A day after Chase Utley injured his thumb the Phillies decided to place both him an third basemen Placido Polanco on the 15 Day Disabled List. Polanco missed the past four games due to a elbow injury, in which utility men Juan Castro and Wilson Valdez filled in. Polanco has already missed some time this season due to the same elbow problem. On the other hand, Chase Utley has only missed two games with flu like symptoms.
So far there is no timetable in which the talented two will return. You can imagine that the Phillies wanna get these guys back as soon as possible, because they have been big contributors. Both are leading there respective positions in all star voting. The Phillies do however, have some options to replace Utley and Polanco. Juan Castro and Wilson Valdez have already seen a lot of time, because of Jimmy Rollins' injuries. Both have played great defense and have came through ,sometimes, in the clutch. As well, Greg Dobbs was recalled, and could play some valuable innings at third base.
I would think that Manuel will probably platoon Wilson Valdez, who's a right hander, and Greg Dobbs, who's a left hander. When the Phillies face a lefty Valdez will play 2B and Castro will play 3B. When the Phillies face a righty Castro will play 2B and Dobbs will be at third base. The reason Castro slides to third verse a lefty, is Wilson Valdez plays much stronger d, in my opinion at 2B then at 3B. Manuel may give Valdez some at bats verse righties, over at 2B.
As I mentioned before, Greg Dobbs was recalled due to Utley and Polanco being placed on the DL. In addition to Dobbs, another utility man, Brian Bocock was called up. Bocock was selected off of waivers by the Phillies, from the Toronto Blue Jays, this past January. This year with Triple-A Lehigh Valley he hit only .179 with 1 home run.
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