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After receiving an MRI yesterday, it was determined that Brad Lidge’s injury woes will continue: he has a strain in the back of his right shoulder rotator cuff. In other words, according to Courier Post Online, this is equivalent to a tear, and he could even be out until July.

This is far from good news that the Phillies have received throughout this year’s spring training. Domonic Brown broke his hand after ending a hitless streak of over 15 at-bats. Chase Utley is out indefinitely with tendinitis in his right knee. Placido Polanco hyperextended his left elbow, on which he received surgery this offseason. Roy Oswalt suffered a scare when he was hit by a Manny Ramirez line drive.

And now, after returning from bicep tendinitis, Brad Lidge—who was healthy for spring training for the first time in a long time—remains on the list, which at this point seems endless.

With every injury comes a fill-in, and in this case like all others, the Phillies’ closer role is currently vacant.

While the temporary replacement of Brad Lidge has yet to be finalized, manager Charlie Manuel thinks that the role should and will go to Jose Contreras. Ryan Madson was in the running, but Manuel, among others, believes that he will do better in the set-up role for now, where he has consistently pitched well over the past few seasons.

Before we think more on this likely decision, let’s take a look at Contreras’ role with the Phillies last season.

In his first season with the Phillies last year, Contreras also pitched in his first season as a reliever. He made 67 appearances in relief last season, more than any other Phillie. In 56.2 innings of work, Contreras posted a 6-4 record with a 3.34 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. He also recorded 13 holds and yes, four saves. He also struck out 57 batters who faced him.

Not bad considering his age (38 last season) and amount of appearances, is it?

Although the closer role is much different than a relieving or even a set-up role, let’s take a look at Brad Lidge’s stats from last season.

Lidge, who spent a long stint on the DL last season, had a record of 1-1 in 50 appearances comprised of 45.2 innings of work. In that amount of work, Lidge posted a 2.96 ERA and struck out 52, posted a 1.23 WHIP and 27 saves.

Take a look at the ERA, strikeouts, and WHIP. These stats between the two are oddly similar. And while innings pitched, record, appearances, and saves are incomparable (due to injury and different roles), the comparable stats are very close to each other. Although ERA is a bit more distant that Ks and WHIP, 38 points isn’t too far off.

So the question now is this: will Jose Contreras be able to handle the temporary role of closer?

There are arguments on both sides. One could argue that he can because he did so well as a reliever and closer last season, and the fact that he was 38 years old shows he’s durable and can continue posting such stats. In fact, both pitchers allowed the same amount of home runs (five), and Contreras actually allowed fewer walks than Lidge in more innings of work—Lidge allowed 24 walks; Contreras allowed only 16.

On the other hand, Contreras only has one season of relief work under his belt and his ERA is a bit too high for a reliever. He could also be drilled this way: there is only one closer on the team, and there are four or five relievers. Relievers can be split up by day and batter; closers must face all batters in the ninth inning in order to record the save.

And then there’s more. Since the rotation will most likely go deep into games—at least seven or eight innings per game—only a reliever or two will be used, and the closer will be used often. If Contreras had to pitch three or four out of five games, would he be able to handle such stress on his arm? Remember that he was a reliever for the first time last season and would be called upon maybe every three days. Starters are called upon every five days. An average closer could be called upon four of five days. That’s a lot of work.

If the cons ultimately outweigh the pros, Ryan Madson could look like a great option. He’s in a contract year and he’s got to deliver. If he shines and Contreras falls, then this might be the golden opportunity for Ryan Madson to nab the closer role and more money for the 2012 season. Madson, who’s been a reliever for most of his career, knows how to handle the eighth (and somewhat the ninth) inning situation through much experience. Could he end up as the Phillies’ closer?

For the meantime, Phillies fans’ minds are wondering whether Contreras is the right decision for the closer role.

Is it the right move?

Only time will tell.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

It was recently announced that the Milwaukee Brewers acquired Yankees’ pitcher Sergio Mitre in a deal that sent outfielder Chris Dickerson to New York in return.

At the moment, this seems like a win-win situation for both teams: New York announced that Ivan Nova and Freddy Garcia will round out the rotation, and Bartolo Colon will move to the bullpen, most likely as a long reliever, a role which Mitre possessed last season.

Dickerson, on the other hand, has seemed like a bit of a nuisance for the Brewers. At age 28, he was acquired from Cincinnati in the deal that sent Jim Edmonds there from Milwaukee. Once in Milwaukee, he posted a very slight .206/.250/.268 split last season, though he was a bit in 2009, where he posted a .275/.370.373 split. However, he’s still only 28, so he’s got time to develop.

This is hailed as a smarter move for the Brewers, whose rotation is currently suffering. Zack Greinke is currently on the DL due to a cracked rib and will miss a handful of starts at the beginning of the season, and Shaun Marcum, who was acquired from the Blue Jays this offseason is experiencing some shoulder issues, though he will only miss one regular season start, which is good news for Brewers fans.

Because of these issues, the Brewers are lacking some depth.

Yovani Gallardo, who has been an outstanding pitcher for the Brewers and is currently predicted to pitch 219 strikeouts this season, will most likely make the start on Opening Day, though the Brewers have yet to confirm who will start for them against the Reds for the season opener.

Slated to start after Gallardo for Opening Day weekend is Randy Wolf and Chris Narveson, respectively. While this currently doesn’t pose too many risks, the Brewers need a pitcher to fill the role.

This is most likely why they went after Mitre.

Mitre, who is 30 years old, has made at least one start each of the past seven seasons, but he has primarily served as a reliever in the past. Could this be his opportunity to become a starter again?

