Phillies Dominated By Cubs In Series Sweep

GAME RECAP: Cubs Sweep Phillies 7-2

Ben Zobrist continued his hot streak, smacking a three-run home run, and Miguel Montero added a solo shot that ricocheted off the right-field video board to lift the Cubs to a 7-2 victory Sunday over the Phillies at Wrigley Field for their fifth straight win. John Lackey went seven innings and held the Phillies to four hits, including a solo home run by Tyler Goeddel in the seventh, for his second win in his past seven starts. It was the Cubs' first three-game sweep of the Phillies at Wrigley Field since July 28-30, 1995. "The Cubs have a very good team," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "Probably the best team in baseball right now. They beat us. Fair and square, they beat us." Chicago improved to a season-high 20-games over .500. What's next? "The next goal is 25 over," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said, happy to see his players want to complete the sweep. "Many times you'll see a team not have the same sense of urgency on sweep day when you can win the series. I like the fact that our guys aren't satisfied winning a series when you have a chance to sweep." Vince Velasquez gave up a season-high seven runs over 4 2/3 innings, and didn't get any offensive support, which was a theme for the Phillies in the series. Chicago outscored Philadelphia, 17-5, in the three games. Chicago has 18 wins by five or more runs, tops in the Majors. The had 16 all of last season.

PHILS PHACTS:

• The Phillies missed out on a scoring chance in the fourth when Freddy Galvis led off with a double and moved to third on an Andres Blanco groundout. After Maikel Franco walked to give the Phillies runners at the corners, Tommy Joseph grounded to Zobrist, who made an attempt to tag Franco running to second. Franco went out of the baseline to dodge the tag, and Zobrist threw to first for the out. Despite Galvis crossing the plate, Franco was called out and the double-play ruling prevented the run from scoring.
• Galvis made his second error of the season to start a wild sequence that cost the Phillies in the fifth. With Dexter Fowler on first, Galvis booted a hard-hit Jason Heyward ball to his glove side. As Galvis tracked the ball down in shallow center, Fowler broke for third. The Phillies recovered to tag Fowler out at third after a 6-5-4-5 rundown, but Heyward moved to second and later scored. Had Galvis fielded the ball cleanly, it could have been a double play.
• In the seventh, Matt Szczur was called safe at first after hitting a grounder to Franco. After a review, the call was overturned and Szczur was out.
• "That's up for debate, I guess. Every team goes through a lull. Every team goes through a hot streak and a cold streak. How you come out of those streaks, especially the cold streak, determines how good of a team you are. I choose to believe we're on the bottom of the roller coaster and on our way up. That's the way I look at it." -- Mackanin, when asked if his team's magic is running out.
• Lackey posted his fourth start this season in which he went at least six innings and gave up one or zero runs. He finished May with a 2-1 record and 2.09 ERA, striking out 40 over 43 innings. In the past five games, Cubs starters are 5-0 with a 2.08 ERA. "He treats every inning like it's 0-0 and he keeps going after you," Maddon said. "They're such a young team and want to swing so much," Lackey said of the Phillies. "Against an older, veteran team, you might throw a few more fastballs, but against a team like that, you have to keep mixing it up. They're not going to take the first-pitch strike, they're going to keep swinging."

NEXT GAME:

Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson starts to begin a three-game series when the Phillies host the Nationals on Monday at 7:05 p.m. ET. Hellickson has gone at least six innings in each of his past three starts.

PHILS PHACTS:

