Philadelphia Phillies: Power Ranking 10 Players To Watch in Spring Training

Some people look down on Spring Training saying that “it is just a warm up for the players,” “the real payers don’t play much,” “you can’t predict anything from it.”

Truth is, Spring Training is a great way to judge how a player is performing coming into the season.  A player can come in hot and hit 10 homers in April or a player can come in cold and bat under .100 for the first few months.  Obviously these are not the only two possibilities, but you get the idea. Performance in Spring Training shows how a player will do in the regular season.

During Spring Training a player can secure himself a role on the team, a prospect can show what he’s got, a bench player can step up to a starting role or any number of possibilities.

This Spring Training there are a few storylines for the Phillies that every fan should be watching, and these are those storylines.

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MLB Power Rankings: Ranking The Teams In The NL East Position by Position

With the regular season coming closer and closer we are all trying to predict how each player and team will do.  If you are a fantasy baseball player then you need to figure out who will have a good year and who will struggle.  This list ranks the NL East starters by position.

We can all agree that the Phillies have the best starting rotation in the NL East, but who’s next?  And who’s the best at the other positions?

A team cannot win if they are only good in one position, they must be good at all of them.  The Phillies’ pitching is great, but if they aren’t the best in other categories then will they still win the division?

This list will show which teams are the best position by position and show potential teams to beat the Phillies for the divisional title.  I will also give explanations as to why which team is the best at a certain position, and rank all five NL East teams.

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MLB Predictions: A Complete Projection Of The Phillies Starting Pitching Staff

With all of the hype about the Phillies starting rotation, we all want to know how they are going to fair together.  This collective unit has been deemed the best in baseball, and with that title, they will need to live up to the hype.  Anything short of magnificent will be a let down for baseball fans.

As the regular season comes nearer and nearer, projections start flying in, and everyone wants to know what to expect (especially fantasy baseball owners).  It is with this in mind that I have decided to project the stats of every starter in the Phillies rotation, from Cliff Lee down to Joe Blanton.

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Philadelphia Phillies: 10 Current Players Domonic Brown Could Develop Into

For those of you who don’t know him, Domonic Brown is the outfield prospect that the Phillies brought up to the majors late last season.  Brown is a young left-handed hitter who has great speed and is a good fielder. 

Many people have been speculating about the number 3 prospect in the MLB.  ESPN’s Keith Law is no exception, saying:

“Brown demolished Double-A and Triple-A in 2010, yet still has a lot of raw aspects to his game. He may just be the rare, special talent who has to complete most of his baseball development in the majors because minor league pitching isn’t a sufficient challenge for him.

“Brown has all five natural tools, and shows some refinement at the plate, where he works the count reasonably well and never had an issue with making contact until he reached Philadelphia. His swing can be a little long, but he accelerates his hands so quickly that, in the long run, I don’t expect him to be a significant swing-and-miss hitter and he has the hip rotation and leverage to hit for above-average to plus power. His reads in right field still need work and despite a strong arm he tends to throw off the wrong foot, but those are problems that can be fixed with time and better instruction in the majors.

“He’s not likely to fill Jayson Werth’s offensive shoes right away, but if the Phillies are patient Brown can be that kind of hitter when he peaks after a few years in the big leagues.” – Keith Law, ESPN

Brown is attracting a lot of attention, and people want to know if he will be a Hall of Famer, a one-year wonder, a bust, or anywhere in between.  These 10 are the players who Domonic Brown could turn into.

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MLB Power Rankings: The 25 Greatest Pitchers in Philadelphia Phillies History

Pitching is a vital part of the game, and with this Phillies rotation we are expecting a few World Series championships.

With Cliff Lee going along with Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels, we are all expecting the greatest starting rotation of the decade, or even of our lives!

This has sparked a lot of historical comparisons, to the Braves of old and to others.  This got me thinking, “Who are the best pitchers in Phillies history?”  This slideshow is devoted to just that.  Covering three centuries (19th, 20th and 21st) of Phillies history, here are the top 25 pitchers of the franchise.

