The Reds swept the Phillies in Cincinnati last month.

A few notes before the series opener:

• The Phillies finally optioned left-hander Raul Valdes to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He was 1-0 with a 7.65 ERA in 10 appearances. Right-hander B.J. Rosenberg takes his place. He was 1-3 with a 4.30 ERA in seven starts in Triple-A. I’m not sure why he got the nod over Lehigh Valley relievers like Joe Savery (3.00 ERA in 12 appearances), Mike Stutes (3.86 ERA in 17 appearances) and Cesar Jimenez (3.20 ERA in 10 appearances), but I’m guessing it’s because he has a power arm and gives the bullpen length. But Rosenberg has 24 strikeouts with 20 walks in 37 2/3 innings. But clearly something needed to be done to shake up the bullpen. The middle relievers have struggled tremendously. If you’re asking about Chad Durbin (7.30 ERA in 12 appearances), I think he gets a longer leash because of his contract (one-year, $1.1 million, plus a club option for 2014), plus the Phillies considered him a valuable asset in mentoring some of the younger arms in the bullpen.
• The Phillies called Roy Halladay‘s right shoulder successful, but he faces long odds to pitch successfully again.
• In case you missed it yesterday, Jimmy Rollins spoke openly and honestly about the reality facing the Phillies: They better get this thing turned around or the front office might blow it up.
• Reds left-hander Tony Cingrani is looking forward to facing Cliff Lee tonight. “He’s why I run off and on the field, because Cliff Lee did that when I was growing up,” he said. “I also like how he uses his fastball.” Cingrani is 2-0 with a 2.89 ERA in five starts. He has dominated left-handed hitters, who have just a .554 OPS against him. Chase Utley is hitting .158 with a .554 OPS against lefties this season. Ryan Howard is hitting .190 with a .590 OPS against them.
• The Phillies have hit .275 with a .331 on-base percentage and .395 slugging percentage in their last nine games, although they are averaging only 3.9 runs in those games. They were hitting .237 with a .296 on-base percentage and .374 slugging percentage in their first 32 games. It is far too early to say the Phillies are turning around their fortunes, but I guess it’s a step in the right direction. Still, they could use some power somewhere. Too many singles, not enough extra-base hits to score runs.

Jimmy Rollins

Just 15,486 fans watched at Veterans Stadium.

Since then Rollins has helped the Phillies win one World Series, two National League pennants and five National League East championships. He won the 2007 NL MVP Award, four Gold Gloves and made three All-Star teams. But as the Phillies’ record sat at 19-22 following yesterday’s loss to the Indians, Rollins acknowledged the Phillies need to get going quickly because the reality in front of them is not pretty.

“We’ve just got to make sure we do what we need to do before they blow it up,” he said.

You can bet the rest of Rollins’ teammates understand this. If the Phillies don’t turn this around quickly, Ruben Amaro Jr. could hold a fire sale that would dwarf last season’s trades that included Shane Victorino, Hunter Pence and Joe Blanton. Essentially, these next couple months could be the last time you see the core of Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Carlos Ruiz and Cole Hamels together.

“There’s nothing I can do about it, except play a winning brand of baseball,” Rollins said. “And if we don’t win, it’s up to the guys up top, whether they decide to blow it all up and ship us out.”

Read the entire story here.

As inconsistent as they have been, they believe they have a shot to make the postseason.

So they took a chance today and signed talented, but controversial right-hander Carlos Zambrano to a Minor League deal. Zambrano will report to Clearwater, Fla., where he will begin working out in extended Spring Training. He has until July 1 to prove himself before he can exercise an opt-out clause in his contract.

“No promises were made, but this was just an opportunity to add some starting pitching depth,” Phillies assistant general manager Scott Proefrock said.

Zambrano went 7-10 with a 4.49 ERA in 35 appearances (20 starts) last season with the Marlins. He is 132-91 with a 3.66 ERA in a career spent mostly with the Cubs, but he has become notorious for his outbursts, which have involved fights with teammates like Derrek Lee and Michael Barrett, battered water coolers and criticism of fans. He has been suspended twice as a result.

