Inside the Phillies: Role players are crucial for Phillies

Sometimes the little moves that do not make the front-page headlines or get the most hits on the home page are the ones that can make a big difference over the course of a season.

And the Phillies need that to be true more than ever as they get set to start a new season Friday afternoon against the Houston Astros.

Proof of the positive impact that unheralded pickups have had can be found by tracing the Phillies' recent success.

Yes, the acquisitions of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cliff Lee over the last 16 months have generated unmatched excitement and boosted area T-shirt sales, but the difference between another winning season and winning it all could come down to how well Ben Francisco plays in right field and what kind of contributions Wilson Valdez, Michael Martinez, and Pete Orr make as extra infielders.

Yes, homegrown talents such as Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Carlos Ruiz have been staples during this era of champagne celebrations, but would their talent have been enough without the Rule 5 draft addition of Shane Victorino in 2004 and the minor-league free-agent signing of Jayson Werth in 2006?

Catcher Chris Coste, another minor-league free-agent signing, became a cult hero in Philadelphia because of his contributions after making the team as a 33-year-old rookie.

The Phillies probably would not have started this run of division titles without the 2007 deadline deal that brought them Tadahito Iguchi from the Chicago White Sox for Michael Dubee. And who knows if Philadelphia's title drought would still be going if Matt Stairs had not been obtained from Toronto in 2008?

A year ago, with every infielder spending time on the disabled list, Valdez proved to be a defensive wizard who contributed timely hits.

With Utley on the disabled list again and Placido Polanco feeling soreness in the same elbow that required surgery in the offseason, lesser-known players like Valdez and Martinez are going to be asked to make valuable contributions.

Francisco has always been the "other guy" in the 2009 deadline trade that brought Lee to the Phillies the first time. Now, he has to produce.

The Phillies decided that Valdez's sure hands and rifle arm were a better fit for second base than Luis Castillo's experience. Orr, who played last year at triple-A Syracuse, has another shot at being a big-league bench player because of Utley's knee injury.

Two of the more fascinating guys on the opening-day roster are Martinez and reliever David Herndon because they are both Rule 5 selections, and those types of guys rarely even stick around for the start of the season, especially on championship-caliber teams.

Herndon, after never pitching above double-A Arkansas in the Los Angeles Angels system, beat the odds and stuck with the Phillies for the entire 2010 season.

No longer protected by his Rule 5 status, Herndon, with the help of Brad Lidge's annual April trip to the disabled list and a strong Grapefruit League showing of his own, beat the odds again to make the opening-day roster this season. A year ago, he rarely got into meaningful games, but that could change in 2011.

Martinez, meanwhile, is a 28-year-old rookie who once idolized Allen Iverson and had hoop dreams, blasphemy for a kid from the Dominican Republic. Manager Charlie Manuel fell in love with Martinez's glove and versatility and made it clear he would get a chance to play as the Phillies anxiously await Utley's return.

Victorino, having twice gone through the Rule 5 process - once with San Diego in 2003 and a second time with the Phillies in 2005 - has a special feeling for guys like Herndon and Martinez. While most of the world ignores the Rule 5 draft, Victorino follows it.

"I like to see who is going to get a chance," Victorino said. "I think it's very interesting. I don't know why all 30 teams don't take a chance on a Rule 5 guy. It's a $50,000 risk. If I was an organization, I would take a guy every year."

With the exception of the winter of 2005, the Phillies have made at least one selection in the major-league phase of the Rule 5 draft every year since they took Victorino in 2004. Only Washington, with 10 Rule 5 selections, has made more than the Phillies' nine since 2004.

The Phillies, of course, struck gold with Victorino, albeit only after they offered him back to the Dodgers and made him spend a season at triple-A.

Victorino said he had never heard of Martinez when the Phillies selected him in December, but he made a point of seeking him out at the start of spring training.

"I always use the expression that one man's trash is another organization's treasure," Victorino said.

Don't underestimate what the "American picker" role has meant during this era in Phillies history.