Howard Continues To Sit – As the Phillies packed their bags and headed out of Wrigley Field on Sunday after a 7-2 loss sealed a three-game sweep at the hands of the Cubs, struggling first baseman Ryan Howard faced questions about his future in the lineup. Howard, 36, is hitting .154, the signs of age taking their toll. Meanwhile, recent callup Tommy Joseph is hitting .286 through his first 35 Major League at-bats. Joseph's ninth-inning home run Sunday was his third, and he has RBIs in four of his past five games. Sitting the left-handed Howard against left-handed pitchers is not a new concept. But might he begin sitting against righties, too? "I haven't spoken to the manager about that," Howard said. "So he'd be the person to talk to. He hasn't come to me and told me anything about it, so I don't know anything about it." Manager Pete Mackanin didn't give a plan regarding how the Phillies will handle their big-money cornerstone (Howard's contract expires at the end of the season, but he is due more than $25 million this year), but Mackanin did offer this: "We'll just talk about it," he said. "We brought Joseph up here for a reason, to get a look at him, and I can't let him stagnate on the bench like [Darin Ruf] ended up doing, so he's going to face some right-handed pitchers to keep his timing. I don't know when the next time we're going to face a left-handed [pitcher] is, but I'm going to use him a little more often than I did with Ruf." What does Howard think of that? "I haven't heard anything about sitting more against righties. I haven't been called in the office and talked to," he said. Howard sat Friday against Cubs left-hander Jon Lester as expected (Howard is 2-for-15 this season against lefties) and went 0-for-4 Saturday against right-hander Kyle Hendricks. Sunday, Joseph was the man at first base against right-hander John Lackey. Was Howard surprised? "I guess," he said. "I show up, if my name's in the lineup or if it's not. I don't make the lineup. The manager makes the lineup. I just show up." If Howard continues to ride the bench against right-handers, how will his swing hold up? "I don't know," Mackanin said. "We'll just have to see." And if he is benched and that swing doesn't hold up, what will happen to his mindset? "I don't know," Mackanin said. "I don't know how he feels. I'm pretty sure we'll talk to him and we'll see where we go from there." If there's anything certain, it seems Joseph will continue to play, regardless of what that means for Howard and his legacy in Philadelphia. "The important thing is we brought Joseph up here to get a look at him," Mackanin said. "If he sits on the bench for a week or 10 days and we don't get a look at him, what's the point of bringing him up?"

Can Galvis Get The Gold? – In the second inning of Friday's 6-2 loss to the Cubs, Phillies shortstop Freddy Galvis ranged to his backhand side deep in the hole to field a Javier Baez grounder. Galvis made the stop while running full speed -- that was the easy part -- then planted his right foot despite momentum taking him the other way. Galvis heaved a throw across the infield just in time to nail the speedy Baez. Another out, another reminder Galvis continues to play Gold Glove-caliber defense in addition to the leadership and energy he has brought this season. "He's making every play there is," manager Pete Mackanin said Saturday. "If he's not the best shortstop in the league, I'd like to see the guy that's playing as consistent defense as he is." The fielding metric UZR, or ultimate zone rating, is an all-encompassing measure of how well a player fields his position compared to other fielders, and the stat largely backs Mackanin's statement. Entering Sunday, Galvis had the third-best UZR among Major League shortstops at 4.4, per FanGraphs. Only the Giants' Brandon Crawford (8.0) and the D-backs' Nick Ahmed (4.8) ranked higher. Last season, Galvis' UZR of 0.6 was 12th in baseball (a UZR of 0 represents the league average). So what's the difference? "I've been working with [bench coach Larry Bowa] on trying to set my feet and make the routine plays," Galvis said. "Don't try to do too much. Just throw the ball, catch the ball, and that's it. So far, so good." After making 17 errors last season, Galvis had only one in 48 games entering Sunday's 7-2 loss before committing one in the fifth inning. The last Phillies shortstop to make just one through the first 48 games of a season was Jimmy Rollins, who didn't commit his second until the 52nd game of his 2007 National League MVP season. On Sunday, Galvis' second error of the year came when he booted a hard-hit ball to his glove side, and he also rushed a throw to first on a Kris Bryant single. But that doesn't take away from his body of work. "I'm not going to be critical of Freddy Galvis," Mackanin said. "He's been unbelievable. He's been outstanding." "I'm just trying to focus every time," Galvis said. "Just make the routine plays." The range factor stat -- a simple average of putouts and assists per nine innings -- suggests Galvis is fielding a similar amount of balls as last season, and his 2016 range factor of 4.21 is right at the league average. So, indeed, what has improved is Galvis' ability to make the simple plays. That said, don't think Galvis doesn't have a flair for the spectacular. He showed that Friday, in addition to plenty of other instances. Told of Mackanin's comments about him being as good as anyone in the league, Galvis smirked. "It's good," Galvis said. "If he says it, I believe it. I just try hard every day, try to make the out for the pitcher. That's it."

