Jun 5 Polanco went 3-for-4 in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader against the Arizona Diamondbacks, belting two home runs, driving in three runs and scoring twice. Over his last six games, the Phillies' infielder is 14-for-25 with a double, two homers and nine RBI. He's improved his batting average by more than 50 points over that span. Advice: Polanco and Chase Utley will continue to split time at second base for Philadelphia. However, if David Bell doesn't get on track soon, Polanco could take over as the team's everyday third baseman. For the season, Polanco is batting .307 with three home runs and 17 RBI in 40 games. Polanco had fallen out of favor for the starting second base job with the strong play of Chase Utley and Urbina will be a solid addition to a bullpen that has been far from flawless. Urbina has a 1-3 record, nine saves, a 2.63 ERA, and 1.28 WHIP in 25 games this season. At this point, he will be the setup man for closer Billy Wagner and a solid option to pick up spot saves when Wagner needs rest. Fantasy owners should be assured, it's highly unlikely the move shifts the positional controversy they had at second base to closer position.
Well, the way our league is structured, a player is eligible as a position if he plays X number of games at that position. At the beginning of the year it goes off of what they did last year and I guess Inge qualified at catcher based on last year. That's good news because it means I can play him at catcher, even though he plays third, and Varitek is the only catcher right now who has better offensive numbers than Inge. I actually drafted Victor Martinez ahead of Inge, but he's done squat (npi) this year.
This is working out pretty well so far. Polanco's stats since the trade: Code: SEASON TEAM G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP SLG AVG 2005 Detroit Tigers 10 42 10 17 2 0 1 7 22 2 2 2 0 .435 .524 .405 His HR was a walk-off to beat the Giants. Tigers are 7-3 since Polanco joined the team.
Another 2-4 night for Polanco, another win for the Tigers. Back to back complete game victories for Tiger pitchers. Sa-weet.
