This has been a long, hard, disappointing season for the Phillies, but finally the turning of the roster means a good thing (well, part of it is.)

In:

Welcome home Chase Utley!  The first of the the big names was activated off the DL today.  Tonight, he should play in his first game since Game 5 of the NLDS last October.

I’m not convinced that Utley can save the team, but I am interested to see what his presences alone does.  (For my full thoughts on this, check out my post on What Chase’s Return Really Means.)

Out:

As excited as I am about Chase Utley’s return, I am just as excited to say that Michael Martinez was optioned to Lehigh Valley AAA to make roster space.

There is no way that this is a bad thing.

In:

Erik Kratz came back to Philadelphia on Monday.  It’s his 4th or so stint with the Phillies this year.

I’m pretty sure that Carlos Ruiz will be catching pretty much every inning of every game for a little bit.

Out:

Brian Schneider twisted his ankle during the game on Sunday in a completely avoidable collision at home plate.  But whatever.  He becomes the 14th different Phillie to go on the DL this year.

Karilee Jeantet is Lead Contributor for A View From Section 116.  Follow her on Twitter @kjeantet and @viewfromsec116 and e-mail her AViewFromSection116@gmail.com.

Jose Contreras Photo Credit: Steve Trapani

Another day, and more Phillies roster changes.  (Yes, it does feel like it happens everyday.  It’s quite exhausting honestly.)

Out:

Jose Contreras elbow was ruined Friday night.  ”The Big Truck” is done for the season, and quite possibly done for his career.  He will have elbow surgery, but having the same surgery twice within 7 months of each other cannot lead be a good thing.

In:

Micheal Schwimer is back!  He has allowed a lot a runs in his short first stint with the Phillies.  So I’m sure he will help out tremendously this time.  At least he’s good at pointing to the sky when someone hits a home-run off of him.

Out:

Erik Kratz was optioned back to AAA.  Since he had about 2 AB’s the entire year, he won’t be missed.  The best part of him being optioned means that the Phillies don’t feel the need for 3 catchers since Carlos Ruiz’ hamstring is feeling better.

Oh, and also they needed the roster sport for the other

» Continue reading “As The Phillies Roster Turns: Part 5″

Cliff Lee - Photo courtesy of: MyPHL17.com

It has been awhile since we have checked in on the Phillies roster and the Phillies front office have been busy.

Cliff Lee is back!  He has missed 3 starts because of a strain oblique, but he will pitch tonight at Citizen’s Bank Park against the New York Mets.

Of course, with Cliff Lee’s return, a player has to go spend some time in Lehigh Valley.  Michael Schwimer has been sent down.  That’s not a bad thing.  His ERA this year is an atrocious 8.53.

Jim Thome is still down in Clearwater doing some rehab or another.  Not quite sure what.

Chase Utley is back in Philadelphia working out with the team.  According to Charlie Manuel on MLB on XM Radio, Utley will head down to Clearwater when the team leaves after this homestead.

Ryan Howard is also in Clearwater.  He tweeted yesterday that he started taking BP and doing some light fielding.  Moving in the right direction.

David Herndon is on the DL.

Mike Stutes is enjoying time there too.  There is no time-table for their return.

Catcher Erik Kratz (Everybody Kratz your hands!) is enjoying time in Philadelphia as a bench player.  Pretty sure he has done about zero for the big club so far.

Brain Saches is also up.  So far, he has done nothing beneficial.

Hopefully the next episode will have more than just Cliff Lee returning.

Karilee Jeantet is Lead Contributor for A View From Section 116.  Follow her on Twitter @kjeantet and @viewfromsec116 and e-mail her AViewFromSection116@gmail.com.

It’s a miracle!  Hunter Pence is alive and playing in tonight’s game.  After not being able to lift his arm yesterday, he has quickly come back to full life and health.  Yesterday, he couldn’t do anything, and today, he’s perfectly fine.  Apparently he also got his medical degree because he knew that the MRI would show nothing.

He is back in right field and batting clean-up. One of these things is good, the other, well, we’ll have to make due.

Make due that is until Ryan Howard is alive again.  (He apparently is a little less dead then he was just a week ago.) Howard’s infection is clearing up.  He will be able to resume light baseball activities in about a week.  He will then head down to Clearwater for his rehab.

However, it’s not all good news because this is the Phillies we are talking about, and I’m pretty sure that it says somewhere that for every good piece of news, there must be at least one piece of bad.

Michael Stutes is dealing with a sore shoulder.  He has not been pitching particularly well, not it turns out, that might be because he’s not healthy.

The following is from Philled In by David Hale:

Michael Stutes is dealing with shoulder soreness that has kept him out of the past two games and may limit his availability tonight, too.

“I think they’re just trying to stay away from me,” Stutes said. “I don’t know. It’s nothing that — I don’t think it’s anything big. I don’t really know. They don’t really tell me anything.”

Stutes said the pain is not as severe as what he experienced at the end of spring training, but he said the team should have a better understanding of the problem “in a few days.”

Thank you for joining us tonight.  Tune in next time for another edition of “As The Phillies Roster Turns.”

Karilee Jeantet is Lead Contributor for A View From Section 116.  Follow her on Twitter @kjeantet and @viewfromsec116 and e-mail her AViewFromSection116@gmail.com.