David Bell sidelined by back, #309

[General]

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- While David Bell wasn't exactly AWOL from Phillies camp on Saturday morning, his absence warranted an explanation.Bell, who made his Spring Training debut in a Minor League game on Thursday, had been scheduled to start his second game on Friday and third on Saturday.
But he missed both games and will be reevaluated on Sunday. Assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Bell is day-to-day with back spasms.

From Phillies.com


Jee, Bell as back problems? You don't say...This gives more reasons for the Phillies to get a suitable replacement for Bell, who had an awful season last year. I'm thinking Alex Gonzalez and/or Abraham Nunez will start at least 50 games this year at third.

[love_that_reefer]

After the way Nunez filled in for Rolen last season, Manuel would be silly not to give him that many games regardless of Bell's health.

[General]

Bell batted under .200 vs LHP last year, didn't he?

[love_that_reefer]

Would not surprise me. He was a good defender with pop but never anything more. His health won't even allow him to be a good defender now. It sucks for him but Philly needs a change.

[General]

I still don't know why Phillies gave him that big deal. He batted .260 with a .303 OBP the year before.

[love_that_reefer]

I can sort of see why they did it. He was coming into his prime and just came off a nice year (20 HRS and 73 RBI) and played great defense for a NL Pennant winning ball cub and how to overpay to get him out of SF. I don't remember any back problems when he was in SF. Seems like they started in Philly.

[General]

I remember the bad OBP though.


Meh, its the Phillies. Who cares?

[love_that_reefer]

John Kruk?

[General]

Heh.

David Bell, who had a setback with his back over the weekend, took regular batting practice and fielded grounders on Monday.
Bell should get into a game on Tuesday. He remains hopeful of playing on Opening Day, but it's likely that he'll spend at least the first week of the season on the DL.

[General]

To nobody's surprise:

According to the Philadelphia Daily News, David Bell (back) "probably won't be on the field Opening Day."
Bell played six innings in a minor league game Friday and is gradually increasing his workload.

[Bear]

He will break down just before he comes back!

[General]

David Bell played third base without any problems today, guaranteeing that he'll begin the season on the Phillies' roster.
The way was cleared with Tomas Perez being released and Chris Coste getting reassigned. Bell hit second today and went 0-for-4. Hopefully, it was just to get him an extra at-bat. There's no way Bell should hit second versus righties during the regular season, though it's not something manager Charlie Manuel has ruled out.