I was preparing to do a piece on how the best thing that has happened to the Phillies this season is that the Mets are even worse then they have been, and the rest of the division has been even worse still.

The Phillies were 3-7 in their last 10 games coming into tonight’s game against the Atlanta Braves. The Mets have an equally as bad record in the same period. The only team with a winning record in the previous 10 games is the Florida Marlins with a record of 6-4.

However, I came across a great piece on this very subject a little while ago by our good friend Carson over at We Should Be GMs, and so I thought I’d give him his due credit for beating me to the punch.

You can check our his analysis here.

The Phillies’ announced Monday that they have placed rookie pitcher Antonio Bastardo on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left posterior shoulder.

The move generated serious speculation over who the Phillies would call up to pitch Bastardo’s spot in the rotation (Thursday). Many thought Carlos Carrasco might get his chance to make his major league debut. Or perhaps Andrew Carpenter or Rodrigo Lopez would get the call.

Instead, the Phillies announced that J.A. Happ would move up a day and start Thursday, and called up Sergio Escalona, for the fifth time this season. Escalona has only made five appearances so far this year, and has quite literally spent more time traveling to and from the big league club then he has on the mound for the Phillies. Hopefully someone has given this kid a nice set of luggage and he is allowed to keep his frequent flyer miles.

While this answers the question of who will pitch Thursday, it simply shifts the …

The St. Petersburg Police Department has delivered a complaint against Phillies’ reliever J.C. Romero following an incident last week with a fan. It is now up to the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s office to determine whether or not to charge Romero with batery.

The complaint stems from an incident between Romero and a fan following last Thursday night’s Phillies – Rays game at Tropicana FIeld. The fan, Robert Eaton, and Romero exchanged words after Romero allegedly declined to sign an autograph. Eaton allegedly made disparaging remarks to Romero concerning his 50 game suspension for banned substances. Romero then allegedly grabbed Eaton by the neck and struck him.

“Remember, this is a simple battery,” St. Petersburg Police spokesman George Kajtsa said. “No weapon was used. There were no injuries to the victim whatsoever, except as he says in the report he was embarrassed because it happened in front of other fans and his family. … This is a very minor incident so the state’s attorney will probably concentrate on more serious matters, …