Philadelphia Phillies

Philadelphia finished with an 88-74 record and missed out on the playoffs yet again despite a lot of investment in recent years. Now a new GM has been brought in to get the team where they want to go.

Pitching

The rotation has the potential to be solid and deep but it also has the potential to be a disaster and form seems to point towards the latter.

Jon Lieber will again be expected to be the ace but after a strong start he struggled greatly last year. Behind him the likes of Cory Lidle, Brett Myers and Randy Wolf have shown they can be solid performers and will need to have good seasons if Phillie are going to get anywhere. More importantly the enigmatic Gavin Floyd needs to step up and be counted and show that his billing as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball is merited.

The bullpen may have lost Billy Wagner but Tom Gordon should be an able replacement. There is some worry that he may have some fatigue in his shoulder after a couple of heavy years with the Yankees but he has the ability and definitely has the temperament.

Gordon will be set up by the lefty-righty combination of Arthur Rhodes and Ryan Madson and between the three of them many a game will be shortened and with the added depth provided by Rheal Cormier and Julio Santana Phillie should be a tough team to come back against.

Defence

Aaron Rowand’s addition to the team greatly improves the outfield and he should have no problem bridging the gap between Pat Burrell, who runs out every play but lacks the athleticism to be effective, and Bobby Abreu whose mobility is in decline as his body thickens.

The infield is anchored by the double play combo of the rangy and athletic Jimmy Rollins and sure fielding Chase Utley. They will combine to form one of the best keystone tandems around and with David Bell at third Phillie should have few worries.

Behind the dish Mike Lieberthal has had one too many injuries and is a long way from the form that won him a Gold Glove in ‘99. His movement is at times laboured and while he still has the arm strength, his footwork doesn’t allow him to make the most of it. The club will hope that Carlos Ruiz can emerge and take some of the load.

Offence

Ryan Howard is a monster at the plate. He has a disciplined approach and when he gets a pitch he likes he takes some of the most vicious cuts you will see. This guy will be one of the leagues top sluggers for years to come.

The middle of the order gets even more formidable when you factor in Burrell and Bobby Abreu, who is one of the very best hitters in baseball. Abreu dons the jewellers eyepiece at the plate and sees more pitches per at bat than anyone. He’ll hit for a high average with good power whilst drawing walks and using good savvy on the bases to rack up the steals. He truly is a complete player.

Once you get past the heart of the order there isn’t a lot of depth. Lieberthal and Bell have good power but don’t make contact enough to be consistent providers and if any of the other starters go down then there is the question of who will pick up the slack? Tomas Perez remains one of the best pinch hitters and utility men around but he isn’t a long term solution.

The key to the line-up will be Jimmy Rollins who has great speed and the hand eye coordination to slap and bunt the ball around and make the most of it. The only problem is a lack of discipline which means he doesn’t walk as often as he could. He does work hard, which is a quality that has made him a true leader, and when he gets on a hot streak the whole team goes with him.

Rookie Watch

Carlos Ruiz will be looking to try and take some playing time away from Lieberthal. Originally a second baseman, the Phillies quickly converted him to a catcher due to his lack of mobility. Now he uses his middle infield footwork and a strong work ethic to make the plays behind the dish and he’s developing across the board.

Management

Few GM’s have the track record of Pat Gillick. A long term GM of the Blue Jays when they were new to the league, he made them into a dominant force in the AL that culminated in the back-to-back championship years of ‘92 and ‘93. He then moved on to Seattle where he built a team that won 116 games in ‘01. He comes to a Phillies team that has underachieved in recent years and doesn’t have many high end prospects anywhere near the Majors and Gillick usually likes to build strong farms so we shall wait and see how soon his effect will take to come into effect.

Charlie Manuel has a reputation for being and easy going guy who works well with veterans and developing hitters which makes you wonder how he fits in with this team right now and its easy to envision him being sacrificed under the new regime. He’s not a bad manager, he’s just in a bad situation.

Outlook

The pitching depth is a huge worry and the lack of depth at any position and no help from the farm makes it unlikely that the Phillies will trouble anyone in the East unless a lot of things start going right and they haven’t gone right in Philadelphia for a while.