When the Philadelphia Phillies take the field tonight against the Florida Marlins and attempt to lengthen their 1/2-game lead over the Atlanta Braves, they’ll do so without having to deal with shortstop Hanley Ramirez.

“Hanley aramirez not starting. Says back sore from HBP Monday. # Marlins,” tweets Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post.

As Capozzi says, Ramirez is still a little sore after he got popped by a pitch during the first game of Monday’s doubleheader with the same Phils.

This should drastically improve the Phils’ chances of winning this game, as Ramirez is one of the best in the game. However, this means that the Phillies will likely lose it.

Many people thought this was inevitable. But, many also wrote the Philadelphia Phillies off in 2010, saying “it’s just not their year.” Injuries, a poor bullpen and a woefully underachieving lineup have the Phillies in a fight for the National League East that could have been a lot easier than it has been.

But it’s been a struggle. And with roughly three weeks to go in the season and six games against the Atlanta Braves remaining, the Phillies have taken the lead in the NL East.

They took out an obnoxious Florida Marlins team on Tuesday night 8-7, while the Braves were shutout against the powerhouse Pittsburgh Pirates.

As of right now, the Phillies have a 1/2 game lead in the East. The Marlins and New York Mets are pretty much irrelevant at this point as they are nine and 11.5 games back respectively. This is clearly between the Phils and the Braves.

Like we just mentioned, this is far from over. A 1/2-game lead is nothing, especially with six head-to-head games left to play.

But, this is what Philadelphia fans had been waiting for all season and many didn’t think they’d see. It’s now the Phils’ division to lose.

The Philadelphia Phillies are finally beginning to getting their team back in order. They got Chase Utley back this week, and now the team has activated Ryan Howard a little quicker than expected.

According to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Howard pretty much had to be activated. He was supposed to make another rehab start tonight at Lehigh Valley, but they took him off the DL because Ross Gload had to be sent there with a groin strain.

So, Howard is in the lineup tonight, starting at first base and batting fourth. Also in the lineup tonight is Domonic Brown. He’ll be giving Jayson Werth the night off and now it looks like he’ll spend the rest of the year on the team.

Gload can’t come off to the DL until a few days into September, when the rosters will be expanded any way. So there is no reason to send Brown down at this point. He’s a nice left-handed bat off the bench (like they need more lefties).

GM Ruben Amaro, Jr. said that they wanted to send Brown down to Triple-A for a bit just to get him some regular at-bats. But, that’s not happening and Brown is here to stay, possibly for good. And when I say “for good,” I mean Werth is gone after this season.

The Philadelphia Phillies have been without their stud first baseman Ryan Howard for a couple weeks. Some had speculated that he could return this past Tuesday, but that was a long shot.

Now, he seems to be aiming for next Monday.

“There’s still a little bit of soreness,” Howard said. “I actually felt good running today.”

According to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Howard has begun testing his ankle at the plate and in the field. He’s been doing some sharp cuts to see how it feels. He’s also been dealing with getting used to a heavily taped ankle.

“I’d rather take a few extra days to be safe,” Howard said.

When Howard returns, it’s likely that Dom Brown will be sent back to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to get some regular at-bats. He’s gotten two of them in the Phils’ last five games.

Down the stretch run, the Philadelphia Phillies acquired Roy Oswalt to help them get back in the race for the NL East title. Combine that with getting Chase Utley and Ryan Howard back, and the Atlanta Braves losing Chipper Jones, and it looked like the division was theirs for the taking.

But not so fast. David Kaplan of CSNChicago.com has learned that the Braves are close to acquiring Derrek Lee from the Chicago Cubs. As a 10-5 guy – 10 years of service and the last five with the same team – Lee has a right to refuse any trade. But Kaplan is hearing from Lee’s camp that he would approve a trade to the Braves because they have a chance to win the division and make a World Series run.

We don’t know what exactly the Cubs would get in return, but Kaplan doesn’t think they’ll get much. Lee has a sore back and has had a down 2010. Basically, they’d be getting Lee’s contract off the books.

