Phillies Shock Powerhouse Blue Jays

EXHIBITION GAME RECAP: Philadelphia Trounces Toronto 8-5

Home runs by David Lough, J.P. Arencibia and Nick Williams lifted the Phillies to an 8-5 Grapefruit League win over the Blue Jays at Bright House Field on Saturday. The rebuilding Phillies are undefeated in their last eight games. They are 7-0-1 in that span and 9-3-2 overall. It was just the second loss of the spring for the defending American League East champion Blue Jays, who started a lineup that included Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista and Troy Tulowitzki. Lough is a non-roster outfielder, and Arencibia a non-roster catcher. Lough also figured in the Phillies' run in the fifth when he hit a one-out infield single, stole second, hustled to third on a fly ball and scored on a single by Odubel Herrera. The Blue Jays scored first with two runs in the top of the second against Phillies starter Vincent Velasquez, who is competing for a spot in the rotation. First baseman Chris Colabello led off with a triple and scored when left fielder Michael Saunders singled up the middle. Saunders later scored on a groundout by catcher Josh Thole. Velasquez gave up two runs on four hits and two walks while recording three strikeouts over four innings. "I'm not trying to think about [making the team]," Velasquez said. "I'm not out there thinking about how I have a chance to win [a job]. I just want to pitch. I couldn't think about anything else but who I'm going up against. The Blue Jays, that's a tough lineup." The Phillies came back to tie the score against 41-year-old knuckleballer R.A. Dickey in the bottom of the third after the 2012 NL Cy Young Award winner set them down in order in the first two innings. Lough hit a two-run shot with one out when Dickey experimented with a fastball. "It was just a situation to work on something, a fastball in that ran back over the plate," Dickey said. "In an in-season game, I wouldn't have messed with it, but it was a great opportunity and a great spot to be able to try to use that and get some feedback from it. I got some great feedback, I need to execute a little bit better. It was a great day all around." Arencibia's home run came against veteran Brad Penny with one on in the bottom of the sixth. Arencibia also swatted an opposite-field double over the head of right fielder Roemon Fields in the bottom of the eighth, but he immediately left the game for pinch-runner Logan Moore with an apparent injury. Moore scored on Williams' three-run homer off Roberto Hernandez. "I don't know where this power's coming from, but I like it," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin. "It's fun to win games. The guys are playing hard, and it's fun to do well. I know this is Spring Training and a lot of things are different, but it's always good to win and keep everybody positive." Jio Mier, who took over for Tulowitzki at shortstop, brought the Blue Jays within a run with a two-run home run in the top of the eighth before Williams' homer knocked the game open. Blue Jays center fielder Kevin Pillar had a tough day. He led off the game by smoking a long fly ball to the wall in center but was robbed of extra bases when Herrera made a terrific running catch. In the fifth he ripped a line drive down the left-field line that third baseman Maikel Franco speared with a diving catch.

PHILS PHACTS:

• Catcher J.P. Arencibia left the game after doubling in the eighth inning. He had fouled a pitch off his foot. The injury is not believed to be serious. 

NEXT GAME:

Left-hander Adam Morgan, who is competing for a spot in the rotation, will make his third Grapefruit League start, against the Yankees on Sunday at George M. Steinbrenner Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET, and the game will air on MLB.TV and Gameday Audio. Morgan was the Phillies' third-round Draft pick in 2011, and he missed the entire 2014 season recovering from shoulder surgery. Left-handers Brett Oberholtzer and Daniel Stumpf will also pitch for the Phillies.

