The Phillies' bullpen
What we know: At the moment, the Phillies have five relievers under contract, each of whom is guaranteed more than $1 million for the 2011 season: closer Brad Lidge, setup man Ryan Madson, hard-throwing righty Jose Contreras, lefty J.C. Romero, and righty
What we know: At the moment, the Phillies have five relievers under contract, each of whom is guaranteed more than $1 million for the 2011 season: closer Brad Lidge, setup man Ryan Madson, hard-throwing righty Jose Contreras, lefty J.C. Romero, and righty Danys Baez. Contreras established himself as a top-of-the-line, back-of-the-bullpen pitcher last season, He gives the Phillies some depth behind Lidge: During a 2-week stretch as the team's closer last May, Contreras recorded all three of his save opportunities while striking out seven in 4 2/3 innings over five games.
What to watch: GM Ruben Amaro Jr. hasn't publicly ruled out the idea of keeping one fewer reliever on his roster because of the strength of his rotation, but, at the moment, they are more likely to stick with the usual number of seven. Baez struggled last season, walking 4.3 per nine innings and allowing a career-worst .481 slugging percentage (third-worst among NL relievers with at least 40 innings) en route to a 5.48 ERA. His problem was mostly command - his arm was strong - and he is owed $2.75 million. So you have to think that the Phillies will give him the benefit of the doubt, at least to start. That leaves two spots open and a slew of players who will be competing to fill them. At the moment, we'd project 25-year-old lefty Antonio Bastardo and former starter Kyle Kendrick to fill them.
Other issues: The Phillies have been unable to agree to a contract with workhorse righthander Chad Durbin, and the two sides appear to be headed in different directions. The veteran righty was a versatile reliever who recorded some big late-inning outs for the Phillies over the last 3 years in addition to filling a multiple-innings role. As long as the rotation is healthy, there should be less of a need for such a player than there was in recent years.
Other players in camp: There are plenty of them. The Phillies would love for one of their younger pitchers to make a case for himself this spring. Righthander Justin DeFratus is a big-armed righty who projects as a back-of-the-bullpen reliever, but he finished last season at Double A and likely will start the year in the minors. Righty Scott Mathieson made a couple of appearances for the Phillies last season, but he'll need to make the club believe in his secondary pitches in order to win a job. The team brought in former relief star Bruce Sutter to help Mathieson learn the splitter late last season. David Herndon, a Rule 5 pick a year ago, spent all season on the major league roster and will warrant consideration this year. But the Phillies could elect to send him to the minors in order for him to work on refining his slider. Among the nonroster invitees are veteran lefty Dan Meyer and righthanded prospects Michael Schwimer and Michael Stutes.