Sports

Good to be Kings: Philadelphia Phillies

When you do things like win the World Series there isn’t much to talk about during Spring Training. It’s been a little quiet in Clearwater where the reigning Champs, the Philadelphia Phillies are training. Chase Utley is on track to be ready for Opening Day after off-season surgery, so that’s not even an issue. The biggest questions are who the fifth starter will be and who is going to be the right-handed bat off the bench. Yeah, it’s good to be the King.

The 5th Starter

Going into the Spring there were 4 candidates for the 5th-starter’s job: JA Happ, Chan Ho Park, Kyle Kendrick and Carlos Carrasco. Carrasco would have had to be almost perfect to win the spot and he hasn’t been. He’s ticketed for Triple-A to start the year. Kyle Kendrick was dubbed the front-runner by manager, Charlie Manuel, but hasn’t exactly seized his opportunity. Kendrick got rocked in his last Grapefruit League start and pitching coach, Rich Dubee, didn’t like how Kendrick reacted to the adversity. “He threw his arms up like, poor me, or whatever and that doesn’t show confidence in you emotions,” Dubee said after the game in which Kendrick gave up 4-runs on 5-hits. “That’s showing the other team you’re scuffling. That’s not acceptable behavior.” Dubee added. Kendrick was working on developing his change-up to keep left-handed hitters off-balance, but he has not looked good so far.

Unless Kendrick has a complete turn-around, the battle for the 5th-spot in the rotation will come down to Happ and Park. Both are considered viable options for the bullpen, though. Happ is a lefty and, with JC Romero out for the first 50 games of the season, the only lefty reliever is Scott Erye. Park made 54 relief appearances for the Dodgers last year, posting a 4-4 record and a 3.40 ERA. They can still make their case for the 5th-spot by continuing their impressive springs.

Happ just struck out seven Tigers in three innings on Saturday, his best outing so far. Park gave up one run in four innings, while striking out four and walking none on Friday. Both were impressive outings, but there is a major difference between the pitchers. Park is going to be on the opening day roster somewhere, while Happ could still be sent to the minors. The guess here is that Park wins the 5th-spot. It would make for a nice story since Park turned down his native South Korea’s invitation to pitching in the World Baseball Classic to concentrate on earning a spot in the rotation.

Ruiz Injury

Speaking of the WBC, it has now become more than just some stupid gimmick to make money by MLB. Catcher, Carlos Ruiz, was removed from Panama’s game against Puerto Rico with a neck injury. It is being described as a pinched nerve, pending further examination by a doctor. Oh great. Ruiz finally starts to come around in the playoffs and now he gets hurt playing in this useless tournament? Yet another reason why MLB is run worse than the Big Three US Automakers. Nobody cares. Nobody watches.  Now, a player on the Phillies is hurt. It’s a good thing the Phillies have depth at the position with Chris Coste and newly acquired, Ronny Paulino.

Right-handed Bat off the Bench

It seems that their roster of fielders is set with the exception of a right-handed bat on the bench. In such a heavily left-handed hitting lineup, the need for a righty bat can’t be overlooked. The Phillies toyed with the idea of signing Nomar Garciapara, but he signed with the Oakland A’s. Now, the front-runner to win the last spot on the roster is John Mayberry Jr. Mayberry was acquired in an off-season trade with the Texas Rangers for OF Greg Golson. It was a swap of underachieving former 1st-round picks. The Phillies liked Mayberry’s power potential but he needed to work on making better contact. So far, so good.

Mayberry is hitting .292 with 3 HRs this spring. A few minor adjustments to his swing by Manuel and hitting coach Milt Thompson have made all the difference in the world. Now the question becomes, if Mayberry makes the team who doesn’t. The most likely candidates are left-handed OFs, Matt Stairs and Geoff Jenkins. Both are well-respected players but they are essentially the same. Expect one of them to be traded in a minor deal before the regular season starts. My money is on Stairs going. If so, Phillie fans will always remember that postseason HR.  I know I will.

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