But if Zambrano shows he has enough in his right arm to help the Phillies, they are willing to take a shot. They need help with right-hander Roy Halladay having shoulder surgery today in Los Angeles. Halladay said he hopes to pitch again this season, but that is no guarantee.

“We got a feel for his desire to come back and his sincerity about that and what kind of condition he’s had to put himself in,” Proefrock said about Zambrano. “Again, it’s a Minor League deal. It’s not like we’re signing him to a $90 million deal like the Cubs did. You still want to make sure you get a guy that’s committed and will conduct himself appropriately. As far as we’re concerned that was satisfied.”

The Phillies watched Zambrano throw Monday in Miami, and apparently liked what they saw. Zambrano could not find a team to sign him in the offseason, but he pitched in Winter Ball and participated with Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic.

Since then he has continued working out, hoping a team would give him a shot.

“Jorge Valandia, one of our instructors in the Minor Leagues, was a GM with that club (in Winter Ball) and had some interaction with him,” Proefrock said. “We got positive feedback with everyone who has interacted with him recently. Again, we’re just looking to add some depth and some experience. We did our due diligence as we always do. It’s just good business.

“One of the things that happened to us in the offseason, once we signed (John) Lannan, we pursued a lot of different guys to give ourselves some starting pitching depth in Triple-A. Scott Kasmir was a guy that we tried to sign to a Minor League deal. Once we signed Lannan and had five Major League pitchers on the staff, it’s tough to sign that kind of guy and say that you have an opportunity for him. Would we have done this without Roy? I can’t say we wouldn’t have because we’ve talked about it with other guys in that situation to add some depth and experience in Triple A. It’s low risk, hopefully high reward.”

There is good reason for that. Phillies leadoff hitters entered tonight’s series opener against the Indians with a .273 on-base percentage, which ranked 27th in baseball. But when I asked Manuel if he imagined anybody else hitting leadoff other than Rollins or Revere he said he didn’t based on personnel. That had me thinking about Michael Bourn in the Indians clubhouse. He signed a four-year, $48 million deal with Cleveland in January. He also has a .348 on-base percentage from 2009 through this season. (He is hitting .293 with a .350 on-base percentage in 64 plate appearances this year.)

The Phillies could use some production like that right about now.

“I think I might have been on their hit list,” Bourn said about the Phillies’ offseason interest. “I don’t know how high or what their target was or if they were worried about what Scott (Boras) was going to do. There are a lot of teams that say they want you to be part of their organization, but you don’t know if they really do. You have a whole bunch of teams that say they’re interested. But when it comes down to it there’s about three or four of them. Really, two.”

The Phillies had some interest in Bourn, but not as his original asking price, believed to be considerably higher than the deal he eventually struck with Cleveland. Had the Phillies not acquired Ben Revere from the Twins in December, the Phillies might have made a late run at Bourn in January, but that never happened.

“Getting adjusted to play in Philly is different,” Bourn said about Revere’s early struggles. “When you come here it’s different. They want you to do everything right now. That’s the only advantage I would have had because I’ve played here before. But I’m really happy here. Yeah, I guess the Phillies were interested a little bit. But that’s not how it went down.”

Revere, who started tonight on the bench, is hitting .400 (8-for-20) in his last eight games.

But he said this afternoon his back is still grabbing him like Sunday in Arizona, when he could not pitch because of back spasms. He said he got examined Monday and said “everything looks fine.” He said he hopes he isn’t out long.

“Hopefully it kind of goes away here pretty quickly,” he said. “It’s kind of weird. I’ve never had anything like it before. I threw that morning and felt fine. I went through BP and the last five minutes of BP it kind of grabbed me.”

It’s been a while, I know. I took a few days away from the blog to recharge the batteries. But it’s back to baseball tonight at Citizens Bank Park.

This week is a good test for the Phillies. They went 4-3 in San Francisco and Arizona and return home to play five games against the Indians and Reds. The Indians outscored the Phillies in two games two weeks ago in Cleveland, 20-2. The Reds swept the Phillies in three games in April by a combined score 16-4. If my math is correct, that’s zero wins, five losses, six runs for and 36 runs against. So I guess we’ll see if that 4-3 road trip meant anything.

