Skip to main content

Gillies Talks Suspension, Playoff Race, Injuries

Following his suspension for an inappropriate confrontation with the team bus driver, outfielder Tyson Gillies returned to the active roster for the Double-A Reading Phillies on Thursday night. Batting lead off, the speedy catalyst, who has missed hefty time due to injuries since being acquired in the December 2009 Cliff Lee trade, went 1-for-4 with a home run and a walk.

Gillies was all smiles and completely overjoyed to be back with his teammates, as the R-Phils hold onto the playoff qualifying second place in the Eastern League's Eastern division, 1/2 game ahead of New Britain in the standings.

Prior to Thursday's contest, I spoke with Tyson to gauge his feelings on the situation that cost him even more crucial time away from the game, a hot playoff race and more. That brief Q&A lies ahead.


-Suspensions are never good, but do you think there is any kind of silver lining or lesson learned from this situation that occurred?


The thing is, baseball can get to be very frustrating and stuff and handling your emotions are a big thing in this game or anywhere in life, so yeah, I guess you can take a lesson from it. I have to learn not to get too excited and handle my emotions better and be able to let a lot of things go. You know, I'm just going to move forward and use that as a learning experience from here on out.


-After this year, is there a possibility that you'll be playing in an off-season league to make up for time missed?

I would love to play winter ball the off-season. Even through a full healthy season, my intentions were still to go there and play and progress and learn a lot more about the game. Yeah, definitely, I'm just waiting to hear and see if I can go play somewhere down there and I'll just have to wait and see.


-Any idea where? One of the Caribbean leagues?


I have no idea where they'd want to send me. I'll just be happy to be playing baseball.


-Talking to some teammates, they definitely seem excited to have you back, as the team is in the thick of playoff contention. What does it mean to have the players fired up behind you like that and appreciative of your return here?


I'm happy. I tried to rush back, just to see the guys. I've been with most of these guys since April and even through spring training. So, you miss the personalities and you miss seeing the guys every day so, it's definitely awesome to be back and I'm just happy to see everybody.


-What's your energy level like here, rejoining the club as they team fights for that playoff spot?


I'm just trying to come back, get on base any way possible and help the team score runs, because we're in the hunt for the playoffs, like you said, and we just want to win and we want to get that championship.


-Clearly, you've had ups and downs in your career, injuries with the hamstring, the foot, the concussion, then the suspension and other things. What has been the biggest hurdle for you in your pro career?

You know, the biggest hurdle was probably just getting over that concussion. That was the first one I've ever had in my life and six and a half weeks of that, you know, trying to come back, coming back too soon and pushing it. You know, it's just a really rough thing to go through and not being able to do anything in that time, I wasn't able to get my lifting in and my body got week and it all just took its toll. It was all connected somehow and I hope next time, hopefully there never is a next time, but you always learn from each injury and you learn how you're able to heel faster.
__________________________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Justin De Fratus Interview Excerpts- May, 2011

Armed with a 2-0 record, 3 saves and a 2.95 ERA in 15 games this season for the Double A Reading Phillies, Justin De Fratus continues to make strides toward his goal of reaching the Major Leagues. Ranked as a top 10 prospect within the Phillies system last off-season, the 23-year-old De Fratus was in camp with the Phillies during big league spring training. In 3 games with the Phils during the Grapefruit League season, De Fratus allowed 4 earned runs in 4 innings and took a loss. He did strike out an impressive 5 batters in those 4 frames, however. Drafted in the 11th round of the 2007 amateur draft, De Fratus stood out as a force in relief last year for both the High A Clearwater Threshers and the R-Phils. In 49 combined games at the two levels, De Fratus posted a 3-0 record with 21 saves and a 1.94 ERA. De Fratus continued his excellent 2011 by pitching for Team USA in the Pan-American qualifiers held in Puerto Rico, helping the Americans finish with a 9-1 record. He also posted out...

Bubby Rossman's long awaited MLB debut

Eight years after he initially signed a professional contract with the Dodgers and a five-year stretch playing away from affiliated ball, Bubby Rossman became a major leaguer on Wednesday. Added as a substitute for pitcher Kyle Gibson, who is restricted from travel to Canada for the Phillies' series in Toronto, due to his medical inability to be vaccinated from COVID-19, Rossman took the mound for the first time in the majors. Rossman, who was a 22nd round draft selection in 2014 had pitched in 200 professional games before his one-inning outing in the Phillies' 8-2 loss to the Blue Jays. In 27 appearances with Double-A Reading this year, the 30-year-old right-hander has performed well, tallying a 2-2 record with a save, a 3.32 ERA and a .200 batting average against.   The embedded video below features a media session with Rossman from prior to opening day this year, in which the California native discusses his journey through independent baseball and back to affiliated ball w...

Series Preview: Braves at Phillies, August 6-8

The Braves (62-46) travel to Philadelphia to begin a three-game series with the Phillies (49-59) on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park. In the past month, the two clubs have faced each other in two separate series, with the Braves winning all six of the contests. Atlanta’s recent dominance over the Phils is the opposite of how things went last season, when the Phillies handed the Braves six losses toward the end of the 2011 season. Those defeats shut the door on Atlanta’s postseason hopes. Read ahead for notes on the pitching the match ups and additional statistical information on this series. Monday, 7:05 PM. Ben Sheets (3-1, 1.46 ERA) vs. Vance Worley (6-6, 3.63 ERA). In 9 career starts against the Phillies, Sheets has a 3-4 record with a 4.50 ERA. Ty Wigginton is 12-for-36 (.333 avg) with 2 doubles and 2 HR in his career against Sheets. The righty Sheets was the Brewers' 1st round draft pick in 1999. In his last 5 starts, Worley has a 2-1 record with a 4.06 ERA. In 9 home s...