Delmon Young's secret debut

The Phillies were very good at being very vague about when, exactly, outfielder Delmon Young would take part in game action after having offseason microfracture surgery on his ankle.
Friday morning, Young was quietly sent to Dunedin, where he took at-bats in a minor-league game against the Blue Jays. It so happened R.A. Dickey started for Toronto's minor-league team. And it just so happened Young hit an opposite-field homer off Dickey in his second plate appearance.
Comments from Young on his secretive debut coming soon...

Roy Halladay is as sick as you are about Roy Halladay

So, this was to be the Big Answer day about Roy Halladay. Is his shoulder dead, or was he the victim of a little tiredness in his disastrous start against Detroit last week?

You were supposed to find out on St. Paddy's Day. However, after one scoreless inning, Halladay left Sunday's game against the Orioles.

The official word was a stomach bug. Jonathan Papelbon was a late scratch Sunday because of illness. But whether Halladay left because of illness or whatever, the Phillies are two weeks from the start of the regular season and Halladay doesn't seem close to ready to compete on the mound. His velocity is down -- scouts insist he's pitching like a guy with a dead shoulder -- and his fastball has been up in the zone as he struggles to hop it up there in the upper-80 mph range.

This is not good. Even if he is sick, he needed to go out and have a productive outing. He's down to two more spring starts. To think he'll get to 100 pitches next time out is silly. So at best, he's behind. At worst, he's a shell of the guy you used to know.

Yes, you can panic.

Roy Halladay was not good today

Yikes. Roy Halladay had a rough outing his last time on the hill, and thought he was dealing with a little dead-arm. Well, this must be a deader-arm period, because the Tigers Tuesday rocked him for seven runs. He also walked four batters and hit another. The lunacy was capped by Ramon Santiago -- who batted .206 last season with 2 HRs in 228 ABs -- hitting a grand slam off Halladay. His velocity didn't get out of the upper-80 mph range on his fastball.

Halladay came into camp admitting that a back problem last season was behind his struggles, which included lower velocity, a lack of command and a D.L. stint with a sore shoulder. This will be updated when Roy speaks postgame.

Phillippe Aumont Has Goon Selections For Team Canada

Unless you were under a rock the last few days, you know that Canada and Mexico threw down like hockey goons during their World Baseball Classic game. Phillies reliever Phillippe Aumont, a member of Team Canada, might have been the size of Andre The Giant in that Battle Royale, but he said it's "not his thing to start shaking up people." (Of course, as GIF guru Dan McQuade shows via Zoo With Roy's bolg, it is TOTALLY Phillies minor-league outfielder Tyson Gillies' jawn.)
But Aumont is Canadian, and thus, as he put it, a "failed hockey player." So when asked which former NHL player he would have liked in uniform for the brawl with Mexico, his response was:

"D'oh, Georges Laraque. Either Georges or Darcy Hordichuk."

Apparently those are good choices, judging by their awesome YouTube fight montages. Why don't you watch them and decide this important decision for Aumont?

Delmon Young not excited by much, folks

Delmon Young slept through his red-eye flight from California. That helped him be nice and
peppydour when discussing the
excitingdull news that his ankle is healing nicely and that he will
aggressively prove he's more worthy than Dom Brownbe sure to take the keys to right field, oh, whenever.



So, glad to move on from thrilling activities like "throwing a ball" and "yawning while watching the other guys play," Delmon?

"No, not really," Young said. "I just do what the doctor says. I saw him yesterday and he said I could do some other activities, so that’s what he told me to do."

Young took swings in the the cage before Wednesday's game against the Nationals. Been a while, hmm?

"That was the first time I had someone throwing to me since the last World Series game," Personality Plus said.

That had to feel good, right?

"It’s batting practice," Young said with all the enthusiasm of Morrissey on quaaludes. "I really don’t care too much to hit on the field."

So, there you have it folks! Your right fielder for 2013!

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