Today In Phils History – On the same day that Chuck Klein hit a homerun off the same pitcher in two separate games, in one of those games that Phillies tied a NL record with 21 infield assists in a 12-2 win over the Boston Braves. 4 years later, Phillies pitcher Jim Bivin gets Babe Ruth to groundout in the last at bat of his major league career. 30 year later, the Phillies purchased Hall of Famer Lew Burdette from the Cubs. Not known for his speed, in 1978 Mike Schmidt stole 3 bases against the Pirates. 15 years later, power won the day as Darren Daulton (2), Dave Hollins, Mariano Duncan, Kim Batiste, and Tommy Greene all belted homeruns in an 18-1 win over the Rockies. 11 years later, Jim Thome connected for the team’s 37^th homerun in May breaking the franchise record for homeruns in a single month. Thome’s successor, Ryan Howard, made homerun history of his own in 2009 when he connected for his 8^th career grand slam tying the team record held by Mike Schmidt. Finally, two years prior in 2007, Jamie Moyer and Randy Johnson set the MLB record for oldest left handed starters to ever face one another in a single game at a combined age of 88 years and 90 days.  

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 26-24 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. The Phillies finished the spring exceeding most expectations compiling a record of 15-11-3 (18-11-3 if you include the exhibition games against Reading and the University of Tampa). All time, the Phillies are 75-83-0 on this day. I expect the Phillies to finish in the bottom half of the division but not last in the NL East by finishing the season with a 77-85 record. Let the rebuild begin!

Verlander Dominates Phillies

GAME RECAP: Tigers Dominate Phillies 3-1

Justin Verlander worked over the Phillies for eight scoreless innings, and Miguel Cabrera doubled in one run and grounded in another -- continuing his offensive awakening in May -- as Detroit captured its eighth win in nine games with a 3-1 win over the Phillies on Tuesday night at Comerica Park. The victory moved Detroit (23-22) over .500 for the first time since May 5. Cabrera's first-inning double to the fence in left-center field scored Cameron Maybin, who took over the leadoff spot with Ian Kinsler out of the lineup, for a 1-0 lead. Cabrera padded the lead with runners on second and third in the sixth, scoring Maybin on a groundout to third before Victor Martinez singled home J.D. Martinez. That was plenty for Verlander, who didn't allow a runner in scoring position after the opening inning. His 10 strikeouts marked his second consecutive game in double digits, his first such streak since 2013. "Pretty much the same as what we've seen the last four starts," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "His fastball's really working for him. He's getting swings and misses on it. He's mixing in his other stuff. His slider was really good, a hard slider tonight, borderline cutter at times. But he was outstanding." Francisco Rodriguez allowed a run in the ninth but closed out the win for his 400th career save.

PHILS PHACTS:

• After giving up the Cabrera double, Jeremy Hellickson faced one over the minimum number of batters from that point through the end of the fifth inning. He had six strikeouts during that stretch. The Tigers jumped on him for two runs in the sixth.
• J.D. Martinez's sixth-inning chopper down the third-base line seemed like an easy out until the hop ate up Franco at third and sent the ball down the left-field line. The double put runners on second and third with nobody out for Cabrera and Victor Martinez, who drove in the runs to give Verlander an insurmountable lead. Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said he thought it was a difficult play for Franco, but it could have been a potential double-play ball, or at least keep a runner out of scoring position. "He got to a certain spot, and he stopped," Mackanin said. "He tried to snag it instead of taking one more step toward it. I don't think he could have gotten in front of it, but he could have gone through the ball instead of stopping and trying to snag it."
• Cabrera's swinging strike on Hellickson's first-pitch slider in the third was his first swing and miss since last Wednesday. He had swung 34 times since then with either a ball in play, a foul ball or, in one case, a foul tip. Hellickson later finished off Cabrera for the reigning American League batting champion's first strikeout since May 13.

NEXT GAME:

Aaron Nola starts the series finale on Wednesday at 1:10 p.m. ET. Nola allowed a home run for the first time in more than a month his last start against Atlanta -- a pair of them, actually. Despite that, he still lasted seven innings for the seventh time in nine starts.