A few random stats to digest:

• From Elias Sports Bureau: Ryan Howard drove in the game-winning runs in the 10th inning Sunday. It’s the 13th time Howard has had extra-inning go-ahead RBIs. The only active players with more extra-inning, lead-assuming RBIs are Raul Ibanez (16) and Placido Polanco (15). Adam Jones and Albert Pujols also have 13.
• I took a look in yesterday’s Inbox at the Phillies’ All-Star candidates. Interestingly, I found Chase Utley‘s .858 OPS best among NL second basemen. He’s third in baseball behind only Ian Kinsler (.911) and Robinson Cano (.895). Among NL second basemen, Utley is first in slugging percentage (.514); tied for first in triples (two) and home runs (seven); second in hits (41) and RBIs (24); third in batting (.289) and on-base percentage (.344); tied four fourth in runs (21) and sixth in doubles (seven). There is no question Utley has been the team’s bright spot offensively on a team that has struggled to score runs. (The Phillies’ three losses in San Francisco and Arizona were by a combined three runs.) Where would this team be if Utley’s knees were keeping him from the lineup?
• The Phillies are 12th in the league with a 4.11 ERA. Remove Roy Halladay and they have a 3.60 ERA, which would rank sixth. I’ve said this for a while, but I consider the complaints about the Phillies’ pitching overblown. Halladay isn’t the same and he might never be, despite his optimism. No matter who takes that fifth spot while Halladay is out (right now it’s a four-man rotation), it’ll be an improvement over his 8.65 ERA. And while the ERAs of Jeremy Horst (5.51 ERA), Chad Durbin (6.17 ERA) and Raul Valdes (7.00 ERA) are scary, we’re not really pinning this team’s record on three pitchers in the front of the bullpen are we? Typically those guys are pitching when the Phillies are trailing or when the starter has gone less than six innings (again, which means things probably haven’t been going well). They aren’t pitching in too many high-leverage situations. Clearly, they need to pitch better, but this team’s problems fall mostly on the offense, which is 13th in the league averaging 3.54 runs per game. At some point this offense is going to have to get its act together or we’ll be looking at a fire sale in July.

Roy Halladay

That holds especially true when the pitcher turns 36 next week and has thrown 2,721 2/3 innings in the big leagues and 641 innings in the minor leagues. Cliff Lee stated the obvious Monday, when he said Halladay has fired a lot of bullets. And then came some troubling statistics provided by the folks at Fangraphs, regarding pitchers Halladay’s age with shoulder injuries.

In short, it’s not good.

Players over the age of 35 that went on the DL for any sort of shoulder injury only averaged 59 innings over the course of the rest of their career. So if Roy Halladay pitches 60 innings next year, he’ll be ahead of the game.

There are worse ways to slice the numbers. Of the 62 old pitchers that have gone on the DL for a shoulder injury since 2002, 32 never pitched another inning. 44 of them never managed 50 innings over the rest of their careers. A grand total of six starting pitchers managed more than 100 innings — John Smoltz (106), Pedro Martinez (153.2), Kenny Rogers (173.2), John Burkett (181.2), Tim Wakefield (424.1), and Orlando Hernandez (438.1).

I have referred to Halladay as the Terminator because he is machine-like, never tiring, always working, continually trying to find ways to win. He really is that intense. He really does work that hard. I remember waiting a long time to speak with him following a poor start in San Francisco on April 26, 2010. While we waited we wondered if Halladay was not doing his typical postgame workout, but flogging himself instead for a subpar performance. But the reality is Halladay turns 36 next week and has thrown a lot of pitches. If I had to bet on anybody overcoming them, I’d bet on Halladay. But the odds are incredibly long as the numbers show.

Either way, it will be interesting to watch. Can he come back this season? If he does, what kind of team will he come back to? The Phillies could be in the thick of the postseason hunt or a shell of the team that opens a four-game series tonight in Arizona.

“It’s no secret, we all know how hard Roy works and what he means to this team,” Chase Utley said. “Clearly, we’re not only playing for ourselves, but we’re playing for him as well.”

