Well, the Phillies fought to a draw with the almost-equally hopeless Yankees in yesterday's official Spring opener, so they are unofficially 0-1-1 so far in Clearwater, 0-0-1 officially. Ryan Howard played well in the game, a good sign, and the team didn't lose. Howard even spoke positively afterwards. There was some roster news, particularly on the pitching staff front, as Chad Billingsley won't join the rotation until later in April, after the season starts. This dampens the competition for the fifth starting slot, somewhat, and creates a bullpen slot for the Phillies to play with.
Here's my roster outlook:
- Rotation- Given the news on Billingsley, this rotation becomes more simple. Unless they are dealt out of Philadelphia, Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee are super-locks, Aaron Harang is a lock, and David Buchanan and Jerome Williams are likely to come north in the rotation. Billingsley will get DL'ed and while Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, Jesse Biddle, Adam Morgan, and Joely Rodriguez are on the 40 man, they are minor league bound. Kevin Slowey is probably the most likely to compete here. Gonzalez could get a look in the bullpen.
- Line-Up- Ben Revere would appear to be likely to hit lead-off and play center. Grady Sizemore got the start in left in the opener, and appears to be the lead candidate there, though he hit lower in the order (third) than I expected. Chase Utley will eventually play second and hit third. Ryan Howard did play well yesterday, and figures to be the primary first baseman hitting fourth. Carlos Ruiz DH'ed and hit fifth yesterday, though he appears to be the catcher (since there is no DH). Dom Brown moved back to right-field yesterday, and hit sixth. Cody Asche will start out at third and hit seventh. Freddy Galvis will play shortstop and hit eighth.
- Bench- Right now, Cameron Rupp appears to be the back-up catcher. Darin Ruf has both played first and outfield so far, and probably makes the team to back-up in both. Cesar Hernandez played a while at second yesterday, and will be the utility man, I'm guessing. It's probably a good sign for Odubel Herrera that he came in and played center field yesterday, as I'm guessing he's the fourth outfielder type, along with Ruf. Finally, I'm guessing Jeff Francoeur has the early edge on Jordan Danks for the last spot.
- Bullpen- Pencil in Jonathan Papelbon, Ken Giles, Jake Diekman, Justin de Fratus, and Mario Hollands to return to the bullpen. Then the competition gets fierce, with pitchers like Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez and Ethan Martin fighting to get in. Ultimately, I think Elvis Araujo and Andy Oliver win the final two slots. Both might not stay in the organization if they don't.