PHILS PHACTS:

Hustle Can Earn You A Roster Spot – Everybody will talk about the home run David Lough hit in the third inning of Saturday's 8-5 win over the Blue Jays at Bright House Field. And why not? Everybody loves the long ball. But what caught manager Pete Mackanin's eye was what Lough did in the fifth, when the 30-year-old non-roster outfielder reached on an infield single with one out, stole second, went to third on a fly ball and eventually scored on a base hit by Odubel Herrera. "We're not the Toronto Blue Jays who can just sit and wait because they've got five or six guys who can hit home runs," Mackanin said. "And when you're not hitting home runs or you're facing a tough pitcher, a little bunt for a base hit, get 'em over, get 'em in, manufacturing runs can help you win a game, as well as defense." The signing of Lough, who spent the last two years with the Orioles before signing a Minor League deal with the Phillies just weeks before Spring Training opened, didn't attract a lot of attention. But he's not conceding anything. "It might be a Minor League deal on paper but, in my mind, I'm coming in expecting to win a job," he said. "I have high expectations for myself. I kind of took a back seat the last couple years in Baltimore. But I say one step back, two steps forward. I worked really hard this offseason to try to get my swing where it is. My defense has always been there. So I'm trying to just put some wood on the ball and make this ballclub." Lough hit .247 in 174 at-bats for the Orioles in 2014 and .201 in 134 ABs last season. He's a career .255 big league hitter. "Lough is a solid extra outfielder," Mackanin said. "He knows how to play the game: He can steal a base, solid defender, good situational hitter. I like him a lot. We're going to have tough decisions to make with all these guys. Not just the pitching staff but the extra players we're going to keep." Lough hopes he can be a clubhouse mentor. "I've kind of been around a little bit now," he said. "Our coaching staff has done a good job of going over the fundamentals. And the guys like myself who are a little bit older and have been around a little bit can kind of teach these guys as we go along how to play the game. "The Phillies wanted to rebuild, but I kind of wanted to rebuild my career, too. Why not do it with a young group of guys and teach them the ropes, teach them hard work and hustle and the kinds of things I bring to the table?"

Speed Isn’t Everything – Vincent Velasquez threw a pitch during Saturday's 8-5 win over the Blue Jays that registered at 104 miles an hour on the Bright House Field scoreboard. Now, Velasquez throws hard. But not that hard. And besides, as manager Pete Mackanin frequently mentions when talking about the big right-hander the Phillies acquired from the Astros in the Ken Giles trade, velocity isn't everything. "Once again, you need more than a good fastball to win as a starting pitcher, and once again he showed enough with the breaking stuff," Mackanin said after the 23-year-old pitched gave up two runs on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts in four innings. "He's got a good two-seam fastball that he can throw for a strike when he gets behind in the count. That pitch is really important. I just like the way he attacks." After giving up two runs in the second while mostly throwing fastballs, he began mixing in his breaking stuff in the third and retired Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista and Troy Tulowitzki in order in the third. "My fastballs were all over the place. I have to do something else other than throw fastballs, fastballs, fastballs," Velsaquez said. "So then I kind of mixed it up a little bit. I was ahead of myself the first few innings and calmed myself down after those two runs." From all appearances, Velasquez is competing with left-handers Brett Oberholtzer and Adam Morgan, the latter of whom will face the Yankees on Sunday in Tampa, Fla., for the final spot in the rotation. "I'm not trying to think about it," he said. "I'm not out there thinking about how I have a chance to win [a job]. I just want to pitch. I couldn't think about anything else but who I'm going up against. The Blue Jays, that's a tough lineup."

Good Start – Right-hander Jerad Eickhoff, who is being counted on to fill a rotation spot, pitched under game conditions for the first time in a camp game at the Carpenter Complex on Saturday. He's recovering from a fractured right thumb. So it didn't help that a blister popped up on his right foot during his outing, which meant that he pitched only two innings instead of the expected three. He allowed three runs on four hits and two walks while throwing 34 pitches, 20 for strikes. On balance, he was pleased with his outing. "It feels good to be back out there. It's been a long time coming. Just felt good. Pitches felt good, just getting my feet wet again," he said. "Finger feels good. It's just getting that feel back. That's the biggest thing, getting in a game, getting that adrenaline going, that same feel in the thumb and everything." Pitching coach Bob McClure said before the game that Eickhoff can still be ready to make his first start of the regular season on schedule even if he makes another Minor League appearance before pitching in a Grapefruit League game. "If everything goes [well] and we have no more setbacks," he said. "How he's throwing his BPs and how he's throwing, everything looks pretty good. Not quite where he was at the end of the season, but it looks like it's getting there quick." Eickhoff expects to be ready. "Absolutely," he said. "The body feels great. It's just a matter of getting that feel, getting that repetition. Now I just continue to build. Just focusing on what I have next." He said he needs to improve his command. "I expect a lot of myself, and I'm trying to be in and out, to a 'T' every pitch. But there were some pitches that got away a bit. I was around the zone, and I was happy with that for the most part," he noted, adding that he's thrown all his pitches." McClure added a few more notes about the state of the pitching staff: Charlie Morton and Jeremy Hellickson, who have been slowed by the flu, will each pitch in Minor League games on Sunday. So will Jeanmar Gomez, who will just be getting work in. David Hernandez (triceps tendinitis), who has a chance to fill the closer's role left vacant when Ken Giles was traded to the Astros, threw in the bullpen Saturday morning. McClure said he "looked fine" and that he was waiting to see how he feels Sunday before committing to when he'll throw next and under what circumstances.