Roy Halladay

Here is what he said.

How’s it going?
Good.

What’s the news?
I’m going to have a scope. We went in and did the MRI. They found a bone spur, some changes in the rotator cuff, more so than last year. There’s a little bit of fraying of the labrum, but not anything significantly different than last year. So what they’re going to do is go in and clean up the bone spur, clean up the rotator cuff and the labrum. Try and keep it as unevasive as possible. And from what I understand, if they go in and see during surgery what they saw on the exams I have a chance to come back and pitch this year. I have a good chance to come back and pitch this year and hopefully be a lot more effective. They said that my range of motion will be better, my location will be better and hopefully the velocity will be better. But they said the bone spur, the rotator cuff kept rubbing over it. And over time it gradually created more and more of a tear. They want to get that cleaned up and get that out of there. We haven’t decided where we’re going to do it. We’ve haven’t got a time of when we’re going to do it. We’re going to take some time to figure that out, but that’s pretty much the diagnosis. The doctor seemed pretty optimistic that if what they saw is correct, I could come back and be a lot more effective and have a chance to pitch this year and turn back the clock. He said he thought they could turn back the clock two or three years for me. I thought it was very good news. Obviously I don’t want to miss time, but I think as far as scenarios go I feel like it’s a lot better than some of the things I anticipated.

If it goes according to plan, when could you be back?
I don’t know. He said in certain cases it’s been three months, but we really don’t have a timetable. I think the timetable is going to come once they go in and confirm that, hey, what we saw in the x-rays is exactly what we saw when we went in there. And then I think that will give us a better idea of the timetable. But they were definitely optimistic that I would be back this year. But of course we’re going to be as smart as we can and do the best we can throughout the whole process. But I really think the timetable is going to be based on when they go in. Does it look how they think it does?

Did the spur show up last summer on the diagnostics?
You know, I’m not sure. The fraying of the labrum was the same. The rotator cuff was more now than it was last year.

More damaged?
Yeah, it was a little more separated than it was last year. I really don’t recall the bone spur. I’m sure it was there. But I don’t know if they felt at the time it was a factor of that rubbing across that. My conversations with the doctor, I said, I really haven’t felt a great deal of pain throughout the whole process. He said the reason is because everything around it is so strong that you aren’t going to feel that. He said the biggest thing you’re going to notice is lack of location first and foremost and then velocity and if it gets to a certain point you may start feeling a little bit of pain. The pain really isn’t excruciating. Like I said, I really didn’t feel pain the whole time. I think maybe it just got to the point where it frayed enough to where I started to feel it.

What is the terminology they’re using on the state of your cuff: partial tear, fraying, damaged?
On the rotator cuff, I think partial tear would be the terminology. The labrum is fraying and he said it’s not completely uncommon for any pitcher. But he really felt like if they got a lot of that stuff cleaned up, especially the bone spur, it would increase my range of motion and it would allow my arm slot to be more consistent. And it would allow me to get deeper in a cocking position going forward. He said when you have that in there, whether you know it or not, your arm is kind of going to avoid that spot. I think getting that out of there, getting those thing cleaned up… but he said at your age, the less evasive, the better. He said we felt like he can turn back the clock for me.

Will that doctor do the surgery?
We haven’t decided that yet. I liked him, I thought he was spot on. I had saw him before I did the MRIs. HE pretty much told me before I even went in the MRI what he thought. And when the MRI came back it was almost spot on with what he said. I really liked him and I was very confident with him. But that’s a decision we’re still in the process of making.

Did you go into the visit thinking your career could be over?
Um, I didn’t know. I was going in open-minded. I knew that… my biggest concern was I couldn’t throw the ball where I wanted. I wasn’t concerned about velocity, the pain wasn’t overwhelming. I couldn’t understand why my location was so poor. So I really didn’t know what to think. I didn’t know if they had to tighten something up, I really didn’t know. But I went in open-minded. And I kind of felt like it was good news, that I have a good chance to come back and pitch, and help us try to get to the World Series. That’s the ultimate goal. That’s why I’m playing.

