The last half hour or so has seen lots of developments on the Phillies front, some directly impacting this weekend's series against the Braves.
First, Saturday's matchup of Roy Oswalt and Jair Jurrjens is now kaput. Oswalt reportedly has aggravated his back, and is looking at a possible stint on the Disabled List. Also, rather than throw Tim Hudson on short rest on Sunday, the Braves are calling up uber-prospect Julio Teheran to make his major league debut on Saturday night, when he'll be opposed by Phillies spot starter Kyle Kendrick. Let that sink in, Feel your confidence ebb from you body. Then bathe.
Teheran, 20, has struck out 25 batters in 30 innings in five starts for Triple-A Gwinnett, walking eight and posting a 1.80 ERA.
Jurrjens will be bumped back to Sunday, when he'll be opposed by lefty Cole Hamels.
In unabashedly GOOD NEWS, Chase Utley will be leaving for Florida shortly and is scheduled to take part in a live extended Spring Training game tomorrow in Dunedin. The Phillies have been incredibly cautious with Utley, and have played coy with his "timeframe" throughout this ordeal, so the fact that he's going to see live baseball this weekend speaks volumes, in my opinion.