5 Phillies stories that could be written this spring

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The devil of this spring training will be in the details. The fly-specks-in-pepper details. ETAs for pitchers coming off surgeries like closer Brad Lidge and "Methuselah" Moyer.

When Moses came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments, they were not as set in the stone of Mount Sinai as Charlie Manuel's starting eight. Big topics will be the spots in the order for third baseman Placido Polanco and centerfielder Shane Victorino. Four spots in the starting rotation are as set as they have been at any time in memory. Scores of stories will be written about the Battle for No. 5. Who gets the sixth inning will kill a lot of trees - or clog Web site bandwidth. Manuel will be like Stradivari fine-tuning his violin.

But spring training is always a time for shocks and surprises. Here are five scenarios that could unfold:

1. Lidge will fall right back into the opposite-year rhythm that has defined his career. Healed from successful surgeries on his right elbow and knee, he will be back to his old power delivery featuring a long stride and explosive launch off the rubber.

2. Unless John Mayberry Jr. really dials up his offensive game, he will be traded or released. And don't laugh at the released part. Phils former No. 1 draft pick Greg Golson, the guy traded to Texas for Mayberry last year, was waived by the Rangers.

3. Kyle Kendrick will bundle everything he learned and improved on during a deflating 2009 season and emerge as the No. 5 starter. Or at least the main guy. They won't let Jamie Moyer polish the pines for $8 million.

4. Jimmy Rollins will have a huge bounce-back year. He's married now and in the prime of his career. And he will be swinging to make GM Ruben Amaro turn his 2011 club option into a long-term deal for more than his current $7.5 million a year bargain rate.

5. Cole Hamels will come up with a killer third pitch that won't stress his elbow. It will be the Burt Hooton knuckle-curve, a pitch my son, Pete, learned from Phils pitching coach Claude Osteen in 1985, a pitch that was fine-tuned by Hooton himself at the University of Texas in 1987. Now, all I have to do is convince Hamels that it is a slider-speed pitch that drops off the table with minimum strain on the arm.