Looking at the Phillies' rotation

WHAT WE KNOW: Despite the expected loss of Roy Oswalt, the unit should once again enter the season as the class of the National League. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels each logged at least 216 innings while posting sub-2.80 ERAs. While Oswalt struggled with a back injury and saw his strikeouts drop off dramatically, he still finished 2011 with a 3.69 ERA while averaging six innings in 23 starts. Vance Worley will enter the spring with a spot in the rotation after going 11-3 with a 3.01 ERA in 21 starts and four relief appearances as a rookie.

WHAT TO WATCH: All eyes will be on Joe Blanton as he looks to prove that his elbow is fully recovered from 2011, when he made just eight starts before returning as a reliever at the end of the season. Blanton made a trip to renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews while attempting to find a course of treatment for the soreness he was experiencing, but he never underwent surgery and received good reports after throwing in the instructional league. Still, spring will be an important time as he builds up his arm for the rigors of a season of starting duty. Blanton's health is one of the few intriguing subplots of the spring, as Halladay, Lee and Hamels will simply go through their usual routines in preparation for what they hope is another historic season.

OTHER ISSUES: Most years, the Phillies have one or two young starters who have an opportunity to pitch their way either onto the roster or onto the radar in spring. But most of the players who would ordinarily be in that position this year have been traded away to build the current roster. The two young starters most worth watching are righthander Austin Hyatt, a nonroster invitee, and righthander J.C. Ramirez, who is in his second year on the 40-man roster after being acquired from Seattle in the Cliff Lee trade. It is already getting late in the game for Ramirez, who is just 23 but has already completed six minor league seasons. Last year, he posted a 4.50 ERA in 26 starts in Double A Reading but saw his strikeout numbers decline to 5.6 per nine innings after averaging 7.3 the year before. The Phillies liked his raw talent when they acquired him, but he has yet to establish himself as a legitimate starting prospect. Hyatt is at the other end of the spectrum: At 25, few scouting reports project his ceiling as anything higher than a potential back-of-the-rotation piece. But he just keeps on performing. Although he has just average velocity, he has a good changeup and last year posted a 3.85 ERA with 10.0 strikeouts and 2.9 walks per nine innings in 28 starts at Reading. He is a candidate for Triple A, and if he has a strong spring he could find himself as a Vance Worley-type darkhorse should the injury bug bite the rotation.

OTHER PLAYERS IN CAMP: Joel Pineiro, a 12-year veteran, is coming off a disappointing season with the Angels (7-7, 5.13 ERA, 3.8 K/9, 2.3 BB/9), but in 2009-10 he combined to go 25-19 with a 3.64 ERA, 4.8 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 in 55 starts for the Angels and Cardinals. Another veteran in camp who is looking to re-establish himself is Conestoga High product Dave Bush, 32, who started at least 21 games for the Brewers from 2006-10 before latching on with Texas last season. Bush eventually found his way to Lehigh Valley, where he logged four solid starts.