Orphan's Blog

Dr. Robert Watkins confirmed to Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer Thursday that Shawn Andrews‘ back injury is indeed serious and is not all that uncommon for someone who underwent the kind of surgery that Andrews did last season.

“He has flared up,” the physician said in an interview with The Inquirer. “He does not have an injury to the nerve, and there is no bad sciatic, but he is real stiff, and there is a lot of pain in his back. As he is right now, he’s unable to play football because his back is hurt too badly.”

According to Brookover, Watkins confirmed that no further surgery is required, but that he plans on administering one or two more cortisone shots to Andrews in the near future.

“Then he’ll go into the rehab program that focuses on core strength,” Watkins said. “I don’t anticipate any more surgery. That’s not the current plan. He should start the rehab program by Monday.”

So when should we expect Andrews to return to action?

“It’s hard to give an estimate because you don’t know how he’s going to respond to things,” Watkins said. “As soon as there is a decrease in inflammation, we’ll watch to see how he’s doing in his rehab. He’ll be doing an intensive core stabilization program with levels one through five. When you get to level five, the exercises become very sport specific. Sometimes guys get to a level then have a flare-up, and you have to back off.”

Watkins told Brookover that he believes Andrews will play again in the NFL, although it seems increasingly unlikely that will be with the Eagles. This is the second missed season in a row for Andrews, who is/has battled depression and often times appears to lack a desire to be on the football field.

The Eagles hoped that by bringing in his brother Stacey Andrews and his college roommate Jason Peters, his motivation level would increase, but whether or not that happened is debatable, as Shawn Andrews was sidelined with this back injury through the entire summer training camp and most of the preseason. The Eagles placed him on the Injured Reserve list last week, ending his season before it ever started.

In case you were wondering how serious Brett Myers‘ strained back was, see the eighth and  ninth innings of Wednesday night’s game in Florida.

Leading 6-4 coming into the eighth inning, Phillies‘ manager Charlie Manuel brought Ryan Madson into the game to set the table for Brad Lidge’s entry in the ninth. A year ago, this would have been a foregone conclusion with the game in the bag.

Unfortunately, this is 2009 (or perhaps 1993), not 2008.

Madson allowed a run on a Cody Ross single to left, scoring Jorge Cantu and cutting the Phillies’ lead to a tenuous one run.

Lidge entered the ninth inning having saved his previous three attempts, despite allowing at least a run in each. Unfortunately, Lidge had zero room for error, as the Phillies failed to add any insurance runs in the top of the ninth.

The formerly Lights Out Lidge started the inning by allowing a double to backup first baseman Ross Gload, who moved to third base the following at bat on a Chris Coghlan sacrifice fly. Lidge struck out pinch hitter John Baker for the first out of the inning, but it would be of little consequence.

Lidge blew his 11th save of the season after walking shortstop Hanley Ramirez when he allowed a Cantu single to center field, scoring Gload. He would lose his eighth game of the year on the next play when pinch hitter Brett Carroll scored Ramirez on a single to left center.

Game over. Magic number still at five.

“He’s got to go do it,” Manuel said. “Between him and Madson, they’ve just got to get it done.”

There’s an obvious difference between what they’re got to do, and what they are actually doing. Lidge is now 0-8 on the season with a 7.48 ERA and 11 blown saves in 41 opportunities. Those calling for Madson to be the permanent closer are even more misguided than those of us (me included) still holding out hope that Lidge can find some of his 2008 magic. In 14 save opportunities this season, Madson is 1-3 with a 7.24 ERA and six blown saves. Lidge’s save percentage is 73%. Madson’s is a whopping 57%.

“It’s incredibly frustrating,” Lidge said. “I’m disappointed, but they hit the ball tonight. They did a good job. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll get another chance to get something started again, but, yeah, I’m definitely frustrated a little bit at a loss, but I’m sure there are some things I can do better.”

The Phillies were a perfect 79-0 when leading after eighth innings last season. Lidge and Madson have a combined 17 blown saves in 2009 and the team is 75-10 when leading after eight innings. If the Phillies’ were again perfect this season, then they would be an MLB leading 98-53.

Myers, it seems, is the only other pitcher that Manuel has any confidence (if that’s even the right word at this point) in to get the job done. Unfortunately, Myers is not scheduled to pitch again until he throws a bupplen session on Tuesday, which is just five days before the end of the regular season. And Manuel is not sure what to expect of the results of the bullpen session will be, although Myers has said he expects to return before the season is over.

“We’re waiting to see how long Brett is going to be,” Manuel said. “I mean, right now Brett’s not even in the picture.”

Unfortunately, in all actuality, neither are Lidge and Madson.

The Phillies became just the 12th team in major league baseball history to have four players with 30 home runs or more in a season Tuesday night in Washington.

Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez each hit their 30th home run of the season Tuesday, joining Ryan Howard (38) and Jayson Werth (32), who also hit a solo home run against the Nationals. Ibanez started the night with 28 home runs.

The Phillies are the first team since the 2006 Chicago White Sox to have four 30-home run hitters on its roster when Jermaine Dye (44), former Phillies first baseman Jim Thome (42), Paul Konerko (35) and Joe Crede (30) all hit the mark. The feat has been accomplished just 11 other times in major league history.

The Phillies are first or second in the league in home runs, RBIs, total bases, runs scored and slugging percentage. Until they went into their current hitting slump, they led the league in almost every offensive category.

It is Howard's four straight season with 30 home runs or more. Utley has hit 30 home runs or more in three of the past four seasons. Ibanez hit 33 home runs in 2006, the only other time he has hit 30 or more. Werth, having by far his best season in the majors, has never hit 30 or more home runs in a season.

The 2009 Phillies are the first team in Philadelphia history to have four 30-home run hitters on its roster.

After batting a paltry .193 in the month of August, Phillies outfielder Raul Ibanez appears to be heating up in the month of September. In his last 14 at bats, including his first three of Tuesday's series opener in Washington, Ibanez is batting .500 with three home runs and three RBIs.

Ibanez started his first season with the Phillies in blistering fashion, hitting .359 with seven home runs and 17 RBIs in March and April. He followed that up with an unprecedented May in which he hit .312 to go along with 10 home runs and 29 RBIs.

Ibanez hit a wall in mid-June when he went on the disabled list, missing almost an entire month. Once he finally returned from the DL, Ibanez was clearly a different hitter, possibly still plagued by the injury. Ibanez hit .258 in July, and .193 in August, with a combined total of five home runs and 20 RBIs in 41 games.

The first series of September seemed to spell more of the same for the struggling Ibanez, who was oh for the series against the San Francisco Giants. However, a trip to the Lone Star state was a different story. Despite getting swept by the Astros, the series was a improvement for Ibanez, who went 4-11 with a walk and a home run.

As of the bottom of the seventh inning of Tuesday night's game against the Nationals, Ibanez had three hits with two solo home runs. It is Ibanez's 13th multi-homer game of his career.

It's still early, but if Ibanez can keep rolling along at this pace, he could be just the thing the Phillies' offense needed to get back on track. The Phillies have lost four in a row coming into Tuesday night, and six of their last 10. Despite winning the series against the Atlanta Braves at the end of August, the Phillies' offense has been largely anemic since the Mets series from August 21-24.

The Phillies have two three games series against the Nationals split up by a four game set against the Mets this week and next. In 12 games against the Nationals this season, Ibanez is batting .440 with six home runs and 18 RBIs.

Oh, make that .472 with eight home runs and 20 RBIs.

http://www.hotstovephilly.com/2009/09/08/is-raul-rollin-again/