Breaking news: Bastardo to the DL; Escalona recalled

A strained shoulder will send left-hander Antonio Bastardo to the 15-day disabled list. Once again, Sergio takes the Escalona Escalator back up from Lehigh Valley. Carlos Carrasco is considered the front-runner to assume the vacant spot Thursday in Atlanta, but nothing has been finalized. The Phils will need to make another roster move at that time. (Murphy defeated Zolecki by seconds in the race to tweet the news first).

Comments

[joe l]

Attribute it to Internet tube latency.

[Greg V]

I liked the phrase Escolona Express better! That man has got to be tired from running back and forth! He should have his own limo!

[Jack]

Did anyone else notice in the last thread that G-Town Dave argued that Rollins had a bad attitude and was being selfish because he was trying to watch video and get himself out of his slump?

I found that argument quite amazing.

[Mac Tonight]

I hope Escolona has invested in EZ Pass.

[G-Town Dave]

Jack: Did you read the article EF posted? In it, J-Roll is quoted as saying that Charlie wanted him to get away from the game for awhile, & would be "mad" when he found out Jimmy had continued to take his BP swings, etc.

Obviously, watching video & taking extra swings haven't worked a damn bit. Maybe Rollins could swallow his ego, realize he's not succeeding in doing things his way, & take some coaching?

[J. Weitzel]

EZ Pass Escalona has a nice ring.

[adam]

Not sure where this comes from, but see Thursday's starter

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/teams/phi

[J. Weitzel]

Not from a reliable source apparently, since nothing has been officially released.

[CarlosBeltransexual]

It's too bad that there are "no sellers" and the trade market is frozen; this would be a good time for Junior Amaro to make a move for a starting pitcher. Oh well.

[TNA]

Just a open question to BL -- does anybody think Rollins is still out of shape? He seemed to be sporting several extra pounds at the beginning of the season and continues to seem more plodding on the basepaths this season as well as in the field. Does anybody know where to find splits on his time to first base and on steals and compare them to previous seasons? Possibly his weight? To my possibly biased eyes, he looks a lot softer this year. If his core is weaker, it could explain his slower bat and mediocre percentage on steals.

[EZPass Escalona]

Hilarious box score

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2009_06_28_lesafa_hdmafa_1

[TNA]

I said this before and I think it bears repeating; Amaro Jr needs to shut up about shopping for pitching. Especially while the market is non-existent. He needs to be saying things that puts more accountability on the current roster to perform and improve internally. For the love of god, he should stop his weekly announcement that the Phillies are looking "for pitchers across the board," but "are running into a lack of supply due to lots of teams in possible contention." This is so dumb on so many levels.

[CarlosBeltransexual]

TNA, one of the biggest flaws in Amaro's thinking is that there is some clear-cut list of buyers and sellers. This isn't a Sadie Hawkins dance where the Phillies must stand along the wall until some bedraggled "seller" approaches them with a star to give away. Yes, it's true that with so many teams in contention you're not as likely to see a salary dump to the Yankees. It doesn't mean that there are no pitchers that are available for a fair price.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

I just assume that Amaro is poor mouthing the market to drum up interest for a real trade . . . Actually, I don't have a clue what he's doing but, I assume we'll know more come August. The fact that so many teams are "in contention" really points up how awful the NL really is anymore. Read a funny column about the "race" in the NL Central:

Pennant fever eludes the Pirates
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
By Gene Collier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
There was no indication whatsoever yesterday that Ian Snell was considering demoting himself to Class AA Altoona to see if he could strike out all 27 hitters, so the atmosphere around the Pirates remained fairly stable, except, of course, for the advancing collective psychosis.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09181/980770-150.stm#ixzz0Jsws2REs&C

Some one suggested Snell as a patch for our rotation recently. He's going real cheap now. They'll pay him to play for you just as soon as they'll pay him to play for Altoona.

[TNA]

Anybody think the Phillies should take a flier on Brandon Backe, who should soon a FA?

[TNA]

Anybody see that Drabek and Flande were both selected for the Futures Game? I'm looking forward to Flande's first start in Reading.

[vegas]

This was mentioned in the last thread, but big Jon Rauch would be a nice bullpen addition.

TNA- I agree, Jr. should keep the mouth shut about pitching help. I'm sure he gets asked about it daily but I wish he would handle it differently.

[DPatrone]

Amaro should kkep his mouth shut. Everyone knows he's looking for pitching and so is everyone else. The price isn't coming down.

If a Penny for Donald deal was actually possible a few weeks ago, then maybe Amaro should have pulled the trigger. He's trying to steal somebody. Unlikey to happen.

[Len39]

I really don't want to see Brad Penny in a Phillies uniform. He's another laboring 6 inning guy.

Anyone turning on J-Roll proves why the fans belong in the stands and aren't in the front office or on the field.

[TNA]

someone said that the Phils should trade for Heath Bell. if they were to trade with the Padres for a reliever, they should be targeting Cla Meredith, a good fit for CBP.

[NEPP]

I stand by my comment that perhaps a Rollins trade should at least be explored. Its not nothing against him but it makes more sense than the "lets trade Werth and promote Mayberry or Taylor to RF" crowd. It also has nothing to do with being a "front-runner" as I've had to defend Jimmy on numerous occasions. If we could get premium talent in return for him, then it might be something to consider. If not, keep him and hope he recovers at least a semblance of his previous ability.

[Bedrosian's Beard]

Right, it's a big mystery that the Phlllies are looking for pitching and b/c he's discussing it, Amaro won't have any luck.

[EastFallowfield]

Isn't it possible that Amaro saying they're looking for more pitching is a way of putting more accountability on the current pitchers? I'm sure most of the pitchers who are in jeopardy of losing their job or their role are aware that if pitchers come to the Phils someone's job will be taken.

[EastFallowfield]

Yo, new thread