For Phillies fans, the start of the new work week was also another opportunity to see how our new ace Roy Halladay was coming along during spring training. What we received was a solid pitching performance against the Pittsburgh Pirates, but also a scare from our new third baseman, Placido Polanco.
Polanco was out at third base as usual Monday when Delwyn Young of the Pirates hit a weak pop-up back to the pitcher’s mound. Polanco ran over to retrieve the fly ball when he stumbled over the mound and collapsed to the ground in pain. Trainers rushed to his aid and helped Polanco back to the dugout. Early reports projected that he may be out 2-4 weeks with a knee injury. While the knee is the correct source of the problem, Polanco said later that no MRI is needed and that he expects to be cleared and ready to go by the end of the week. Okay, we can exhale…for now.
Halladay was Halladay again. He pitched 5 strong innings giving up his first run of spring training along with 3 hits while striking out 6. Halladay said after the game that he his gearing himself up to throw 100 pitches by his last start of the spring, but felt really strong today.
The scare to Polanco was just that. Tuesday is a big day for him though to test out how sore the knee really is. I injured my knee playing wiffleball a couple years back and finished the tournament I had that day only to hobble to the doctor’s office the next day. I had torn my meniscus and had crutches for two weeks. My wiffleball dream had been put to rest. Without an MRI, let’s hope that he is up and running soon with minimal pain. The Phillies have the day off on Thursday and Polanco expects to play Friday if he is called upon.