Stay tuned on this one.

As bad as it looked when Ryan Howard sprained his ankle on second base a few weeks ago, the Philadelphia Phillies got off pretty easy. Howard is expected back in the lineup soon, but don’t expect it to be this week.

“Charlie says chance of Howard playing this series is “slim,” tweets David Hale of the News Journal.

Some had speculated that Howard could return from the DL on Tuesday, but that’s not looking good. The Phillies would probably prefer that Howard get a rehab assignment in first, but we’ll have to see how they play it.

We’ve seen several reports that the Philadelphia Phillies are going to activate Chase Utley from the DL on Tuesday. But, the reports they link to say that he is merely returning to Philly after a rehab assignment in Clearwater, FL. That doesn’t mean he’s being activated or that he’ll play immediately.

Special assistant to the GM, Charley Kerfield, doesn’t think Chase is ready to go yet.

“They’ll make the final decision [in Philadelphia],” Kerfeld said. “But I think he probably needs a couple more games.”

Utley played both games of a double header yesterday and thinks he feels good, but he didn’t say he was ready to be activated either.

“So far, so good,” Utley said between games. “I have no idea [when or where he'll play next]. It’s something we’ll have to discuss when I get back to Philadelphia.”

“I think he needs some more bats,” said Kerfeld, also between games of the doubleheader. “He looks fine. He just needs some more pitches.”

So, please ease up on the “getting activated today from the DL” talk. He’ll get in there shortly, but it might not be today. We know he’s returning to Philadelphia today, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be in the lineup tonight.

UPDATE: Ok, he’s off of the DL.

The Philadelphia Phillies have endured their share of injuries this year. And you know that’s a fact when you start getting upset that Ross Gload got hurt. But, they might finally be getting some people back.

A source tells CSNPhilly.com that Chase Utley will begin a rehab assignment Saturday night in Single-A Clearwater. It was originally thought that he wouldn’t be back in the Phillies lineup until early September, but the quick healer seems to be proving once again that he’s a…..quick healer?

There is speculation that he could return to the lineup sometime during a 10-game homestand that starts on Tuesday, but that will depend on how his thumb responds to playing baseball.

It would also be a plus if the Phils could get Ryan Howard back. He is scheduled to come off the DL on Tuesday, but who knows if he’ll actually be ready for that.

“Tuesday?” manager Charlie Manuel said, mulling the question. “Right now, I don’t know. We’ve got to see how he feels.”

Howard puts a lot of pressure on that left ankle when he hits, so the team will need to be careful with it. He might take some minor league at-bats before returning to the lineup, but he’s confident that he can get back out there next week some time.

“It actually feels pretty good,” Howard said. “The past three days, the swelling has really gone down.”

We’ll see, that ankle was pretty messed up.

The Philadelphia Phillies took yet another hit to their infield when they had to shelve first baseman Ryan Howard on the 15-day DL. They brought up John Mayberry, Jr. from Triple-A, but they needed to do something else.

That something else was trade for Mike Sweeney from the Seattle Mariners. When Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik saw the 215 area code on his phone, he probably knocked over an assortment of small house pets and potted plants in an effort to make sure he got to pick it up. Thinking back to the trade that got them Cliff Lee, he was probably drooling over what he could do to the Phils next.

So yeah, the Phils got him to send them Sweeney in exchange for a player to be named later (Roy Halladay?) or cash considerations. The 37-year old is hitting .263 with six home runs this year, which means he’ll be the exact same thing as having Howard in the lineup.

The inevitable has finally happened. After all of the optimistic talk coming from the Philadelphia Phillies and Ryan Howard about how his ankle isn’t too bad and he shouldn’t miss more than a few games, it turns out is was all rhetoric.

The Phillies have placed Howard on the 15-day DL retroactive to August 2nd with an ankle sprain.

Typical Phillies BS talk. “Oh, it’s just a little tightness” or “he has some discomfort, but nothing major,” and then they hit the DL. Such crap.

