chance to make the club after a solid March but will be better off getting some seasoning in the minors. Carrasco is still a year away, or maybe more. I could see him taking Jamie Moyer's spot in the rotation when the old man finally retires.

There are still a few moves left for the Phillies to make. They still need to sort out their bench with either Geoff Jenkins, Matt Stairs or Miguel Cairo getting cut or traded. They also have to figure out their 5th starter spot, a move that will dictate who gets the final bullpen spot. If Chan Ho Park is the 5th starter, the Phillies will likely keep Gary Majewski in the bullpen and send lefty J.A. Happ to the minors. If Happ gets the final rotation spot, Park will be in the bullpen.

The next moves the Phillies make could be the most interesting. Don't be surprised if they pull off another trade to clear things up even more.

Phillies trade Golson, acquire Mayberry

The Phillies have finally given up on Greg "Toolsy" Golson, trading him to the Texas Rangers for outfielder John Mayberry Jr. Both players are former first round picks who are about the same age and have similar potential, so the trade essentially boils down to the Phillies trading Golson's speed for Mayberry's power.

Mayberry is 24 and spent last season in Double-A and Triple-A. Mayberry has never played a game in the majors but he has shown some nice power in the minors. Baseball Prospectus isn't all that impressed with him, noting that he has a lot of "raw power" but he doesn't have much skill at the plate. His father, also named John Mayberry, played several years in the majors from the late 60's to the early 80's and hit 255 homers in 15 seasons. If the son ends up anything like the father, the Phils will love this deal.

Giving up Golson isn't too big of a loss. He never proved that he could be anything more than a pinch-runner at the major league level and the Phillies already have a couple of guys that fit that bill. Golson never quite had his head on straight with the Phils, maybe a change of scenery will get him to put everything together.

Don't look for either player in this trade to take the league by storm anytime soon, both need more seasoning in the minors. Since both will be entering their peak years in the next few years, if they don't develop soon they might not develop at all. The Phillies like having power options in their corner outfield spots so Mayberry could be of some use to them down the road. He definitely seems more worthwhile than a "toolsy" centerfielder who has shown absolutely nothing at the plate.