PHILS PHACTS:

Solid Outing Despite Loss – Jeremy Hellickson tied a season-long outing Tuesday night in Detroit, going seven innings while allowing three runs on seven hits in a  3-1 Phillies loss to the Tigers. After allowing an RBI double by Miguel Cabrera in the first inning, Hellickson settled into a groove, facing one over the minimum number of batters from that point through the end of the fifth inning. He struck out six batters during that span, not allowing another baserunner to reach scoring position until the sixth. "I thought I was good tonight," Hellickson said. "I just made a mistake to Cabrera that first inning. I was able to settle in a little bit, I got some easy outs and kept the pitch count down." Hellickson gave up two runs in the sixth, but recorded outs on the final five batters he faced. He left the game having thrown 95 pitches, 63 for strikes. Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said he thought Hellickson did a good job facing what he thinks is the most dangerous lineup in baseball. "I won't say it's the best lineup thus far, but I would say the most dangerous," Mackanin said early on Tuesday. "Just look at the numbers, and it can be daunting." Mackanin was happy with limiting the Tigers' offense to three runs. "Last night and tonight, we were in both games, so I'm happy about that," he said. "Not happy about the outcome, but we played them tough, especially with their lineup." Hellickson, who walked one batter on the night, thought the same as his manager. "It's a good lineup, with power, speed, a lot of good averages," he said. "All you can do is try and make pitches, and keep the ball on the ground." Hellickson responded to Cabrera's deep liner in the first inning by striking him out in the third inning, warranting a thumbs up and a helmet bounce from Cabrera. But the Tigers' slugger came back in the sixth with a chopper to third base that was mishandled by Maikel Franco. "Like I said, I made that mistake in the first inning, leaving it right over the middle of the plate," Hellickson said, "and second and third, no outs with him up again, in a 1-0 game, just trying to keep [the baserunners] both out there, but that's tough with him at bat."

Today In Phils History – Something you never want to see happened to Phillies pitcher Bill Hubbell on this day in 1922 as he was struck in the head with a batted ball suffering a skull fracture and concussion as a result. At the end of the decade, in 1929, Homer Peel hit into a triple play against Brooklyn exactly one week after Lefty O’Doul hit into a triple play against the Dodgers. In 1941, Dodger Pete Reiser got his revenge against Phillies pitcher Ike Pearson as he hit an inside the park grand slam in his first plate appearance against the pitcher since he was beaned in April (Note that in 2011 this play was used in the background of a scene from the movie “Captain America”). 10 years later, the Phillies fared better against Willie Mays who went 0-5 in his major league debut. While the Phillies made it all the way to the World Series in 1983, they did have a few rough spots throughout the season one of which was a steak of 42 2/3 innings without scoring a run which ended on this day by a homerun by Gary Matthews. Speaking of homeruns, on this day in 1990, Charlie Hayes hit a 3 run homerun to give the Phillies the win and first place in the standings for the first time since 1984. They fell from the top spot with a loss the following day. 5 years ago there was an interesting bit of history as starting second baseman Wilson Valdez was called on to take the mound in the 19^th inning. He ended up being the first position player to start the game in the field and earn the win on the mound since Babe Ruth 90 years prior. Speaking of pitching, it was on this day 2 years ago (one of the last great moments in a solid career) that the Dodgers’ Josh Beckett no hit the Phillies. And, finally, I would like to wish a happy 50^th birthday to the most intense player in Phillies history, Dave Hollins!

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 25-21 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. The Phillies finished the spring exceeding most expectations compiling a record of 15-11-3 (18-11-3 if you include the exhibition games against Reading and the University of Tampa). All time, the Phillies are 39-53-0 on this day. I expect the Phillies to finish in the bottom half of the division but not last in the NL East by finishing the season with a 77-85 record. Let the rebuild begin!

