Your '09 Phillies
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Your '09 Phillies
Todd Zolecki
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:
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Catchers: Chris Coste, Ronny Paulino and Carlos Ruiz.
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Infielders: Eric Bruntlett, Greg Dobbs, Pedro Feliz, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley.
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Outfielders: Raul Ibanez, Geoff Jenkins, Matt Stairs, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth.
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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.
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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:
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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?
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Bruntlett and Jason Donald will man the fort at second base until Utley is ready to play.
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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.
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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?
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Comments (76)
I think this team is as solid as any. As always it will boil down to injuries and depth. I think this is where the Phils have an edge. remember last year when the Mets were playing great and a couple of no-name guys were on fire. They collapsed b/c they did not have depth in the 'pen. Madson looks as if he could close if needed for us. Donald/Brunlett will be capable replacements for Utley if needed. Dobbs is a solid option to spot start of play for a few wks if needed in the OF or 3rd. The plethora of depth is what will take this team thru 162 gms. If I have a concern it is with the pitching. Cole is the only guy that is going to give us 8/9 innings consistently. Moyer I think is toast, he really struggled down the stretch and it was covered by run support his season was reminenscent of Milton's 16 gm win season a few seasons back. Myers beat up on the weak teams which is okay as long as he does it consistently and when has he ever been consistent or injury free. After finding out that Joey B. was injured and seeing how he pitched after healing pmakes me believe that he will become our #2 by mid season. 5th starter is of little worry for me, I think Dubee/Manuel do a great job of using what they have for max benefit at that spot it seems. No negativity from me guys until arbitration time....— Truth- Todd I think Condrey may be the odd man out. Lets say Kendrick wins back the #5 position . I think you can make a case for keeping Happ in the bullpen along with Park.— jmagee1202
- I predict after the performance in the post season, Hamels will be in contention for the CY Young this year. He's always had the "stuff" to be up there, and the post season proved that he is capable of stringing it together. Plus, I think he loves the accolades that he has gotten with the WS MVP, etc, and it drives him. I expect 18-20 wins, and a sub 3 ERA from Hamels. Just a prediction.— Gary Varsho
- I also have a feeling Kendrick will not be part of this rotation. If they don't move him, unless he has found something in this offseason that substantially changes what we saw last year, he'll end up back in AAA.— Gary Varsho
- I would not give Moyer the number #3 starter job just yet. I rather move Blanton to #3 and have Moyer face the other team’s #4. I also worry about our power coming from three left-handed hitters. Charlie has to be very creative with the lineup, because he cannot have Utley, Howard and Ibañez hitting back-to-back-to-back. And yes, Ibañez hit over .300 against southpaws last year, but the 2 years before he hit .243 and .254 or something like that. Either way you play with the lineup, you could find a weakness. For example if you put Werth hitting 5th to protect Howard, he might not have the experience just yet. Ditto for him hitting 3rd. Then you need Victorino to hit second. But he did pretty well hitting sixth last year. How about Pedro Feliz, but them you have to move either Ibañez, Victorino or Werth down the line up. Either way, don’t expect Ibañez to drive in his usual 100 runs. Remember, he batted 3rd with the Mariners, where Ichiro, with his usual 200 hits and great speed, was on base a lot and in the AL where the pitcher doesn’t hit. Bottom line, Ibañez would no see many baserunners on base, unless Charlie will go with the 3 left-handed hitters in a row. He wanted a right-handed power hitting outfielder badly.— EL Zorro
- Zorro: Why not have the three lefties batting 3-4-5 against RH pitching (85% of pitchers) sounds very dangerous to the other team. IF facing a strong lefty can always drop Ibanez to 6. Also, almost never will our #4 pitcher face the other guy's #4 pitcher. Teams' rotation gets messed up due to off days, etc. The important thing is that our pitchers do what they did last year--pitch into the 5-7 inning consistently— jeff gross
- It's a good team to start the season with. We all know that adjustments and trades happen in baseball during the season depending on how things are going.— pgcd3
- Whether the person who bats behind Howard is RH or LH is pretty insignificant because the other manager can just change his pitcher at that point. The big impact would be if you were able to bat a RH batter between Utley and Howard and go L-R-L. L-L-R or L-L-L doesn't matter much. A lefty reliever's main job would be to shut down Utley and Howard, if he does that, it doesn't matter who bats 5th.— Gary Varsho
Comment removed.- Not sure I agree with ya El Zorro..Ibanez hits i think .268 against lefties pretty good #s. I would keep him at 5. My thinking is even with the overload of lefties most games it wont affect us until late innings. So lets put our best lineup in and score big early..with him and Utley being pretty good against lefties i dont think it will effect us quite so bad especially bc late innings in theory we should be winning most games and have a lights out pen. Also as for his RBIs dropping, i dont see it bc Utley & Howard will be on base a whole lot for him and a lot of times with 2 on..his average with runners in scoring position is 300+ i think his RBIS will stay the same or increase..— philsfan in the atx
- James TL, I'll agree with you and really say that the Phils are better than they were last year. Truth, Cole averaged 7 innings last season. Myers averaged a little over 6. Moyer also averaged 6. Blanton averaged 5.4 innings. With this 'pen and its depth/talent, you don't necessarily need guys to take you deep into games (8/9 innings). 6 innings will suffice, particularly given this team's ability to put up runs early. RWR, I agree with your assessment re: Rollins and Myers.— tjc
- I'm sure you realize Jeff that batting the three LH together makes it easier for a manager to counteract that in the later innings by using a LH reliever. Probably be better if you spit them up by batting Werth somewhere in between two of them.— James TL
- saw jeff and garys response after hitting submit, lol..honestly guys the first 6-7 innings is where we have to attack with the best possible lineup..as long as pen holds up who care about the lefty specialist we see late..agree?— philsfan in the atx
- We won last year with a perfect performace from Lidge and the back end of that bullpen. Tough act to follow. But they have to come back and dominate again. Can't see a reason why they shouldn't. Hamels will kick it up a notch, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a big year out of Blanton. Myers? Let's hope all of the adjusting from bullpen back to rotation is out of his system. I agree about Rollins needing to bounce, and let's hope Feliz and Utley recover 100% (press conference yesterday was encouraging). Howard is what he is - the "carrier" as Manuel calls him. I know the Mets are usually all talk and no action, but they are going to be very, very tough next year. No manager controversey, no chumps in the pen, new stadium... They will be tough. Watch Blanton. He's just hitting his prime I think. Big year for the big guy.— NJLouis66
- z— James TL
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The Phillies Zone is the place for up-to-the-minute Phillies coverage from the Inquirer.
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