This means that Ross Gload and Cody Ransom should get some serious playing time for the next two weeks. That should help them catch the Atlanta Braves, who have a three-game lead in the NL East.

The Philadelphia Phillies got yet another injury scare on Sunday against the Washington Nationals. In the first inning, 1B Ryan Howard left the game when he tweaked his ankle sliding into second base.

But, x-rays were negative and, according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, manager Charlie Manuel doesn’t think that Howard will need to hit the DL.

“Manuel said he doesn’t think it’s a DL situation for Howard. Howard hopes he can play in a couple days,” Zolecki tweets.

This would be huge for the Phillies, who now trail the Atlanta Braves by just 2.5 games in the NL East. With Chase Utley already missing extended time, this team can’t afford another major blow.

Finally, the rumors are over and the deal is done. According to Ken Rosenthal of Foxsports.com, Roy Oswalt is the newest member of the Philadelphia Phillies. And yes, that includes even Domonic Brown, who just came up to the team yesterday.

“The players in the Oswalt deal, which is still not official: J.A. Happ, OF Anthony Gose, SS Jonathan Villan [sic]. #Phillies #Astros #MLB,” Rosenthal tweets.

A few minutes later he tweeted, “done deal.”

The names Happ and Gose have popped up repeatedly, but Villar is a new one. Villar is 19-years old and was hitting .272/.332/.358 with two homers, 36 RBI and 38 stolen bases with Single-A Lakewood this year.

And as far as that $16 million option for 2012? It’s a mutual option and, with this trade, will increase from $1 million to $2 million if the Phils pick it up and Oswalt declines.

This is the third major acquisition the Phillies have made in the last calendar year. Last year at this time they traded for Cliff Lee. In the offseason, they acquired Roy Halladay. Now? It’s Roy Oswalt. Welcome to the Phillies.

Sources tell ESPN’s Jayson Stark that a deal with the Houston Astros is in place and everything is agreed upon. Now, we wait for Roy Oswalt to waive his no-trade clause so that he can officially become a member of the Philadelphia Phillies.

According to the source, the Phillies would send left-handed starter JA Happ to the Astros along with two other players. It would be Single-A first baseman John Singleton and another prospect.

Happ is a nice pitcher who has spent most of this season on the DL. Still, he’s been incredible since early 2009 and barely missed out on Rookie of the Year honors. Oh, and he comes cheap.

Getting Singleton as well would make this a nice deal for the Astros, who aren’t competing for anything any time soon, so they don’t need the 32-year old Oswalt. However, a source tells Stark that the team would be covering $12 million of Oswalt’s salary through next year. He is owed about $5 million for the rest of this year and another $16 million next year.

Now, we wait for Roy.

MLB sources tell Mark Berman of FOX 26 in Houston that the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros have a deal in place for starting pitcher Roy Oswalt. According to the report, they are just waiting for Oswalt to waive his no-trade clause.

At this point, the Astros have told Oswalt that the money and players have been agreed to and they are just awaiting his response.

We don’t know the terms of the deal, but we really don’t know if we like this. Yes, Oswalt is a stud and could help the Phillies greatly. But he also costs a ton (again, we don’t know the money portion other than that he’s owed $5 million this year, $16 million next year and has a club option for $16 million in 2012) and has a lot of wear and tear on him.

The 32-year old has a 3.42 ERA this year and you can ignore his 6-12 record because the Astros are pretty awful.

We would have to think that the Phillies would be sending JA Happ, Domonic Brown, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard to the Astros in order to make this deal work. Ok, we’re kidding.

But, not about JA Happ. This is another reason this deal concerns us. JA Happ is only 27-years old and partially unproven, but he is 13-4 in the last two years. He had a 2.93 ERA in a full season last year and a 1.76 ERA in limited starts this year (forearm tightness). Is he a surefire reliable starting in the majors? We can’t say that. But, what if this dude can ball? You’d be giving him up (along with whatever else) and getting a guy who is five years older and tends to break down.