Phanatic Vs. Bautista – We haven't come across a "The Phillie Phanatic is in the best shape of his life" #HotTake from Phillies Spring Training this season, but -- and hear us out -- the Phillie Phanatic might be in the best shape of his life. Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista was just going through his pregame warm-up routine before a Grapefruit League game against the Phillies at Bright House Field, when a full-on fitness competition broke out. The Phanatic wandered over to butt his big belly into Bautista's preparation, and ended up getting schooled in a handstand contest. Not one to be out done, the Phanatic quickly regained his composure, channeled his inner Rocky and cranked out a bunch of one-arm push-ups, much to the chagrin of a defeated Joey Bats. As if he hadn't already earned the last laugh, the Phanatic proved he was a gracious winner ... by waiting to have a wardrobe malfunction until after Bautista turned his back. Show us someone who says the Phanatic isn't in the best shape of his life, and we'll show you someone whose pants are probably on fire.

Today In Phils History - In 1987, the Phillies paid up to land one of the big free agents when they signed Lance Parrish to take over behind the plate. Birthdays for the day include Eddie Pellagrini (1918), Bob Greenwood (1928), Luis Aquayo (1959), and, of course, Mariano Duncan (1963).

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies have begun the spring with a 9-3-2 record (10-3-2 if you include the exhibition game against the University of Tampa). With the Phillies having finished the 2015 season with a spectacularly awful record of 63-99 it will be interesting to see what kind of team new President Andy MacPhail and GM Matt Klentak put on the field. At the same time I am definitely looking forward to the games against Boston with former GM Ruben Amaro on the field. Given the departures, lingering contracts, a history of injuries, bipolar performances, and unproven talent, it should, at the very least, be an interesting season for the Phillies. Who knows, maybe they can avoid 100 losses... hopefully by more than one game!

Phillies Showed Some Promise In Spring Opener

EXHIBITION GAME RECAP: Blue Jays Defeat Phillies 5-3

Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman is expected to be the Opening Day starter in April, and he took his first step toward that in Tuesday's Grapefruit League opener at Bright House Field. Stroman allowed three hits and two runs in two innings in a 5-3 victory. "My body felt unreal, my knee felt great," said Stroman, who missed most of last year following surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee. "My arm felt pretty good, too. My body is in a good position to go out there every fifth day now and get my work in." Blue Jays shortstop Darwin Barney, who is expected to be a backup infielder, went 3-for-3 with a pair of two-run doubles in the game's first three innings and he drove in a fifth run with a single in the fifth. Phillies right-hander Severino Gonzalez, who is expected to open the season in the Minor Leagues, allowed a two-out double to Barney in the first inning to give Toronto a 2-0 lead. Carlos Ruiz tied the score in the second with a two-out single to center. J.P. Arencibia went 2-for-3 and homered in the fourth to make it 4-3. "He's swinging the bat well," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said of Ruiz. "He's trying to stay on top of the ball. He's been having some good swings lately. It was good to see."

NEXT GAME:

The Phils will take a short drive to Florida Auto Exchange Stadium in Dunedin, Fla., to play the Blue Jays on Wednesday at 1:05 p.m. ET. Right-hander David Buchanan gets the start as right-hander Vincent Velasquez and left-hander Brett Oberholtzer also are scheduled to pitch. The Phillies acquired Velasquez and Oberholtzer in the Ken Giles trade with Houston.

