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With Polanco, Phils' lineup even better

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Charlie Manuel has made a habit of smiling this spring. He smiles because the Phillies are two-time defending National League champions. He smiles because his team acquired perhaps the best pitcher in baseball during the off-season. And he smiles because he has more energy after losing some 50 pounds over the last year.

Placido Polanco hopes to add to the already potent Phillies' lineup. (David Swanson/Staff file photo)
Placido Polanco hopes to add to the already potent Phillies' lineup. (David Swanson/Staff file photo)Read more

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Charlie Manuel has made a habit of smiling this spring.

He smiles because the Phillies are two-time defending National League champions. He smiles because his team acquired perhaps the best pitcher in baseball during the off-season. And he smiles because he has more energy after losing some 50 pounds over the last year.

But the Phillies' manager - a hitting instructor at heart - smiles most when he talks about his lineup.

"We're going to score some runs," Manuel says.

He said it over and over this spring, and there is true excitement in his voice when the words come out. Manuel is genuinely curious to see what this version of his lineup can do on the field.

"When I look at the National League and about the last 10 years . . . we have a chance to score a lot of runs," Manuel said. "Our lineup, we have guys who can really do better. We can put together a big offense. We have the potential to be very good."

One through seven, the Phillies have all former all-stars. In three of the last five seasons, they led the National League in runs scored. (The other two seasons, the Phils were second.)

The core group of players has reached the tail end of its peak years. Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Jayson Werth will each be 31 on opening day. Ryan Howard will be 30; Shane Victorino, 29.

The lineup - a mix of speed and power - is built for the ballpark in which it plays 81 games. It resembles an American League lineup, Raul Ibanez said. In fact, it's the best lineup the 37-year-old outfielder said he's ever been a part of.

Others on the Phils share the sentiment.

"I can't think of a better lineup, one through eight, in the National League," Victorino said. "But it's up to us, what we make of it and how good of a year we can have."

The only change

How much better can the Phillies' offense be?

First base coach Davey Lopes pondered the question in the visiting dugout at George M. Steinbrenner Field before a Grapefruit League game in March.

He went down the lineup, player by player, and while discussing the obvious strengths noted that there's room for improvement.

Then he came back to Placido Polanco, who was signed as a free agent to play third, replacing Pedro Feliz. Polanco is the only change in the Phillies' starting lineup this season.

Last year with Detroit, where he played second base, Polanco posted the 10th best combined on-base and slugging percentage (.727) among everyday second basemen in the American League. (Feliz, with a .694 OPS, was ranked 10th among National League third basemen.)

The Phillies paid decent money for Polanco - $18 million over three years - a contract criticized by stats analysts as one of the off-season's worst deals. Polanco's production has declined in recent years. For instance, his .285 batting average last season was his lowest since 2002, when he was with St. Louis. Polanco turned 34 in October.

Lopes dismissed those notions, saying Polanco simply fits in the Phillies' lineup.

"It's about as close to perfect as you can get," Lopes said.

If there is any criticism of the Phillies' offense over the last few seasons, it has been about strikeouts. The Phils finished above the National League average in strikeouts three of the last four seasons.

Polanco struck out in 7.4 percent of his at-bats last season, which easily would have been the lowest number of the Phillies' regulars in 2009. (Rollins was the lowest among Phillies at 10.4 percent.)

Polanco, who will hit second, will put the ball in play - and that's what Manuel, Lopes and general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. have stressed since Polanco was signed.

"I'm glad they said it," Polanco said. "Because when you come to a team that is already set, that's been champions, you don't want to mess anything up."

Another by-product of the Polanco signing is that Victorino moves from batting second to seventh on a regular basis. That, Manuel said, gives him speed at the top and bottom of the order for the first time. Last season, Victorino hit 10 home runs with 62 RBIs.

"What's going to change for me? I don't know," Victorino said. "I don't think I'm going to try to change anything."

Some flaws exist

When Rollins arrived at spring training, he was asked about the potential of the Phillies' lineup. He said he dreams of a scenario in which everyone has a career year and the team rips off a season similar to the 2001 Seattle Mariners. That team scored 927 runs, tops in the majors, and won 116 games.

But there are plenty of things that could derail that dream. Consider:

Rollins' .292 on-base percentage ranked second to last in the majors among players with at least 300 plate appearances as a leadoff hitter.

After a disastrous second half of 2009, Ibanez has had a dismal spring. He turns 38 in June and is coming off sports hernia surgery.

Polanco may put the ball in play, but will he get on base enough at the top of the order? His .331 on-base percentage was his lowest since 2006 and 17 points below his career average.

Yet the Phillies are convinced the sum is greater than the parts and their potential flaws. The buzzword attached to the Phillies' lineup around camp has been balanced.

"You've got speed at the top," Victorino said. "You've got me moving down to seventh, so you have speed at the bottom. You have power throughout. You've got guys who can control the bat and move guys over. That's what makes it so balanced. There are so much dynamics through the lineup. That's what makes it so good."

It also helps to have a heart of the order made up of Utley and Howard. Both are healthy. After the 2008 World Series, Utley had hip surgery, and its effects lingered into the spring. That wasn't the case this year. Howard trimmed a few pounds and has slightly adjusted his batting stance.

Manuel remains convinced that Howard can be a .300 hitter again, as he was in his MVP season of 2006. The key will be reducing his strikeouts, where has averaged 191 strikeouts over the last four seasons.

The potential

Lopes was a member of the 1979 Dodgers, a team that was vying for its third straight National League crown just as the 2010 Phillies are. That Los Angeles team finished four games under .500, and Lopes has a relatively good idea of how these Phillies are perceived.

"Who knows what they're capable of?" Lopes said.

There is no secret to the Phillies' success on offense: power. Last season, the Phillies were ranked eighth in the National League in team batting average (.258), but first in slugging percentage (.447). Even in 2008, the Phillies were 10th in batting average but second in slugging.

Lopes, like Manuel, is convinced the addition of Polanco changes the dynamic of the lineup. "I just feel it is a better lineup for us," Lopes said. "And that's nothing to take away from Pedro [Feliz]. We got to the World Series two years with Pedro.

"Our Achilles' heel over the last few years, is at times when all we needed to do was put the ball in play and we didn't do it," Lopes said. "From that perspective, that's why everyone feels this is a much more balanced lineup. There's only one guy who changes it and that's Placido."

The last Phils team to score more than 900 runs was the 1930 club, which went 52-102 (but also allowed a franchise-worst 1,199 runs). The last NL team to top 900 runs was Atlanta in 2003.

Manuel still calls the 1999 Cleveland Indians the best lineup he has seen - 1,009 runs en route to a 97-win season - but he eagerly awaits this season.

"It's the best lineup I've ever been around or associated with," Ibanez said. "It's a lot of fun. You literally have a lineup where almost anyone can hit almost anywhere. There aren't a lot of teams that can say that."