Let’s not even mention the fact that the Phillies biggest problem is their awful bullpen that includes David Herndon and Danys Baez. Brad Lidge is hardly a sure thing either. GM Ruben Amaro Jr. seems to be chasing down the Cliff Lee deal. You messed up, Ruben. It happens. But don’t go making a bunch of other moves to try to fix the one you missed.

Proceed with caution.

The fans in Philadelphia have been chanting for Domonic Brown to join the Phillies for some time now. Previously, the offense was struggling and someone needed to do something. Phillies fans just figured they’d bring up the savior and he’d change everything.

Well, Ruben Amaro Jr. decided to wait. He only brought Brown up to “The Show” (that’s what we call it here at OTR) because Shane Victorino was sent to the DL.

So far, it looks like a good move.

In his first ever at-bat in a Major League uniform, he ripped a double high off the wall and scored Jayson Werth. He would later come around to score.

He later scorched a ball to right field for another hit and would eventually score again. If you didn’t see the game or the highlights, this kid flies around the bases. It’s not just that he has quick legs, it’s that they are each about 11 1/2′ long. It takes him three steps to get to first base.

Then he hit a sacrifice fly later in the game. He’d end up going 2-for-3 with two RBI’s and two runs scored. Not bad.

He badly misplayed a line drive in the ninth inning, allowing a run to score. But the Phils were up 7-0 at that point, so who cares? If we were getting cheered on like he did, we might have opted to go for the spectacular play too, as opposed to letting it bounce and playing it on a hop.

For those of you dying for the Philadelphia Phillies to call up their top prospect Dom Brown, you don’t have to wait any longer. Centerfielder Shane Victorino was sent to the 15-day DL today with a strained oblique. And that means it’s Dom Brown time.

Brown has been ripping up the minor leagues in the past couple years. He started this year in Double A, but was quickly moved up to Triple A, where he continued his torrid pace.

The 22-year old has hit .327 with 20 home runs and 68 RBIs in 93 games this season in Double A and Triple A. Many wanted him brought up when the Phillies’ bats were slumping so badly a couple months ago. But we’re glad they didn’t do it. The last thing this kid needed was to feel like he had to be a savior.

Brown is likely starting in right field tonight and will wear #9.

Last season, the Philadelphia Phillies had Chan Ho Park in their starting rotation to start the season. Most everyone knew this was a bad idea.

However, when they sent him to the bullpen, he flourished. He was an important reliever on a team that went to the World Series. Then, the New York Yankees signed him to a one-year $1.2 million deal in the offseason. He..um…hasn’t been as good for them.

Photo Caption: Out of ideas, the Yankees have even tried Park at catcher this year.

Now, according to ESPN’s Jayson Stark, the Yankees are trying to move him.

“Here’s a big name to add to your distinguished list of available relievers: #Yankees trying to unload Chan Ho (7 HR in 32.1 IP) Park #trades,” Stark tweets.

If I’m a Phillies fan (and I am), I’ll take Park back. He was phenomenal out of the bullpen last year, and I’d take the chance that he could help again this year. Danys Baez and David Herndon are garbage. Chan Ho could possibly help out a terrible bully.

The 37-year old Park has already been on the DL this year (with diarrhea?) and has a wonderfully efficient 5.57 ERA.

What could the Yanks possibly be asking in return? You like Tastycakes? Free passes to the Philadelphia Zoo? Timmy Kelly singing you “Happy Birthday” at your next birthday bash? What do you want? Just say it.

We’ve got some good news for Philadelphia Phillies fans, and some bad news. The bad news is that SS Jimmy Rollins is hurt again. He was limping throughout today’s win against the Colorado Rockies. In addition to that bad news, we have additional bad news: Brad Lidge is still your closer (but that’s neither her nor there).

But, the good news, according to MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, is that the X-rays were negative.

“Jimmy Rollins has a bruised left foot. X-rays were negative. But was definitely limping throughout the game,” Zolecki tweets.