PHILS PHACTS:

Looking To Nail Down The Ninth – Phillies right-hander David Hernandez does not remember why the Orioles asked him to close against the Yankees on June 10, 2010. Hernandez had made just 34 career appearances to that point. But he does remember facing a talented lineup and picking up the final out of his first career save on a groundout at Yankee Stadium. It turns out Hernandez's memory is pretty good. He walked a batter with one out in the ninth before getting Derek Jeter to fly out to right field and Nick Swisher to ground out to second base to end the game. "Ever since then it's like, wow, that's pretty cool," Hernandez said after pitching a scoreless inning on Tuesday afternoon in a 5-3 loss to the Blue Jays in the Grapefruit League opener at Bright House Field. Hernandez, 30, hopes to have more of those high-adrenaline moments this season. He entered Spring Training a favorite to be the Phillies' closer with Ken Giles traded to Houston in December. Hernandez signed a one-year, $3.9 million contract shortly before the Giles trade became official. The Phils told Hernandez that he would be their setup man, but he also could have an opportunity to close. Obviously, the Phillies knew they planned to trade Giles. It is an opportunity Hernandez has wanted for some time. He has 19 career saves, but he has never held the closer's job on a full-time basis. "That's always been one of my goals once I got thrown into the bullpen," Hernandez said. "I've had the stuff. It just comes down to helping your team and doing what you can with whatever role you have down there. It's something I look forward to." Manager Pete Mackanin said earlier this spring that not every pitcher in camp wants to close, but Hernandez is not one of them. "It's the anticipation of the phone ringing," said Hernandez, explaining why he loves to close. "That gets your heartrate going. And if you're the closer, you know it's for you. Everything turns up a little bit in the ninth inning. The fans get a little louder. The batters are locking in a little bit more because it's their last at-bat. They're trying to make a push to take the lead or tie the game. That brings the best out of me and I'm pretty sure other closers that go out there." Hernandez's competition to close includes non-roster invitees Andrew Bailey, Edward Mujica and Ernesto Frieri. Luis Garcia is on the 40-man roster. Garcia has closer's stuff, but he could be better suited as a setup man. But Hernandez is the favorite because he is the only free agent the Phillies signed to a Major League contract in the offseason. Interestingly, Hernandez told his agent beforehand that he preferred to play for a West Coast team that has Spring Training in Arizona. Hernandez also said he preferred to play for a postseason contender He clearly didn't check off those boxes with the Phillies, but he said he is happy with his situation. "We've got a lot of good, young players," Hernandez said. "Coming up with the Orioles, we struggled. I was just told by veterans, one day you may be on a team that may struggle and you've got to make sure the rookies and younger guys don't get too down on themselves. It's such a learning curve. It's such a process to find success. "You have your [Mike] Trouts, who hit .330 right away. But it's not always going to be like that. It's something you have to reinforce to the younger guys. You're going to take your lumps, but you have to have the mentality to bounce back and work to get better." Hernandez hopes to pass along that knowledge to the team's younger players during the season. And, if he gets the opportunity, he will pick up some saves along the way.

