Floyd hurt; Hinske on roster

Posted Oct 26, 2008 by Marc Lancaster

Updated Oct 26, 2008 at 04:40 PM

PHILADELPHIA—Cliff Floyd is off the World Series roster with an injured right shoulder and Eric Hinske has been added to replace him.

UPDATING: Floyd hurt himself in Thursday’s game at Tropicana Field and it didn’t get any better the last couple of days, Joe Maddon said.

“Yesterday he was hurting, even to the point where it was difficult to sleep,” Maddon said. “So we tried to get through last night with him, he was available, but he’s not today.”

Floyd will not be eligible to play for the rest of the World Series.

Hinske was on the Rays’ roster for the division series when they carried 15 position players but did not appear in a game. He hit 20 homers and stole 10 bases during the regular season while filling in at a variety of different positions. Though he hasn’t seen live pitching since the final day of the regular season, when he homered at Detroit, Hinske has been going through his usual pregame routine each day during the playoffs.

“You know that you have no chance to get in the game that day, for sure,” Hinske said. “But you’ve got to be professional about the situation. There’s always a chance, like right now. If you were just not doing anything, not getting yourself ready, it would be a lot tougher. I’m happy I stayed on my routine and kept taking batting practice the whole time.”

Hinske said Floyd gave him a heads-up that he was hurting and a change might be necessary, then Maddon told him last night there was a possibility he could be activated.

“It’s kind of bittersweet; you never want to see somebody get hurt,” he said. “But I’m excited to be active and have a chance to help any way I can.”

Hinske has a chance to see action as a pinch-hitter and could fill in at the corner infield or outfield positions as needed. In Floyd’s absence, Willy Aybar is most likely to start at DH if and when the series returns to the Trop.

As for tonight’s starting lineups, Ben Zobrist is back in there in right field as he was in Game 1. Here’s the full rundown:

Rays
Iwamura 2B
Upton CF
Pena 1B
Longoria 3B
Crawford LF
Navarro C
Zobrist RF
Bartlett SS
Sonnanstine P

Phillies
Rollins SS
Werth RF
Utley 2B
Howard 1B
Burrell LF
Victorino CF
Feliz 3B
Ruiz C
Blanton P