Ruben Gives Polanco Endorsement

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Koalas apparently migrate to Milwaukee for the late fall / early winter and that's where the Inquirer's Matt Gelb caught up with Ruben Amaro Jr. who gave Placido Polanco a nice endorsement as the Phillies third baseman.

"Polly is our third baseman," Amaro told Gelb. "I'm looking forward to
him being healthy. If he's healthy, he's exactly what we're trying to
have as far as our offense is concerned. If he's healthy, he's our best
hitter."

Third base has been one of the positions that's been tough to get a gauge on heading into 2012. "If Polanco is healthy..." is one very large "if." Polly's playoff performance was troubling, but as we all know he was very banged up towards the end of the season.

Remember what a hot start he got off to last year though? He was ripping the cover off the ball and people were marveling at the guy's ability with a bat in his hands.

Do you have any confidence that he can stay healthy for an entire season? Are you more worried about him getting injured than your average player on the Phillies given his up and down 2011?

This is where some fans get excited about the prospect of bringing Michael Cuddyer in as a fill-in-where-they-need-him kinda guy, albeit an expensive yet skilled offensive guy. While he has some experience at third, it's not nearly as much as some people may believe. He's only played 14 games at third since 2005, all in the 2010 season.

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