Showing Some Defensive Promise – It is the little things that Phillies manager Pete Mackanin noticed in the Grapefruit League opener on Tuesday at Bright House Field. Odubel Herrera made a nice catch on a sinking line drive in center field in the fifth inning of a 5-3 loss to the Blue Jays. Aaron Altherr threw out a runner at the plate to end the fifth. And Maikel Franco showed some hustle and reached second base on an error by Blue Jays left fielder Jon Berti in the sixth. The Phillies are keeping Herrera in center, despite the offseason arrival of Peter Bourjos. Altherr is trying to earn regular playing time as one of the corner outfielders. And the team simply wants to take advantage of any opportunities it can on offense. "That's the kind of thing we're looking for and get everybody to do," Mackanin said of Franco's play. Go the distance: The Phillies want to be careful with their young starters this season, but they don't want to baby them either. Mackanin said starters like Aaron Nola, Jerad Eickhoff and possibly others could pitch 200 innings this season, if necessary. No, the other J.P.: Phillies prospect J.P. Crawford is not the only J.P. in camp. J.P. Arencibia has played 467 games and hit 80 home runs in his six-year career. He went 2-for-3 with one home run on Tuesday, providing much of the Phillies' offense. The Phillies signed Arencibia to a Minor League contract with an invitation to Spring Training in December. He figures to provide catching depth in the event something happens to Carlos Ruiz or Cameron Rupp. Arencibia served as the DH on Tuesday. "It's funny," Mackanin said, "when we were exchanging lineups, [Blue Jays manager John] Gibbons came up to shake my hand. Gibby looked at [Arencibia] and said, 'You're DHing?' Yeah, he swung the bat well." Asche still mending: Outfielder Cody Asche remains sidelined with a sore oblique. Mackanin said Asche is day to day and could begin some outfield work on Wednesday. "He needs to get in there and start swinging the bat," Mackanin said. "He's kind of down in the dumps right now because he can't get on the field."

The Dangers Of The BP Homer – The Home Run Derby is still a full four months away, but MLB's biggest sluggers have been showcasing their extreme power early in Spring Training by belting home runs into stadium parking lots and dinging up cars. Nelson Cruz did it. Russell Martin did it. Kyle Schwarber did it twice. And now Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco has gotten in on the fun, but Freddy Galvis probably isn't so thrilled about that ... considering it was his windshield that was smashed. "Franco got me," Galvis said with a smile, referring to his teammate Maikel Franco. Fortunately, he also said that insurance will cover the damage. This isn't the first time a baseball has wrecked a vehicle parked outside the Phillies' clubhouse. Parking is a hazard as balls from Bright House Field and from the Carpenter Complex can land there easily. But parking there is a practice started long ago by veterans. "I don't know, man," Galvis said when asked why players park there. "We'll have to move down, all the way to center field. You've got to." The kicker here is that Galvis wasn't even parked in his designated parking spot.

The Dick Allen Debate Continues – During the 2014 Winter Meetings in San Diego, the Golden Era Committee met to consider a list of candidates for the Hall of Fame. When the results were announced, Dick Allen (and former Twins great Tony Oliva) had fallen one vote short. That brought renewed attention to one of the most prodigious sluggers in history. Also one of the most complex, enigmatic and controversial. "God Almighty Hisself: The Life and Legacy of Dick Allen" by Villanova law professor Mitchell Nathanson is the first biography of the 1964 National League Rookie of the Year Award winner and the 1972 American League Most Valuable Player Award winner. It's also a work of impressive scholarship and gracious prose that attempts to untangle the myth from the reality and, even more ambitiously, to explain why such a magnificently talented player clashed repeatedly with front office personnel, managers, the media and fans throughout his career. Even the title hints at the paradox. At first glance, it appears to be a description of Allen's formidable skills. Instead, it is a quote from one of his vexed managers, George Myatt of the Phillies: "I believe God Almighty Hisself would have trouble handling Richie Allen." Nathanson begins by establishing a counterintuitive fact, that Allen was shy and, in some ways, insecure. What was often viewed as moodiness by those who didn't know him well was simply a function of being uncomfortable in the spotlight. Partly as a result, Allen developed a reputation for being lazy. Even his managers and coaches didn't know he often got his work in early in the morning or even away from the park because he was more at ease when nobody was watching. Circumstances exacerbated Allen's troubles. He signed with the Phillies, the last team in the league to integrate, an organization that had never had an African-American superstar. In 1964, Allen was farmed out to the organization's Triple-A affiliate in Little Rock, Ark., which was in the throes of early integration. Along the way, Allen became distrustful of the entire structure of pre-free agency baseball. It's probably not surprising that he discerned a plantation mentality. In fact, there's a remarkable passage in which Phillies owner Bob Carpenter attempts to negotiate with Allen by explaining that players were property controlled by management. What didn't register at the time was that he viewed that as an issue for all players, black and white. Allen was also an individualist at a time when conformity was the norm, both in baseball and society at large. And he never forgot a slight. His relationship with the Phillies began to sour even before he made his Major League debut, when the team left him vulnerable to a waiver claim. That, the constant position changes and the contract battles represented disrespect. When Allen stood up for himself, he was fined and suspended, which only reinforced his sense of being treated unfairly. It's all here. The race riot outside Connie Mack Stadium in North Philadelphia in August 1964 that turned many fans against Allen, even though he was largely apolitical. The fight with teammate Frank Thomas that stoked resentment when the older white player, who hit him with a bat, was released. Writing cryptic messages to booing fans in the infield dirt. Allen's willingness to push the limits by skipping batting practice or even games, the disappearances, the resulting trades, the turmoil that seemed to follow wherever he went. Was Allen a malcontent or just ahead of his time? The tendency here is to view the carefully collected anecdotal evidence as an explanation rather than an excuse for his behavior. Allen certainly could have helped himself by being more willing to get along. Instead, he remained true to himself and stoically accepted the consequences. There's a certain nobility to that. Unsurprisingly, Allen declined to be interviewed for the book, just as he refused to campaign for the Hall of Fame. But he wrote an autobiography, and there is a mountain of source material, all buttressed by followup interviews with dozens who followed his career closely. It's worth noting that one of those, respected former Philadelphia Daily News columnist Stan Hochman, pushed hard for Allen's election by the Golden Era Committee. Allen is eligible to be considered for the Hall of Fame again in 2017. The hunch here is that if each of the electors reads this book, he will make it easily this time.

