Posted: Tuesday, December 16, 2008, 10:01 AM | 76 comments |
 

Your '09 Phillies
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Chase Utley looks to be in serious pain. Actually, he's just acting.

The Phillies later today will introduce Raul Ibanez as their new leftfielder.

It is expected to be their last "major" announcement before spring training in February. If you want to know how your 2009 Phillies will look, take a look at today's roster:

  • Catchers: Chris Coste, Ronny Paulino and Carlos Ruiz.
  • Infielders: Eric Bruntlett, Greg Dobbs, Pedro Feliz, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley.
  • Outfielders: Raul Ibanez, Geoff Jenkins, Matt Stairs, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth.
  • Rotation: Joe Blanton, Cole Hamels, Jamie Moyer and Brett Myers. Drew Carpenter, Carlos Carrasco, J.A. Happ, Kyle Kendrick and Chan Ho Park are expected to be candidates for the rotation's fifth spot.
  • Bullpen: Clay Condrey, Chad Durbin, Scott Eyre, Brad Lidge, Ryan Madson, Park and J.C. Romero.

Between today and spring training the Phillies are expected to make Park's signing official. (He is scheduled to take his physical next month.) They also could try to add a righthanded bat to the bench because the Phillies currently have three lefthanded ones: Dobbs, Jenkins and Stairs. If the Phillies added a righthanded bat, they could move Jenkins or Stairs to help make it happen. Other than that, I think the Phillies' off-season business is mostly finished. Of course, something could pop up, but I don't see the Phillies making any major changes right now.

Storylines in spring training -- in terms of roster spots -- should be pretty clear at this point:

  • Coste and Paulino will compete to be Ruiz's back up. Lou Marson is expected to open the season in triple-A Lehigh Valley, but if he has an awesome spring he could force Charlie Manuel to give him serious consideration. The Florida Marlins have some interest in Coste, which is worth watching. I suppose the Phillies could keep Coste and Paulino, but I'm not sure how that would work. Marson clearly is the franchise's catcher of the future and I'm sure they want him playing every day in Lehigh Valley. I can't imagine the Phillies would have Coste or Paulino play a reserve role in the minors, know what I mean?
  • Bruntlett and Jason Donald will man the fort at second base until Utley is ready to play.
  • Several pitchers are going to compete for the fifth's starter's job. A lot of people have been asking if there is a favorite. I think Happ and Kendrick have the early edge because of their experience. I think the Phillies might prefer to see Carrasco gain a little more experience in Lehigh Valley, but if he pitches great in Clearwater he could force the Phillies to make a decision on him. I think Park will get a look at the rotation, but I feel his future is in the bullpen. He is a nice option should one of the regular starters miss a start or two, but I think they want him in the bullpen because he can pitch multiple innings. The Phillies have been trying to give away Adam Eaton this winter, so I don't think he has a chance to make the team. If he is in camp, I think it will be to showcase him for a trade.
  • If the Phillies add a righthanded bat and don't clear room for him, there could be a battle for a bench spot.

Obviously, there are other things that could develop -- injuries, etc. -- but those seem to be the most obvious at the moment. The bullpen is pretty much set, assuming Park is in the bullpen. If he somehow makes the rotation, that would open up a bullpen job.

"We have as good a chance of repeating a world championship as anybody," Moyer said yesterday. "It's going to be a competitive race. I'm not going out predicting that we are going to win, but we have as good a chance as any other club out there. It's not like we've lost four or five players to free agency and key players and things like that."

"I think that we're pretty good," Manuel said.

Agree?