Phillies Continue To Show Plenty Of Power

EXHIBITION GAME RECAP: Phillies Pound Pirates 15-12

The Phillies would love to have more of the offensive production they had in the fourth and fifth innings on Friday afternoon at Bright House Field. They had 10 hits and scored nine runs in the fourth in a 15-12 victory over the Pirates. The inning included a leadoff double from Cesar Hernandez, five consecutive singles, a suicide squeeze from pitcher Charlie Morton and a three-run homer from Maikel Franco to improve the Phillies to 12-5-2 this spring. The following inning, the Phils put up six more runs, highlighted by Ryan Howard's grand slam off of righty Trey Haley. "It's good to see the guys swing the bats well," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "It's not the regular season, but we need to stay positive and feel good about ourselves at the bat. I emphasized pitching and defense and running this spring -- and not hitting -- and we're hitting better than we expected. We're happy about that." The Pirates' bats were almost as loud. Morton allowed a two-run homer to Pedro Florimonin the second and a solo homer to Matt Joyce in the third. Jose Osuna hit a three-run shot against Dalier Hinojosa in the top of the ninth. Morton made his second Grapefruit League start and struggled against his former team. He allowed four hits, five runs, three walks and the two home runs with three strikeouts in four innings. Pirates starter Kyle Lobstein tossed three scoreless innings, giving up just one hit. He was relieved by Wilfredo Boscan, who allowed seven hits and eight runs in one-third of an inning in the fourth. Guido Knudson allowed three hits and one run in two-thirds of an inning. Haley, who came in next, surrendered six runs on four hits, including three homers. "I've been able to translate what we've been working on in the bullpens to the game," Lobstein said. "That always feels good."

PHILS PHACTS:

• Right-hander Charlie Morton allowed four hits, five runs, three walks and two home runs and struck out three in four innings in the Phillies' 15-12 win on Friday. "He was kind of all over the place," Mackanin said. "He didn't miss by a lot, but he didn't have location." "Maybe trying to be a little too fine," Morton said. Morton executed a suicide squeeze in the fourth inning to score a run.
• Rule 5 Draft pick Daniel Stumpf struck out one in one scoreless innings. He has a 4.50 ERA this spring, although three of the four runs he has allowed in eight innings pitched came in the eighth inning Monday in Sarasota, Fla., vs. the Orioles.
• Right-hander Dalier Hinojosa, who pitching coach Bob McClure considers a candidate to close, allowed his first runs of the spring in the ninth. He surrendered three runs (two earned). He had previously thrown five scoreless innings.
• Left-hander Adam Morgan threw 59 pitches in five scoreless innings at the complex. Morgan is competing with Vince Velasquez and Brett Oberholtzer to be the team's No. 5 starter.
• The Phillies optioned right-hander Jimmy Cordero to Double-A Reading after Friday's game. He allowed two hits and one run in two-thirds of an inning. It was his first appearance of the spring, because he had been sidelined with a sore right biceps. Cordero is the No. 17 prospect in the organization, according to MLBPipeline.com.

NEXT GAME:

Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson (0-0, 4.50 ERA) will start Saturday afternoon's Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla., at 1:07 p.m. ET. The Phillies have made no announcement, but Hellickson or Aaron Nola will start Opening Day. At the moment, Hellickson is on schedule to make that start. Watch the game live on MLB.TV.

PHILS PHACTS:

Franco Goes Deep… Again! – Phillies manager Pete Mackanin is thinking what a few other people are probably thinking. Pace yourself, Maikel Franco. "I don't want him to waste all of his home runs in the spring," Mackanin said, smiling. "He looks really good at the plate, aggressive, confident. I'm sure he's going to carry it into the season. It's a good guy to have in the middle of the line up right now." Franco hit a three-run home run to left field in the fourth inning Friday in a 15-12 victory over the Pirates in a Grapefruit League game at Bright House Field. Franco has hit seven home runs this spring, more than any other hitter in baseball. Thirteen players entered the day tied for second with four. "That's what I've been working on," Franco said about showing more power at the plate this season. The Phillies are first in the Grapefruit League with 117 runs. They are second with 28 home runs (Peter Bourjos and Cameron Rupp also homered against the Pirates). Nobody expects them to keep up this pace during the regular season, but it is an encouraging start nonetheless. It isn't just Franco, either. Ryan Howard hit a grand slam over the batter's eye in center field in the fifth inning. It was his second home run in two days. He also laced a pair of singles to finish 3-for-4 with five RBIs. "That wasn't windblown," Mackanin said of Howard's blast. "That was all him." "It felt good off the bat," Howard said. "I didn't know it was going to go there." Howard can appreciate good power as much as anybody. He said he expects big things from Franco this year. "The sky is the limit with Maikel, man," Howard said. "His ball gets small, really quick."