Today In Phils History - Time to return from the winter slumber. On this day, the Phillies have opened camp in three separate locations throughout their history In Hot Springs, Arkansas (1911), Leesburg, Florida (1922), and Miami Beach, Florida (1946) the latter of the three being the last year that they would hold spring training somewhere other than Clearwater. Today is also the birthday of two former All Stars who played for the Phillies in Jim Konstanty (1917) and Ron Gant (1965).

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies have begun the spring with a 0-1 record (1-1 if you include the exhibition game against the University of Tampa). With the Phillies having finished the 2015 season with a spectacularly awful record of 63-99 it will be interesting to see what kind of team new President Andy MacPhail and GM Matt Klentak put on the field. At the same time I am definitely looking forward to the games against Boston with former GM Ruben Amaro on the field. Given the departures, lingering contracts, a history of injuries, bipolar performances, and unproven talent, it should, at the very least, be an interesting season for the Phillies. Who knows, maybe they can avoid 100 losses... hopefully by more than one game!

Competitions Should Be Interesting In Spring Training

PHILS PHACTS:

Interesting Group of Invitees – The Phillies signed five players to Minor League contracts on Monday, and one of them could pitch in the late innings next season. Right-handers Ernesto Frieri, Gregory Infante and Greg Burke; catcher J.P. Arencibia; and infielder Angelys Nina will be non-roster invitees to Spring Training. Frieri has closing experience, so he seems like a candidate to pitch in the eighth or ninth inning following the Phils trading Ken Giles to the Astros on Saturday. Of course, Frieri, 30, must first earn a spot on the 25-man roster. He went 1-0 with a 4.63 ERA in 22 appearances last season with the Rays. Frieri has a 3.55 ERA in 298 appearances in his career, which includes 73 saves. The Phillies signed right-hander David Hernandez to a one-year, $3.9 million contract last week. Hernandez has some experience as a closer and might be considered the front-runner to close in 2016. Burke, 33, is from Marlton, N.J. He spent last season in the Blue Jays' system, posting a 2.63 ERA in 48 appearances with Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Buffalo. He has a 4.77 ERA in 80 career appearances in the big leagues, last pitching for the Mets in 2013. Infante, 28, had a 3.18 ERA in 51 appearances last season with Buffalo and New Hampshire. He made five appearances at the big league level with the White Sox in 2010. Arencibia, 29, hit .227 with 17 doubles, 22 home runs and 65 RBIs last season with Triple-A Durham, which is part of the Rays' farm system. He posted a .921 OPS in 24 games with Tampa Bay. Nina, 27, hit .300 with 21 doubles, five triples, four home runs and 18 stolen bases in 114 games during 2015 with Triple-A Albuquerque, which is part of the Rockies' system. He played second base, shortstop, third base and left field.