You’re a free agent after the season. Would you consider coming back here on cut-rate deal?
You know I don’t know. I really want to get through this, come back and see how strong I can be and see how effective I can be, and se if I can help us. Like I told Ruben and Scott and Charlie, I’m not going to make any decisions right now about down the road. I’m going to focus on the here and now and this process. I’ve always told you guys I love Philadelphia, love playing here, it’s a great place to be. But there’s a lot to be determined. I want to be effective and I want to be a part of the team. I don’t want to be a hindrance.

Rick Sutcliffe said you told him you’d retire if you couldn’t pitch like you want. Did you speak to him about retirement?
I think that was taken a little bit far. We had talked and our conversation was ‘Hey, you know what? If we can’t get this thing fixed and I go out there and pitch the way I did the other day, I’m not doing anybody any good. In that case, I have some decisions to make.’ But fortunately, at this point, I have some other options. I’m optimistic that this will make things better and I can come back and be effective and pitch. So, you know, my conversation about that was the fact that hey, if there’s nothing that can be done, and I continue to pitch the way I am, I’m not helping anybody and nobody wants to pitch like that.

Will you attempt to have the procedure as soon as possible?
Yeah. As soon as possible is…I mean, I’m not gonna wait a month. We’re gonna do as much homework as we can as quickly as possible and try and get things going. If I had to guess, I’d say maybe sometime next week. that’s a guess. There’s a lot of talking I have to do with Scott, some of the doctors and try and find the right fit. But obviously the sooner you get going the better.

Is there a chance it’s worse than it appears now?
You know, I guess  there could be. But I thought it was very clear on the x-ray. He didn’t indicate to me that..at no point in our conversation did he say “but, it could be a lot worse.’ He didn’t say that. You can’t ever rule that out, but it was never in our conversation. He never said that, he felt like it was something that we could take care of.

Any indication of how long you might’ve been pitching with this injury?
Years. (laughs) I don’t know. He said that, from last year to this year, there was more damage to the rotator cuff than anything. That was from rubbing over that spur. But due to all the rehab that we did, he was surprised how strong everything was. I think he felt that’s why we really didn’t notice the changes because we did so much during the winter and everything else around was so strong that it almost hid it a little bit. Had it been weaker, it might have showed up a lot earlier.

If you maybe don’t do all that, you know about this earlier?
Yeah. But if I don’t do the rehab, I don’t pitch. You have to do it. I think we did all the right things. There’s just no crystal ball. Now I feel like I have something to grasp onto. Something to move forward with. I don’t feel as lost as before. I feel like there’s some answers there, some things that we see that can be done and I’m optimistic that we’ll get it fixed and I’ll be able to come back and pitch.

Mariano Rivera said he didn’t want to end his career injured or ineffective. Do you feel the same way?
Of course. If you have your choice – yeah. Nobody wants to go out on a bad note. If you had a choice, you want to go out strong. Ideally you want to go out as a World Champion. But some of those things aren’t in your control. I have no regrets at any point in my career and if those don’t work out and they do end on a sour note I’m not going to look at it that way. But I really don’t feel that’s going to be the case. I really feel I have a shot to come back and help our team.

If you can’t pitch enough rehab innings to come back as a starter would you pitch out of the bullpen?
I don’t know. I don’t know what – those are answers for Ruben and Charlie. I don’t make those decisions. From what I understand I would like to come back and start. But if that became an option, who knows, I wouldn’t rule anything out.

Wish you had spoken up and been shut down earlier?
No because I really didn’t feel like it was anything different. One of my strongest workout sessions was before my last start. My arm work session before my last start was probably the strongest Ive had all year. So the strength was there. The soreness wasn’t excruciating . I wouldn’t do anything different. I felt I could compete. The pain was not a disabling.

So you had the same mindset as Game 5 of the 2010 NLCS?
The groin here was much worse.

Scale of 1-10, how bad was the pain?
Painwise, maybe a three or a four. I’ve pitched with a lot worse and had a lot better results. The thing that concerned me the most was the location.

That is because Roy Halladay had a long talk with Ruben Amaro Jr. and Charlie Manuel inside the manager’s office. Halladay had his injured right shoulder examined earlier in the day in Los Angeles. What was said in that closed-door meeting? Nobody was talking, although an update is expected today.