For right now, it looks like the Brewers plan on using him as a starter until Greinke is healthy again, and he could potentially be the long reliever once Greinke returns.

But is this really a smart move to make?

Mitre’s career record is 13-29, and his career ERA stands at 5.27. He’s posted a 1-1 record this spring training for the Yankees with a 5.73 ERA.

ERA that is consistently over five and a 31 percent win rate over his career? Are these the stats of a truly reliable pitcher?

While Mitre may get more opportunity in Milwaukee, there’s still not a lot of certainty with him as to whether he will succeed or fall.

Like Dickerson, Mitre still has time to develop in the minors if necessary, but that’s probably not the reason the Brewers pursued him.

Regardless of what role he plays, can Sergio Mitre get the job done in 2011?

Please share your thoughts. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

News of Chase Utley’s tendinitis in his right knee has spread around the baseball world over the past week. While Utley doesn’t look like he’ll need any serious treatment, he’s already received a cortisone shot in the knee, but it didn’t have any effect. He’s rested and stayed off the knee as much as possible, but that was to no avail. He’s even suggested that he could receive either a steroid injection or lubricant injection to speed up the process, but neither are certain as of yet.

Regardless of whether it’s been because of being hit by a pitch or simply overworking himself, Chase Utley has definitely felt the impact of an injury on playing time. Over the last few seasons, Utley has been riddled with injuries, from the broken hand to the torn thumb ligament last season, and now the tendinitis.

ESPN’s SportsCenter recently showed a statistic about second basemen that displayed the amount of additional wins a team has when a second baseman plays every day over his replacement. Chase Utley led this statistic with roughly 21 wins. Boston’s Dustin Pedroia came in second, but by a long shot, only providing roughly 14 wins.

Even though this statistic is both astounding and heartbreaking to Phillies fans, it’s not like they’ve seen replacements at second base in the past. If Utley won’t be ready for Opening Day or even beyond, someone will have to replace him temporarily.

Utley is doing all he can to avoid surgery to help his tendinitis, chondromalacia (cartilage deterioration), and bone inflammation.

But if surgery becomes inevitable in the future, which is still extremely rare, who would fill his shoes?

In no particular order, here are five players who are the most likely to fill in for Chase Utley if needed. 

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Charlie Manuel is undoubtedly one of the Phillies‘ best franchise managers. He’s brought the team one of two franchise World Series championships, and he’s won the NL East division each of the last four seasons, making it to at least the NLCS in three of them. He’s compiled a 544-428 record since becoming the skipper in Philly, which amounts to a .560 winning percentage. That is the third best all-time winning record for any Phillies manager.

Manuel is in the last year of his current contract, which was a contract extension he signed on top of a two-year deal signed (with a third-year club option, which was enacted last year), and he’s yet to sign an extension on his current deal.

This dilemma has many Phillies fans concerned that their skipper won’t be returning next year. While it may be too early to call whether he will in fact come back in 2012, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro, Jr. has assured fans that he will be able to negotiate a deal if all goes according to plan.

As for Manuel, he previously said the same thing as Albert Pujols: he doesn’t want to negotiate anything during the regular season next year and wants to wait until the offseason.

There are many possible reasons why Manuel has yet to ink a new deal with the Phillies. Among them is the fact that this is the last year of his deal and many athletes and coaches/managers in all sports who are a bit older in age retire after a championship victory. Take a look at the Phillies right now. They are early favorites to win it all this season, and if that happens, Manuel might consider calling it quits and ending on a good note.

There is also the possibility that Ruben Amaro, Jr. has other plans. The Phillies probably didn’t choose Ryne Sandberg to be their AAA-affiliate manager just because he was a manager for the Cubs‘ single A affiliate. Sandberg has said that managing the Cubs has been one of his lifelong dreams, but when interim manager Mike Quade received the position, Sandberg was out of an option if he wanted any chance to manage a major league team.

This opportunity just might be his chance.

If Ruben doesn’t want Charlie Manuel to come back (which would result in a lot of controversy from fans), he could choose to promote Sandberg to become the next manager of the Phillies for 2012.

Sandberg has said that he enjoys being at spring training this year and the players (notably Chase Utley) have commented that they really enjoy working with him.

If Sandberg has already formed chemistry with some players this year, imagine what he could do as a manager for the Phillies in the future.

I’m not here to say that Sandberg would be a better option than Manuel. Manuel’s got the big-league experience with the Phillies and he’s already proven stability in the managerial position. Sandberg might be a risk to sign, but he could come cheaper and lead the Phillies to a future World Series, regardless of whether Manuel wins or doesn’t win the World Series this season.

Manuel would be a safer bet, but Sandberg could be a good investment for the future.

And seeing that Ruben knows about investments in players and with Charlie, only the sky’s the limit.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Philadelphia Phillies shocked the entire baseball world when they signed Cliff Lee last month to a $120 million contract. Ever since the fans in Philadelphia have been anxiously awaiting the start of the season. With the addition of Cliff Lee to their already-stellar rotation consisting of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels, the Phillies will be unstoppable and their opposition has the daunting task of facing two of the four aces every series.

Although the Phillies have seen the departure of fan favorite Jayson Werth, who signed a huge $126 million contract with division rival Washington, they have Domonic Brown and Ben Francisco to fill the void successfully. While the Phillies’ outfield has less depth with the departure of Werth, fans will be eager to see what Brown and Francisco can do.

The Phillies fans are ready to watch their team start the 2011 season and potentially make it to the World Series once again. After losing to the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS this past October, the Phillies have much to prove to themselves: one with their rotation, and two by avenging their NLCS loss.

Expectations could not be higher for the Phillies and I believe they will live up to them.

These are the reasons why 2011 will be a magical year to remember.

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