Well, after taking the weekend mostly away from the computer, it's time to get back at it. Camp is winding down, and lots is happening in the world of the Phillies.
They played a lot of games that I haven't mentioned yet. Today they played two. They tied the Orioles 3-3. Jim Thome had an RBI double and Freddy Galvis had three hits. In case you were actually worried about Roy Halladay, he struck out nine in 6.1 innings, surrendering just two runs. Jose Contreras blew a save, giving up a run. Papelbon was good.
Meanwhile, the other split squad went to face Justin Verlander and the Tigers. It didn't go well. They lost 6-3. Shane Victorino had two hits, and Hunter Pence had one with an RBI and run scored. Juan Pierre had two hits, and is now at .295, while Podsednik had none, and is now at .333. Wigginton had a hit and an RBI. Cody Overbeck hit a homer. Scott Elarton threw four innings of one run ball, without a K, and walked four. It's probably enough to get him onto the Iron Pigs for opening day. Herndon, Savery, and Stutes all had rough days.
Yesterday, the Phillies bombed the Red Sox with a rag-tag group, winning 10-5. Cole Hamels threw four innings of two hit ball. On Friday, they lost 5-3 to the Yankees. Vance Worley threw six innings of three run ball, with seven punch outs.
There were two big pieces of news since I put out my last roster projection, one being Dom Brown sent to the minors, the other being Chase Utley announcing he's neither getting surgery or retiring. Both are important to the way this team looks now, and how it may look later. I'm in the minority on both of my opinions of these events: that Brown warranted a longer look in big league camp, and should have been up until they broke camp, and that Utley's status and Galvis' spring warrants NOT making a trade that has any kind of price at all. In other words, no prospect that may make this team soon, and no amount of money (and certainly not Dom, Joe Blanton, or Kyle Kendrick) should be moved for anyone who is available now. I'm concerned about the offense, yes, but not enough to move anything for guys on the scrap heap. Remember, available players are guys that would probably be optioned or cut, in the ideal world for those teams. Is that realistically any better than playing a young, home grown guy like Galvis, for what we hope will be a short time while Chase is out? I'm all for getting someone to replace Martinez, and if you think a guy like Fontenot is better than him, get him for the year. I just don't think Galvis is worse than what we put out last year in Chase's absence, and I want to see where he's at, at this point. Yes, missing Chase and Howard is a big blow, but I'm cautiously optimistic about first base, and even about second. With that all said, as stated above, I don't think it'd be bad to go find a good right-handed hitting middle-infielder off the scrap heap as a role-player.
Now, the projections:
- Line-Up: Rollins-SS, Polanco-3B, Victorino-CF, Pence-RF, Mayberry-LF, Wigginton/Thome/Nix-1B, Ruiz-C, Galvis-2B
- Rotation: Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Worley, Blanton
- Bench: Thome, Nix, Schneider, Pierre, Orr
- Bullpen: Papelbon, Bastardo, Qualls, Kendrick, Stutes, Herndon, Savery
- DL: Howard, Utley, Contreras, Martinez
- Last Five Off: Podsednik, Diekman, Luna, Montanez, Valdes
Ok, so my thinking's a little different on the line-up. I now think Mayberry will play left, Wigginton first. I think Thome and Nix will both play quite a bit too. I have Orr making the bench, but I think that's subject to them not picking someone else up. Remember, Pete's not on the 40 man.
Dom's off the last five off, because well, he's not in that group. I put Hector Luna in, because I think they'll consider him, as is, as crazy as that is.