The Phillies placed Halladay on the 15-day disabled list Monday with what they called inflammation, but it could be worse than that. Amaro said Monday he would not speculate if Halladay will pitch again this season. Cliff Lee said even if Halladay is “gone forever, there’s nothing we can do. We’ve got to go out there and continue to pitch and try to give the team a chance to win every time you take the mound. All of us.”

Former pitcher and current broadcaster Rick Sutcliffe then said on ESPN he spoke recently with Halladay. He said Halladay told him he planned to retire if he could not return to prior form. Nobody with the Phillies could speak to that, although Sutcliffe is close to Halladay — close enough that Halladay allowed his ESPN camera crew to get an intimate look at one of his bullpen sessions in Spring Training 2011.

“I think he definitely doesn’t want to go out this way,” Manuel said before last night’s game.

The Phillies announced Triple-A right-hander Tyler Cloyd will take Halladay’s spot in the rotation Friday in Arizona. Cloyd is 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA in six starts with the IronPigs, although he has a 2.40 ERA (four earned runs in 15 innings) in his last two starts. They chose Cloyd over left-hander Adam Morgan, who is 1-2 with a 3.89 ERA in six starts. The Phillies love Morgan’s potential and think he has a better future as a starter, but apparently they feel he is not ready for the big leagues and do not want to rush his development.

Cloyd is likely only a temporary solution with left-hander John Lannan expected back from the DL in a few weeks.

Nobody felt like saying much Tuesday about Halladay, including pitching coach Rich Dubee. He declined comment on anything related to Halladay. What could he say until the Phillies learn the results from his visit with Dodgers physician Neal ElAttrache?

“I know how much he wants to pitch,” Manuel said of Halladay. “He’s definitely always wanted to do his job. That’s the thing that drives him. There should be more people like that.”

Hey, Cliff Lee feels you.

“That’s more of what we are right there, no doubt,” he said following last night’s 6-2 victory over the Giants at AT&T Park. “We definitely haven’t been playing up to our potential. We’ve been really far short of that to be honest with you. I think tonight’s more of a real depiction of what we are. Yeah, I expect us to pick it up a little bit. We’ve kind of underperformed this first month, and it’s time for us to turn it on.”

Lee said last Wednesday following a 6-0 loss to the Indians – one of five shutout losses in their last 20 games –the team needed to play with more pride. He reiterated those feelings last night.

“I think pride is a big part of executing. Just grinding,” Lee said. “Sticking in there … Basically, if you’re going to get beat, go down fighting. (The Indians) got us early both games, just seemed like we kind of laid down and let them take it from us. Just kind of what I was at hinting at with that. More of a pride, fight to the very end type stuff. It didn’t really feel that way in Cleveland. We were better at home against the Marlins, but we still could do even better and tonight was more of what I expect from this team as far as energy and applying the pressure to the other team rather than having them apply it on us.”

Charlie Manuel has been talking for weeks about playing a complete game: hitting well, pitching well and playing good defense for nine innings. Last night he got that game. Was it an aberration or a glimpse at what the Phillies could be, if they get their act together? That remains to be seen, but certainly they’ll need to do this more than once a week to get anybody to believe.

*

Lee, on picking up the slack in Roy Halladay‘s absence: “Obviously, we hope that it’s not as big of a deal as I think everyone might think it might be. Hopefully it’s something minor and he’s able to get back. If not, what can you do? You still got to go out there and grind and try to give the team a chance to win every time you take the mound, no matter who the guy is. Obviously he’s been one of the best pitchers over the past 10-12 years in all the big leagues. Missing a guy like that is definitely going to be tough on us, but injuries happen. You don’t want it to happen. Definitely not him. We all know that. That’s something that happens. He’s pitched a long time, fired a lot of bullets. I hope it’s not major and it’s something minor and he’s back in a couple weeks and jumps back on board. But until then, we just got to keep on grinding. Even if he’s gone forever, there’s nothing we can do. We got to go out there and continue to pitch and try to give the team a chance to win every time you take the mound. All of us.”