The diagnosis is a foot contusion. At this point, we don’t know if he’ll need a day or two off, or if he’ll require a trip to the DL. It doesn’t sound like anything DL-worthy, but you know how the Phillies can be. “It’s just a little bit of tightness….” then the next day the dude goes to the 60-day DL.

More Roy Oswalt rumors! Foxsports’ Ken Rosenthal is told by a source that the Houston Astros pitcher doesn’t want to be sent to the Philadelphia Phillies. So, it looks like Oswalt could just stay put and play for a loser. We mentioned earlier that the St. Louis Cardinals don’t think they can get a deal done for him either.

“I’d be surprised if Oswalt goes (anywhere),” an AL executive told Rosenthal. “It sounds like both he and the Astros are difficult.”

Well, he does have a full no-trade clause in his contract. So, if he doesn’t want to go to Philly, he’s not going to Philly. They could offer to guarantee his $16 million in 2012, but reports are that they balked at that idea.

We don’t blame them. The Phils’ best bet may just hope that JA Happ returns to 2009 form.

Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Jayson Werth didn’t start today against the Colorado Rockies. With all the trade rumors flying, it wouldn’t be too difficult to connect the dots between the trade talk and him not playing today.

Well, according to Jon Paul Morosi of Foxsports.com, it has nothing to do with a trade and he says not to be alarmed.

“Werth isn’t in #Phillies lineup today. But don’t start wondering. “Day off. Nothing more,” source says. #MLB #Rays,” he tweets.

Since he used the hashtag “Rays,” one would have to think that they are anticipating getting Werth down there. We’ve heard his name connected with Tampa Bay previously.

We still have another week to go, so we’ll see if Werth ends up getting moved.

There has been a ton of speculation about Houston Astros right-hander Roy Oswalt lately. Where will he go? Will he waive his no-trade clause? Will he require his new team to guarantee his $16 million salary for 2012?

But one of the big theories was that he could be headed to St. Louis to join a Cardinals rotation that doesn’t really need him. He would have teamed up with Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright and Jaime Garcia. That’d be a pretty filthy four starters.

But, a source tells Jon Paul Morosi of Foxsports.com that the Cardinals don’t feel like it’s going to happen. They just don’t feel confident in their ability to pull of the trade. They don’t really have the players the Astros want, and the two teams are in the same division, so Houston would probably rather not if they can help it.

This would probably leave the Philadelphia Phillies as the leader for Oswalt’s services. They are actively looking to add a starting pitcher and should have enough players to make Houston happy.

Of all the potential concerns that the Philadelphia Phillies would have this season, they didn’t include hitting. How would Cole Hamels do? Could Brad Lidge regain his 2008 form? Will the bullpen be able to get it done?

Those were all perfectly good questions for the 2010 Phillies. The one thing they didn’t have to worry about was hitting. This filthy lineup that included Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jayson Werth, Jimmy Rollins, Raul Ibanez and Shane Victorino would be absolutely fine. That they could count on.

But something funny happened…..the lineup stinks to high heaven. They can barely score one run in a game, despite the fact that they managed a win against the St. Louis Cardinals Thursday night. Yes, they won, but they almost squandered yet another great pitching performance from Hamels.

So what do they do? They fired hitting coach Milt Thompson.

It seems kind of stupid. These are guys that have hit in the past. All of a sudden, it’s Milt Thompson’s fault? Of course not. The team is looking to do something – anything – to get this lineup going. This probably won’t mean much, but the Phils were running out of options.

“It’s part of the business,” Thompson said. “I ain’t even mad. If somebody else can get them going and they can get in the playoffs this year, that would be great.”

That sounds like a guy that knows full well that it isn’t his fault. And good for him. He’s taking the high road. The lineup’s problems are squarely on the players, not anyone else. It’s not even Charlie Manuel’s fault for changing the lineup every day. He’s just trying to get these guys to figure something out.

Will any of this matter? Probably not.

“I did all I could,” Thompson said. “They’re just not responding this year. A lot of injuries and everything. We just couldn’t get it going. I’m not considered the scapegoat. I’m serious. I work hard. I know that I’m good at what I do. I’ll just move on and do it somewhere else.”

