Spring Training is over. The Phillies are breaking camp, getting on a plane, and heading north to Philadelphia to play two with the Blue Jays before heading to Atlanta for Opening Day. I wanted to take one quick moment to re-cap the good and bad of the spring.
1. Good- Seeing the prospects- I always love this part of spring training. Tommy Joseph, Cody Asche, and Adam Morgan are just names if you don't get to see them play a little. They played, and for the most part were semi-impressive this camp.
1. Bad- Doc- Ugh. A 6.06 ERA, velocity all over the place, and every kind of illness from stomach viruses to dead arm (but never a lat pull again) hit him this spring. So did minor league hitters. Doc did not look ready to go next week, even as late as today. Yes, his velocity was up to 88-91, but he was up with everything, and had no cutter.
2. Good- Healthy, happy offense- Ryan Howard looked great. Chase Utley was pretty darn good. Dom Brown was off the charts. The key was, none of them were hurt. Sure, left-field is a concern right now, but for the most part, the line-up gave a good accounting for themselves.
2. Bad- The non-roster invitee saga- I understand that you need a lot of players in camp to play the games. Makes sense. Every year though, we end up spending the latter part of spring training concerned about the Luis Castillo-Aaron Cook-Yuniesky Betancourt, and none of them end up on the team. Of course we bring them to camp, of course they perform good (a major leaguer playing for a job against a lot of minor leaguers will do that), and of course then we all talk about them making the team. Do they ever? Nah.
1. Good and Bad- The Hooters' Ball Girls- Ok, I like them, what guy doesn't. They're attractive women. Yes, I like Hooters' wings. Yes, I'm fine with someone playing down the line to get foul balls. My worry is that these girls had a few "slip ups" this spring. I love the idea, like the girls, and hate when they grab a fair ball. I do understand that the original Hooters was in Clearwater, so that's cool, but teach them the rules?
2. Good and Bad- The fan friendly experience… that I missed for a second straight year- Seriously, there's nothing cooler than being at spring training games. Everything's fun, everything's good, the players are in a good mood, and they'll even converse with you. I hope everyone enjoyed it. I didn't this year, for a second straight year. This just has to change next year.
Some stats for you to forget about come Monday in Atlanta-
- Dom Brown- .376/.430/.671/1.101, 7 HR, 17 RBI's, 6 BB, 14 K's.
- Ryan Howard- .338/.368/.663/1.030, 7 HR, 16 RBI's, 4 BB, 16 K's.
- Chase Utley- .273/.368/.545/.914, 5 HR, 16 RBI's, 9 BB, 10 K's.
- Ben Revere- .337/.382/.398/.780, 10 SB, 17 R, 6 BB, 10 K's.