Pitching Was The Motivator – Phillies general manager Matt Klentak never said he wanted to trade Ken Giles, but he always said he needed to be opportunistic. Klentak sensed a chance to improve the Phillies last week, when the team finalized the trade that sent Giles and Minor League infielder Jonathan Arauz to the Astros for pitchers Vincent Velasquez, Mark Appel, Brett Oberholtzer, Thomas Eshelman and Harold Arauz. It was Klentak's third trade of the offseason, with each one geared toward boosting the team's starting pitching. "This was an opportunity we couldn't pass up," Klentak said Monday in a conference call with reporters. "We feel like we've made our club better, both in the short and long term. We hate to lose a player like Ken Giles. I've said all along that we're trying to add good players, but in this case, it's an opportunity for us to add five starting-pitching candidates to our system. And it improves the state of our organization moving forward. That's a very exciting thing for us." In the end, it simply made sense for the rebuilding Phils to trade Giles' 65 innings a season for the opportunity to develop two or three pitchers who could pitch 180-200 innings a season. "I don't think finding an elite closer is easy by any stretch," Klentak said. "I don't minimize that at all. We will do everything we can to make sure we are locking down the end of a game as well as we can. But the difficulty of putting together a rotation and gathering enough inventory to get through the season and multiple seasons that we can control for a long time -- that is really hard to do and that is a huge factor in this trade. You are able to turn one reliever -- albeit a really, really good one -- into five starting-pitching candidates." The Phillies certainly created some competition for the 2016 starting rotation. They previously acquired veterans Jeremy Hellickson and Charlie Morton in a couple of trades for mid-level prospects. Those two will be in the rotation come Opening Day. Aaron Nola, Jerad Eickhoff and Velasquez might be the favorites to earn the other three rotation jobs, with Oberholtzer, Adam Morgan, David Buchanan, Alec Asher and Severino Gonzalez in the mix. Top prospects Appel, Jake Thompson and Zach Elfin figure to top a talented and promising Triple-A rotation. "For us, it's all about balance," Klentak said. "I think no team ever gets through a season with five starting pitchers. That's just not realistic. So we knew we wanted to add to the inventory, both for the short term and the long term. And I think the balance component comes into play, because we've got two veterans in Hellickson and Morton, we've got some kids in Eickhoff and Velasquez and Nola that have gotten a taste of the big leagues, but haven't pitched a full season. We've got a stabilizer in Oberholtzer. And we've got several others, both on the 40-man and off, that are going to be competing either for jobs early on the season or later in the season as their development continues. "Organizationally, that's been a goal of ours. It will remain a goal of ours, to always have starting-pitching depth." Klentak praised Oberholtzer, who has a 3.94 ERA in 45 appearances (42 starts) in his big league career. It is worth noting that Oberholtzer is out of options, which puts him in a strong position to make the pitching staff. Klentak and Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow had been discussing a Giles trade for the past three or four weeks, and those talks intensified last week at the Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tenn. They agreed to a 4-for-1 trade on Wednesday, but it became a 5-for-2 on Saturday (with Appel and Harold Arauz added to the Phillies' package with outfielder Derek Fisher subtracted) because sources said the Phils had concerns about a physical of one of the players involved. Of course, the question now is, "Who will close in 2016?" Internal candidates include the recently signed David Hernandez and Ernesto Frieri. But Klentak also hinted the club could sign a free agent in the near future. "We don't have to decide that in December," Klentak said about the 2016 closer. "We'll see. Every closer at some point was a first-time closer. Someone will be pitching the ninth for us. I'm going to be honest, since the news of the Giles trade broke, we've had a number of players and agents that have reached out to us to express interest in the opportunity."

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies finally put an end to the season finishing in last place in the NL East with a record of 63-99. Given the departures, aging stars, injuries, and bipolar performances, this has ended up being one of the worst seasons in franchise history! However, at least Ryan Madson got another ring this year.