Archive: February, 2013
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
CLEARWATER, Fla. — For the first time in years, the Phillies are not favorites to win the National League East. No, not when the Washington Nationals, a team with an average age of 27.2 last year, are coming off a 98-win season.
In most circles, the Phillies are not even viewed as the second-best team in the division. That status belongs to the Atlanta Braves, who acquired both Upton brothers while losing Chipper Jones, Martin Prado and Michael Bourn.
Both Washington and Atlanta made the postseason in 2012. Earlier in the spring, Jayson Werth wondered aloud about his Nationals, "Has there ever been a team that's this complete on paper?"
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Domonic Brown swung and the ball disappeared behind the black batter's eye at Bright House Field. In the dugout, Charlie Manuel smiled. Catching coach Mick Billmeyer turned to the manager and said, "He hit that pretty good."
Uh, yeah.
"I was trying to look," Brown said, "but I didn't see."
- Poll: Is this finally Domonic Brown’s time? (2105 votes)
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
CLEARWATER, Fla. — One of the upshots of Kyle Kendrick being guaranteed a rotation spot this winter is the freedom of a spring without worries. The results of his Grapefruit League appearances are meaningless.
He will be the fourth starter come April.
Kendrick's spring debut Tuesday against the Yankees was anticlimactic. He allowed one run on three hits with a strikeout. His goal early in spring is to develop a feel for his two most important pitches: the sinker and change-up.
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Some 40 minutes before Tuesday's scheduled first pitch, Charlie Manuel and Ryne Sandberg took a stroll to where Chase Utley would normally stand on the infield dirt. The area was pounded by rain all morning, and once the tarp was removed from the field, more water formed there.
Opie Cheek, the head groundskeeper at Bright House Field, drove his tractor toward Manuel and Sandberg. Manuel walked in circles as he talked.
The manager saw enough. There was no sense in risking Utley's newfound spring health.
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Last season, Cliff Lee threw a first-pitch strike to 71 percent of the batters he faced. No pitcher had been that efficient since 2005, when Minnesota's Brad Radke threw strike one 73 percent of the time.
No, it is not a definitve way to measure success. That season, Radke had a 4.04 ERA but a stellar 5.09 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Still, a sampling of the annual leaders in first-strike percentage reveals some of the better pitchers in baseball.
It is common sense, really. Consider these numbers from all major-league hitters in 2012:
| Split | PA | AB | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| After 1-0 | 73837 | 61839 | 10741 | 11602 | .270 | .379 | .443 | .822 |
| After 0-1 | 90061 | 84413 | 3968 | 24824 | .226 | .265 | .346 | .612 |
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Clearwater High School, located a few miles down the road from Bright House Field, nicknames its sports teams the Tornadoes. That never made sense to me until this morning, when I checked the local weather forecast and found just about the entire gulf side of Florida is under a tornado watch until 3 p.m. Tuesday.
There is baseball scheduled for 1 p.m. with the Yankees making the short drive over the Courtney Campbell Causeway. Let's hope they fit it in.
Here is your daily skinny on the day's Grapefruit League action...
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
CLEARWATER, Fla. — A little more than 10 months since he last appeared in a game, Mike Stutes stood on the mound at Bright House Field and tried too hard.
His first five pitches Monday were balls. His next one was driven to the warning track in left field. He walked two batters, fell behind just about every hitter he faced, and allowed a two-run triple in the sixth inning of the Phillies' 10-1 loss to Detroit.
"I was trying to be right on the black every time," Stutes said, "instead of just throwing pitches like I should have been."
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
CLEARWATER, Fla. — During batting practice, it is not an uncommon sight at Bright House Field. Balls fly over the tiki bar in left field, sometimes causing damage to whatever vehicles are parked beyond the walls of the stadium.
That sort of power is rare in actual games. Then Miguel Cabrera's bat met Jonathan Papelbon's errant fastball Monday.
Moments after Cabrera swung, only a select few could see where the ball actually landed. It whacked the top of a semi-truck trailer, a nearby security guard said, and bounced to the fence that serves as the outfield wall for a practice field at the adjacent Carpenter Complex.
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
CLEARWATER, Fla. — For the second straight day, Domonic Brown is not in Charlie Manuel's starting lineup. Brown is not hurt, nor is he playing poorly.
With 32 games on the Grapefruit League schedule, there is plenty of time to be shared among a crowded outfield competition.
"We have ten outfielders," Manuel said. "Somewhere along the line probably like halfway through spring training we’re going to have to at least make some decisions on four of them. That would be the first thing probably. We're going to try to get them all some playing time so we can see them enough.
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
LAKELAND, Fla. — One of Domonic Brown's signature moments came three springs ago, when he wore No. 78 and had no shot of making the Phillies. He worked a full count against Justin Verlander, one of the game's best pitchers, before cranking a home run that completely cleared Bright House Field.
Verlander started for Detroit on Sunday, but Brown was sitting on the bench because Charlie Manuel has 10 outfielders he wants to see play. So Brown's moment came in the eighth inning as a pinch-hitter against Al Alburquerque.
He promptly crushed one deep beyond the fence in right-center.
