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June 17, 2013 | By Bob Brookover, Inquirer Staff Writer
Not everything Ruben Amaro Jr. has done as Phillies general manager has gone wrong. It just seems that way these days. In the beginning, Amaro's moves were mostly good. His first transaction after replacing Pat Gillick was to acquire John Mayberry Jr. from Texas for Greg Golson, an exchange of two underachieving former first-round draft picks. By no means was it a blockbuster deal, but Amaro at least got an extra outfielder who is still with the team while the Rangers took on a draft bust who is long gone.
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June 12, 2013 | By Rich Hofmann, Daily News Staff Writer
MY PREDICTION was for 88 wins. It was not an outrageous number, although it was a guess that was partially influenced by emotion. It was the last go-round, and I'll acknowledge rooting for it to be interesting, if nothing else. Eighty-eight. I thought it would maybe, possibly sneak the Phillies into the playoffs as the final wild card. Because while this was not a World Series-caliber team, or anything like it, this could have been a good team. Given that it was Roy Halladay's last shot, and how much better Chase Utley was navigating, and how hot Ryan Howard was in the spring, and how the core of the team had championship experience, it seemed possible that they would go down swinging, at the very least.
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June 9, 2013 | By Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
MILWAUKEE - Manager Charlie Manuel glanced at his lineup card, folded over and worn from three hours of baseball Thursday, and summarized his starting pitcher's performance with 10 words. "He took us to a good spot in the game," Manuel said. The manager was describing Tyler Cloyd's 62/3 innings of scoreless ball, but that is a sentence he can use on most nights. The Phillies entered Friday with a winning record for the first time in 2013, and their starting pitching is a chief reason.
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June 7, 2013 | By Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
A surgeon cut into Roy Halladay's shoulder May 16 and five days later the Phillies' erstwhile ace arrived at the team's facility in Clearwater, Fla. There, an athletic trainer tested Halladay's range of motion. It was better than the results from spring training. Halladay, 36, is as optimistic as ever that he will pitch in 2013. The recovery process from shoulder surgery is not precise. The Phillies estimated six to eight weeks of rest from surgery until Halladay can start throwing.
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June 7, 2013 | By Sam Donnellon, Daily News Staff Writer
SOMETIMES THE phone rang in Dunedin or Clearwater. Sometimes it rang wherever Cole Hamels happened to be pitching that day. Sometimes the conversation took place the next day, when the frustration had subsided a bit. But over the last trying month, the phone call would be made. And it would be answered. And whether it was Roy Halladay calling Cole Hamels or Cole Hamels calling Roy Halladay, the topic was pretty much the same, about a well-pitched game that ended in a loss, or more recently, about the aggregate psychological effect such losses have on a pitcher.
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June 7, 2013 | By Bob Ford, Inquirer Columnist
It takes some searching for the Phillies organization to find a reason to believe, really believe, these days. There are games here and there that are uplifting, and individual accomplishments, like Domonic Brown's hot month and Cole Hamels' good start on Wednesday, that can brighten the darkness of a mediocre record. But to believe that the remainder of the season might hold far better things than those that have taken place so far takes some faith and some serious searching. Before Wednesday's game, in the late-morning sun while the groundskeepers prepared the diamond, a 6-foot-6 reason to believe sat in the home dugout and said he will pitch again this season, and he expects to pitch very well.
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May 18, 2013 | By Bob Brookover, Inquirer Staff Writer
Roy Halladay's trip down rehab road has officially started after Wednesday's surgery in Los Angeles went as well as could be expected, according to Phillies team physician Michael Ciccotti. Neal ElAttrache, the team physician for the Los Angeles Dodgers, repaired Halladay's shoulder and rotator cuff in an arthroscopic procedure. ElAttrache also removed the bursa that cushions the shoulder. A bone spur that was found in Halladay's shoulder did not need to be removed. "The major attachment sites of the rotator cuff - the cable, we call it - in the front and the back, they were still attached," Ciccotti said during a news conference Thursday at Citizens Bank Park.
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May 17, 2013 | BY RYAN LAWRENCE, Daily News Staff Writer rlawrence@phillynews.com
THREE MONTHS ago, before the official announcement, Roy Halladay endorsed Cole Hamels as the new leader of the Phillies' rotation. Halladay had started 10 straight times on Opening Day, dating back to his days in Toronto, but in the early part of spring training the aging veteran acknowledged it was Hamels' time. "It should have been his spot a long time ago," Halladay said in February about the then-undecided assignment. "I think it's something he's going to embrace . . . I talked to him about it when we're going out and doing drills, stuff like that, it's time for him now to kind of step up and take charge in those situations and establish himself as the head of the staff.
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May 17, 2013 | BY RYAN LAWRENCE, Daily News Staff Writer rlawrence@phillynews.com
IN THE SAME inning that saw Cole Hamels' day end, the Phils also cut the Cleveland Indians' lead to 5-3, thanks to a two-out, two-run double from Jimmy Rollins. Despite Hamels' lackluster effort, the game was well within reach. But in the next four innings, four different relievers entered and matched Hamels in allowing five runs. A middle of the bullpen tabbed as "mediocre" by general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. less than a week ago was just plain bad. The bad news: There's a chance the relief corps could get worse in the coming days.
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May 17, 2013 | BY RYAN LAWRENCE, Daily News Staff Writer rlawrence@phillynews.com
THE MAGIC WORD during the near-15- minute-long briefing of Roy Halladay's recent surgery and upcoming rehab from Phillies team physician Dr. Michael Ciccotti? Possible. As in, all things are possible. Is it realistic to expect Roy Halladay back on a major league mound this season? According to Ciccotti, "It's very possible. " Would more time to recover - and thus, being shut down for the remainder of the season - help Halladay in the long run? "Very possible," Ciccotti said.