New Phillies 2B Luis Castillo Late; Misses First Scheduled Start

Posted by Frank Klose

Courtesy aarongleeman.com

Despite having only 10 days to prove himself worthy of being included on a Philadelphia Phillies roster, second baseman Luis Castillo was not present in time to suit up in his new # 3 jersey that was waiting in his locker for him prior to the game.  

Castillo was to play second base and bat second in today's game.  Wilson Valdez, Castillo's main competition for the second base job, took Castillo's spot at second base and in the batting order.

Charlie Manuel seemed to take responsibility for the no-show scratch in this ESPN piece, "They told me he'd be here today, so I put him in the lineup…The reason I put him in the lineup was, I wanted to see him play. Maybe I should wait to put up my lineup till game time."

But, did Charlie think that he should have been there?   "If it was me? I'd have been here two days ago. But it's not me."

Around 1:30 p.m., as the Phillies were batting in the second inning, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com tweeted that Luis Castillo has arrived.