Phillies Spring Training 2013: Daily Updates, Scores, News and Analysis
March 11, 2013 by Adam Wells
Filed under Fan News
The times are changing in Philadelphia, though whether or not that is a good thing for the Phillies remains to be seen.
It is no secret that this team is getting old, fragile and is betting a lot on some players who have never been very good or haven’t been good in a long time.
Adding Michael Young and Delmon Young as the starting third baseman and right fielder, respectively, has disaster written all over it. Acquiring Ben Revere from Minnesota will help the outfield defense, but he will have so much ground to cover on his own with Young and either Domonic Brown or Darin Ruf in the corner spots.
The Phillies do still have a quality rotation, especially at the top with Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee. Getting Roy Halladay back and pitching close to the level he was at pre-2012 will be crucial.
Spring training is huge for this team, because it has to keep all of its core players healthy if it wants to compete in the National League East. Chase Utley is as close to full strength as he is ever going to get, which is a huge boost to the middle of that lineup.
But other than Utley, the batting order looks suspect. Ryan Howard can’t hit left-handed pitching; Carlos Ruiz is coming off the best year of his career at age 34 but is suspended for the first 25 games of the season for a failed drug test; and Jimmy Rollins had a .316 on-base percentage out of the leadoff spot last year.
There is also no significant help coming from the minors. The Legend of Darin Ruf will get a wake-up call in the big leagues this season, as his tear through Double-A last season came at the age of 26, and he is miscast in the outfield.
This is a fascinating team to watch, though not for a lot of reasons Philadelphia fans would like. Here is a closer look at what we expect the 25-man roster to look like, the projected starting lineup and daily results and news from spring training games.