April 19 -- VICTORINO AFFECTED BY ROLLINS?

Shane Victorino, strained right calf and all, jogged in the outfield before batting practice yesterday. He will report to the Phillies' spring-training facility in Clearwater, Fla., today, and by Friday, he said he could be playing for Class AA Reading (and for Class AAA Lehigh Valley next weekend). If all goes well, he likely will be activated before the Phillies' April 29 game against San Diego at The Bank.

All of which begs this question: Could Victorino have avoided the disabled list if Jimmy Rollins hadn't already been injured?

"I would think so," Victorino told me and two other reporters before last night's game. "I would think that might have happened. With both of us going down, somebody had to [go on the DL]. Obviously, they felt like he was going to be ready earlier, which is obvious because he was able to [pinch-hit] in games."

But Rollins has been unable to start since suffering a sprained left ankle April 8, and when Victorino went down last Saturday night, the Phillies couldn't afford two active but hobbled players on the bench. So, they placed Victorino on the DL and called up Chris Snelling from Lehigh Valley. Pat Gillick rejected the suggestion that Rollins' injury had anything to do with Victorino's status, saying "it was a decision based on the recommendation of the trainer and the doctor."

The Phillies also considered Victorino's injury history. He missed three weeks last August with a strained calf muscle, albeit in a different region, and was nagged by the injury in September.

"Definitely last year's injury rang a bell," Victorino said. "Same leg, so of course you're going to think, 'We don't want to prolong it for a month, month and a half. Why can't we make it two weeks?' It definitely made the decision easier. But I feel good. The progress is going the right direction. I'm in no rush. I've got until the 28th to get back. Hopefully, I'll be ready."

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Chatted with Mets star third baseman David Wright before last night's game about his appearance a few nights ago on The Late Show With David Letterman. Smashing baseballs pitched by the soft-tossing Letterman on 53rd Street would foul up plenty of hitters' swings. I asked Wright if his was affected.

"Too early to tell," he said with a smile.

Hmm. Looked pretty good last night. Wright, previously 1-for-11 against Cole Hamels, went 4-for-4 with two RBIs and fell a home run short of hitting for the cycle. Wright had as many hits as the Phillies' entire team against Johan Santana.

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Didn't make The Paper: Mets manager Willie Randolph on the Phillies' lineup without Rollins and Victorino: "You take that type of speed out of the lineup, of course it's going to be different. That doesn't mean it's any less tough. It's just different."