We love his attitude. He knows it’s not him.

“I can’t get mad at that,” he said. “If they want somebody else in there they think can get these guys going and we’re in the middle of the season and we still have a shot, that’s fine.”

That’s his way of saying, “go ahead and see if anyone can get Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino to remove their head from their collective asses. Good luck with that.”

Greg Gross, who served as Larry Bowa’s hitting coach from 2002-2004, will take over Thompson’s responsibilities.

Thompson said that the Phillies said that maybe the Phils hitters needed a new voice. But, how does a new voice change their awful hitting?

“I can’t explain that,” he said. “I can only go by what they told me. They want a new voice. You’ve got to allow them to do that. I’m not upset. I worked hard for the Phillies. I did the best I could.”

Houston Astros starter Roy Oswalt has been linked to the Philadelphia Phillies for a few days now. The Phillies are apparently unaware that he is a pitcher and not a big right-handed bat.

Here’s the problem: Oswalt has a no-trade clause.

And now it seems that Oswalt will only waive his no-trade clause if the team acquiring him will guarantee his $16 million club option for 2012. We don’t necessarily blame him, he wants to get paid.

But, sources tell Buster Olney of ESPN that the Phillies are balking at that notion. So, unless Oswalt changes his stance or the Phillies gave and offer up money they probably won’t have, he could be staying put in Houston.

In the beginning of the season, Phillies fans and local media were pushing the organization to resign outfielder Jayson Werth and his beard as quick as possible.  How quickly things have changed.  The slumping Werth is now on the trading block and it seems his perceived value in Philadelphia is plummeting.

Buster Olney and Jayson Stark of ESPN.com are reporting the Phillies are working “very very aggressively” to move Werth and they hear the Rays are involved in the discussions.  Maybe a possible three-way deal, involving the Houston Astros and Roy Oswalt.

Photo Caption: Jayson’s smoking during the games is one reason Ruben is looking to trade him.

The injury plague has really put a damper on the Phillies season.  The lineup they started with to begin the season has only been intact for four games.  The biggest injuries being the loss of Chase Utley (currently) and Jimmy Rollins at the start of the season.  And now with the Phillies 7-games back of the Atlanta Braves, they are getting desparate to make a move. 

Jayson Werth seems to be the scapegoat.  With Werth’s deal ending at the end of this year and minor-league sensation Dominic Brown ready to be called up, the Phillies might as well trade the right-handed bat before they lose him for nothing.

If Werth is traded by the deadline, the Phillies will be left with a lot more left-handed bats in the lineup (Dom Brown is left-handed) and a lot less Mach 3 razor blades in the clubhouse.

It’s widely known in the greater Philadelphia area that the Phillies are in trouble this year. Despite adding Roy Halladay, the team has underperformed. The bullpen stinks and the lineup has been sub par at best. Kyle Kendrick got sent to Triple-A Lehigh Valley this week (that’s what experts in the business call a demotion) and Jamie Moyer left Tuesday night’s game with an apparent elbow strain.

In other words, they need some help.

Maybe that help will show itself in the form of Houston Astros starter Roy Oswalt. According to Jayson Stark of ESPN, the Phils are spending quite a bit of time looking into acquiring the stud right hander.

“Follow-up on Phillies tweet: Phillies have talked about lots of starters. But hearing they’ve spent a lot of time exploring an Oswalt deal,” Stark tweets.

This doesn’t mean that anything is imminent. For crying out loud, he’s due to make $16 million this year with a club option for $16 million next year (with a $2 million buyout). This payroll is already stretched pretty thin, and while it would be nice to add him, I’ve heard he’s not that good of a hitter.

First of all, the Phils really don’t have any more prospects to shop around the league. Dom Brown is an elite prospect, but he is the only decent player they have left in their farm system. They can’t move him, because he’s going to take Jayson Werth’s spot when he is either traded or leaves via free agency at the end of the year.