Two Things to Remember:

1. All stats are with team unless specified otherwise.

2. Some rankings had to be adjusted according to era.

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Philadelphia Phillies: 10 Players Who Could Help Them ClinchThe 2011 Pennant

Unless you live under a rock–and even maybe then–you have heard about the Phillies signing Cliff Lee to go along with Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels in a starting rotation that many consider the best of the decade.  This four-man rotation is the best in baseball by just about any stat category, but is it enough to win them the pennant?  The Phillies are projected to win the NL East easily, and to make a good run into the postseason, but is it a lock?  Not quite is the answer.  The Phillies have almost solved the puzzle for the 2011 season–and possibly beyond– but need to add one or two more pieces such as a shut-down reliever or a right-handed hitter.  These ten guys are all available, and if the Phillies acquire any of them, they should just about clinch the NL Pennant–FYI, this isn’t a ranking since they should all clinch them the NL Pennant.

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Philadelphia Phillies: 10 Reasons Why They Might Not Win The NL East

Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels. This is an amazing starting rotation, but is it enough to win the NL East? 

The Phillies are the talk of baseball, and they are projected to win the NL East, but is it really a guarantee? 

The answer is no.

As a Phillies fan, I consider myself unbiased on the subject, and I have picked up on a lot of their struggles during last season (many of which have not been addressed).

I know many of you out there want to hear about how the Phils won’t be the best team ever since there are 29 other teams in the MLB, so here they are, the 10 reasons that the Phillies might not win the NL East (in no specific order).

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Don’t Jump Off a Cliff Yet! The Phillies Are Beatable Even with Cliff Lee

Four aces is almost a guaranteed win in poker. However, the Phillies’ “four aces” will not guarantee them any more World Series rings…yet.

Even with the addition of Cliff Lee, the Phillies are not on a plateau above the rest of the MLB.

As an avid Phillies fan, I consider myself to be unbiased on this subject, and though I wish it were not true, I believe that the Phillies are going to be knocked out in the NLCS or World Series.

The Phillies have an amazing starting rotation now; however, they will not be able to finish games with their bullpen. The Phillies seemed to be fixing their bullpen late in the season, but they do not have the shutdown bullpen they had during their 2008 World Series run.

In ’08, the Phillies had a perfect Brad Lidge (41-of-41 in the regular season and seven more saves in the postseason), whose only blown save was in the All-Star Game, and a shutdown “Bridge to Lidge” in Ryan Madson. Besides Lidge and Madson having career seasons, the rest of the bullpen was clutch, and the entire team pitched well when it mattered, having a 3.07 ERA in the postseason.

The bullpen was the backbone of the ’08 team, and even though they only had a few good starters, the bullpen held the opposing team whenever they had to.

The Phillies had great starting pitching last year too, with Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt (acquired via trade with Houston) making up H2O, and they doused many teams whose offenses were on fire. The Phillies also proved that starters are not enough for a winning team.

H2O pitched well, and Joe Blanton, Kyle Kendrick and the rest of the starters weren’t too shabby either. However, you can shut out every team, but you won’t win without an offense. The Phillies offense is just too inconsistent to pull off a postseason run, especially when the best pitchers are still around. The Phillies’ starters did reasonably well against the Giants in 2010, but the offense just couldn’t help them out.

An offense that struggled last year will be worse this year if not addressed. The Phillies lost Jayson Werth to the Nationals, and though Werth did not have a great 2010 season, his All-Star production is to be replaced by second-year player Domonic Brown.

Brown had a decent start in the majors, but he is still young and inexperienced and cannot be relied upon to be as cool in the postseason as All-Star Jayson Werth, who has already been there three times with the Phillies.

Losing Werth was a big loss, and in an aging lineup like Philadelphia’s, which includes seven of eight batters who are 30-plus years of age (and have been riddled with injuries), the Phillies need to acquire a more consistent bat that that of 31-year-old Ryan Howard. Howard struggled mightily in the playoffs, and his strikeouts are a major area of concern.

If the Phillies lineup can stay healthy or add another bat, they will manage, but asking such an old lineup to stay healthy is asking a lot.

If the Phillies do not acquire a good bat and/or stay healthy, as well as a decent bullpen arm (perhaps Chan Ho Park again), then they will most likely lose in the playoffs.

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