*

Here's today's story on Utley's recovery from hip surgery.
Posted by Todd Zolecki @ 10:01 AM  Permalink | 76 comments
76
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:24 AM, 12/16/2008
    It's interesting. Looking at the roster, I really think the team's ability to defend its title and make another run may rest almost entirely on 2 players. If Brett Myers pitches like he did the 2nd half last season, that rotation looks really strong no matter who wins the 5th spot. If he doesn't, then we have no #2 starter, the possibility of Moyer taking a step back, a question mark at the 5th starter's spot...which could get scary. Also, Jimmy Rollins needs to have a bounce back year. He had a poor year last year, and even though I don't expect him to ever repeat his MVP campaign, he needs to be closer to it, and hopefully then the offense will be more consistent. Their success in 2009 will largely be determined by those 2 players, Myers and Rollins. That, and injuries, of course.
    — RollinsWasRight
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:24 AM, 12/16/2008
    Looks like a good strong team. Yes, we could use a RH bat, but it would have to be at expence of Jenkins or Stairs; neither of whom are really tradable for ayone right now, and Jenkins is owed too much to be simply cut. The battle for 5th SP spot looks good as does the fight for starting 2B until Chase is ready. Let's go Phils!!
    — jeff gross
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:24 AM, 12/16/2008
    1
    — jeff gross
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:27 AM, 12/16/2008
    RWR: I agree that Myers and rollins need to have good years. I tend to think that the season rides on Howard being able to hit at least .270 and hit to opposite field to break up the shift and Hammel being able to become the real ace of the team. Go out every 5th day and win. We need him to bring in 18-20 wins this year.
    — jeff gross
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:39 AM, 12/16/2008
    I think there are a lot of other factors to consider rather than what two players will do. It's a 25 man roster and a lot happened last year in spite of Myers struggles and Rollins loss of power that propelled the Phils to the World Series. Can the bullpen string it together again? I remember the Mets had a good bullpen before last year, then it all imploded. Can the team stay healthy? Imagine losing Hamels to a serious arm injury. All the stars have to align for a team to win a world series.
    — ronin32
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:44 AM, 12/16/2008
    Completely agree on Jroll and Myers being the keys. To be honest Myers in my mind is still inconsistent and has to prove he will be the consistent stud we know he can be. Jroll getting on base and hot early will make it much easier for Howard to see pitches to hit. I do like our rotation better then last year and heres why...Last year we started with Eaton and Kendrick as our 4 & 5. This year we have Blanton/Moyer as our 4 and 5 I think Happ will win out if not it means Kendrick or Carrasco has outpitched him..better back end of the rotation for sure plus Kendrick/Happ only have more and more experience in the bigs.
    — philsfan in the atx
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:51 AM, 12/16/2008
    philsfan in the atx: Without a doubt our rotation this year is better, though you are mistaken in the roles. This year Moyer is 3 and Blanton is 4. the winner of the rookie sweepstakes will be the 5th starter. alst year we started with Hammel, Myers, Moyer, Eaton and Kendrick. Blanton is better then Eaton and hopefully the 5th SP will be better then Kendrick was last year.
    — jeff gross
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:52 AM, 12/16/2008
    ronin - of course there are other factors. There are a ton of factors. My point was that it seems to me that Rollins and Myers are the biggest keys. I can't foresee what injuries may or may not occur, so I can't really factor them in when looking at what the team is capable of, other than to see that the at least have decent depth in most areas that they should be able to overcome an injury or two. But for them to remain competitive when everyone else is trying to get better, I think a lot (not all, but A LOT) rests on the performances of Myers and Rollins. It would also be nice if they could score some freak-in' runs for Cole Hamels. Dude could've had 17-20 wins last year if they scored runs in his starts. It would be nice to hear his name mentioned in the Cy Young conversation, because he certainly is capable of being in that class.
    — RollinsWasRight
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:58 AM, 12/16/2008
    stank - I am fairly certain the whole baseball viewing world has gotten used to the New York teams being overrated and overvalued in preseason discussions just because they are from NY. Thankfully, though, any intelligent sports fan has learned that the final standings are in no way influenced by preseason predictions, except maybe that they sometimes motivate teams like the Phillies who are constantly disrespected by the so-called "experts". Even as defending Champs, we can be sure that the there will be plenty of people who pick the Mets to win the East simply because they made another flashy, even if it is also questionable, offseason move.
    — RollinsWasRight
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:08 AM, 12/16/2008
    Rollins, I have to agree that those two are huge factors in next years success. I might have to add Howard to that list too. He can't have any more slumps(two months)where he is painful to watch and hurts the team by being in the lineup. A slump of a week or two is fine and perfectly natural.
    — ronin32
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:13 AM, 12/16/2008
    Who is Hammel? Know a guys name who you are supposedly a fan of. Come on. It's not hard.
    — Captain
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:28 AM, 12/16/2008
    Jeff completely agree...people forget last year for the first 2+ months how the back end of our rotation was pretty ugly..We will be much better in that regard. and Stank as a true phils fan i have no problem admitting the muts look improved but you as well as everyone on here know that they choke and choke well and we are the world champions of baseball. 3 sylabols for you Sep tem ber
    — philsfan in the atx
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:34 AM, 12/16/2008
    Actually, the rotation this year started out: Myers, Hamels, Moyer, Kendrick, Eaton. And if you look at 2009 rotation: Hamels, Myers, Blanton, Moyer, wild card, you have got to look at it as an improvement. Although, Cholly may want to have Moyer pitch 3rd, to split up the 2 righties.
    — Sully
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:35 AM, 12/16/2008
    The press can say whatever it wants but until the Phils lose this division they are the team to beat. The mets are going to have to prove they are a better team. On another subject, I wish the Phils would try harder to be a better team rather than sitting back on their laurels. Signing Lowe would have been a better move than signing Moyer. He's perfect for the Bank. Oh well, you can't make them spend money. The Mets have improved themselves by signing Rodriguez and Putz. Can anyone really say the Phils are better than they were last year? Perhaps they were already 'good enough'. Personally, I think Ibanez is better than Burrell--better conditioned despite being 4 years older. Blanton is better than Eaton/Kendrick. They probably are a little better. Only time will tell.
    — James TL


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About Matt Gelb and Bob Brookover












Bob Brookover and Matt Gelb team up for their third straight season covering the Phillies for the Inquirer and philly.com.

This is Brookover’s second stint writing about the Phillies, having joined the coverage team after seven years as an Eagles beat writer. Brookover was hired by The Inquirer in 2000 as the Phillies beat writer after spending 13 years writing about the team for two suburban newspapers. While on the Eagles beat, Brookover, who had covered just two winning Phillies teams in 15 seasons, saw the Phillies move into a cash-cow new ballpark and begin playing a brand of the game he found unrecognizable. Follow him on Twitter here.

Gelb is in his third season covering the Phillies. He was hired by The Inquirer in August 2009 after graduating from Syracuse University. He has also covered baseball at The Star-Ledger and Cape Cod Times. Born and raised in Bucks County, he attended Central Bucks High School West. Follow him on Twitter here.
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