We’ll see what happens, but if this trade did go down, it would create quite a starting rotation for the Phils. Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt? Criminy! But it might not matter, the bullpen might still be too crappy and the lineup too cold.

Probably the only decent prospect left in the Philadelphia Phillies farm system is Domonic Brown. Well, the outfielder left today’s Futures game with a tight hammy, which isn’t great news.

It sounds like the coaches just wanted to be safe and remove him from the game, but he’ll need to be careful with this type of injury.

The good news for the Phillies is that he wouldn’t be up with the club any time soon anyway. Unless they plan on trading Jayson Werth (a possibility) or Raul Ibanez (good luck), there is no room for Brown in the outfield.

We aren’t making nearly as big of a deal about this as everyone else. Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Jayson Werth came under fire in the past couple days when he chased down a foul ball only to have a fan catch it instead. He calmly got heated and cursed out the guy, who was there with his son.

He was later asked about it and kind of half-assed apologized. He didn’t say he felt terrible, he just explained that he was going for what would have been the last out of the inning and was pissed that he couldn’t get the ball.

Of course, the local news seized on this. They found the guy and went to his home to interview him and the family had to act all upset like, “well, we’re still going to root for the Phillies, but…” Get over it. Jayson Werth did not molest your child, he merely cursed in front of him….at his dad….in front of hundreds of thousands of people…and didn’t say he was sorry.

Get over it. Here is the clip. Also, be sure to check out our “Jayson Werth is the Most Interesting Player in the World” Facebook page. Like it! Liiiike iiiiit!!!

Great news, Phillies fans! That stud 2B you have? He’s going to be out a while! That’s right, sources tell MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki that Chase Utley is headed to New York to have surgery to repair torn ligaments in his thumb.

The team hasn’t given a timetable for his return, but Peter Gammons estimated earlier today that he’ll be out for about five to six weeks.

One would have to think that GM Ruben Amaro will add “2B and/or 3B” to his list of needs. He already has a starting pitcher and bullpen help on that list. He should probably include “bench player who doesn’t blow” to it too.

Utley injured his thumb while sliding into second base this week against the Cincinnati Reds.

According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, the Philadelphia Phillies are interested in Arizona Diamondbacks starter Dan Haren. It’s well known that the Phils are looking to add another pitcher, and if they can get Haren it will seriously bolster their starting rotation.

Supposedly, the Diamondbacks are scouting some of the Phils’ farm system. They would obviously want Domonic Brown, but good luck with that. He’s the last top-tier prospect that the Phillies have and we can’t see them parting ways with him. Especially with Werth hitting free agency this year and Ibanez set to turn 39 at some point. They’ll need Brown.

Haren is in the second year of a four-year, $44.75 million contract that will pay him $12.75 million over the next two years.

If the Phillies can pull this off, their rotation of Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Dan Haren and a returning JA Happ could be deadly.

According to MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, the Philadelphia Phillies have activated Jimmy Rollins from the disabled list, just the way he guessed they might do earlier.

But, the Phillies made a series of moves that includes sending Carlos Ruiz to the Mark Prior List and designating Greg Dobbs for assignment. Zolecki gives us the whole story via his Twitter account.

“Jimmy Rollins activated, Carlos Ruiz on the DL, Mike Zagurski recalled, Greg Dobbs DFA’d. Mathieson optioned to Triple-A,” he tweets.

This isn’t entirely a surprise on Dobbs. His biggest problems this year have come when he is on the baseball field. It seems that he just isn’t very good at the sport. .152? Even on a team with a lousy bench that is unacceptable. His defense is just as reprehensible.

Photo Caption: The Phillies will be scrambling to replace what Dobbs brought to the table.

As for Ruiz, this is going to be painful. OTR doesn’t know about you but Brian Schneider is tough to watch at the plate. At least with Rollins back we won’t have to watch him go back-to-back with the likes of Wilson Valdez or Juan Castro. To give you some perspective, the former hit a home run on Saturday and it was his first since 2004.

Since 2004!