Predicting Power – If you didn't notice Maikel Franco last year, don't worry: You were hardly alone. Franco spent the first six weeks of the year in the Minors, then missed 45 of the final 48 games of the season due to a broken wrist. As the Phillies were in the midst of losing 99 games and names like Kris Bryant, Noah Syndergaard, Joc Pederson, Kyle Schwarber and Jung Ho Kang were dominating a historic National League Rookie of the Year Award class, Franco was somewhat lost in the shuffle. It's safe to say that's not going to happen again, and that was even before Franco smashed his Major League leading seventh homer of the spring on Friday afternoon in a wild 15-12 win over Pittsburgh in Clearwater, Fla. While we know not to put too much emphasis on spring blasts off Minor Leaguers like Guido Knudson, what Franco is doing isn't to be ignored, either. First and foremost, it's a pretty terrific sign that the wrist injury has healed, and that's important, because there were plenty of pre-injury signs last year that Franco had this in him -- even if few really saw it. For example, we can run Statcast™ data queries to identify the hitters who managed to barrel up the largest percentage of extremely likely hits. To define that, we set the parameters as being "batted balls over 100 mph, with a launch angle of between 10 and 25 degrees," (where zero is defined as being right back at the pitcher). The Major League batting average on those types of balls is .595, which is to say, you really, really want to be hitting balls like that. With a minimum of 20 tracked batted balls, the list of players who barreled their balls in that way last year is impressive: Percentage of batted balls 100-mph-plus at 10-25 degrees launch angle, 2015: 1. Miguel Sano, 16.7 percent; 2. Paul Goldschmidt, 14.9 percent; 3. Randal Grichuk, 14.5 percent; 4. Lucas Duda, 14.4 percent; 5. Chris Carter, 14.3 percent; 6. Justin Smoak, 14.2 percent; 7. Mike Trout, 14.0 percent; 8. Ryan Howard, 13.9 percent; 9. Yoenis Cespedes, 12.5 percent; 10. Giancarlo Stanton, 12.3 percent; 11. Pedro Alvarez, 12.3 percent; 12. Franco, 12.2 percent. That's an interesting combination of the game's biggest stars and guys who have trouble making contact but crush the ball when they can find it. But contact wasn't really Franco's issue; in a sport where the average strikeout percentage was 20.4 and several topped 30 percent, Franco's was just 15.4 percent. Of the 33 hitters with at least 300 plate appearances and a .490 slugging percentage, only three struck out less often than Franco: A.J. Pollock, Anthony Rizzo, David Ortiz. To take that to a somewhat unexpected extreme, what if we compared the 2015 stats of Franco and another 23-year-old Mid-Atlantic third baseman with a much higher profile, Manny Machado? Franco: .280/.343/.497 -- 7.8 K percent -- 15.5 BB percent -- 128 wRC+; Machado: .286/.359/.502 -- 9.8 K percent -- 15.6 BB percent -- 134 wRC+. (wRC+, or Weighted Runs Created Plus, is an all-inclusive offensive stat that is park-adjusted and sets 100 as league average, meaning it can be read as "Franco was 28 percent above average in 2015.") It's shockingly similar. Machado hit 35 homers to Franco's 14, but he also had more than twice as many plate appearances. Given a full season of playing time, could Franco match Machado's offensive output, even if he's not likely to bring the same elite defense? It's not out of the question. When Franco hit two homers off of Yovani Gallardo earlier in the week, he told MLB.com's Todd Zolecki that because he knows he'll be in the lineup this season, he feels "more patient, more relaxed," than he had in previous springs. That might help explain the power we're seeing in Florida right now. But it's not like this was completely unexpected. After all, just because you didn't watch Franco excel last year, it's not like it didn't happen.

Expected In Pen On Opening Day – The Phillies feel better and better about David Hernandez's chances of being ready by Opening Day. He pitched a scoreless inning Friday in a Minor League game at Carpenter Complex. He also pitched an inning Tuesday, but has not appeared in a Grapefruit League game since March 1 because of right triceps tendinitis. He could pitch in a Grapefruit League game in the next two or three days. "His ability to open the season healthy is on track and is looking fine," Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said. Hernandez struck out two and got a flyout to center field. His fastball sat in the 92-94 mph range. He also threw his breaking ball and changeup. "I felt good," Hernandez said. "I was just trying to throw strikes. Next time, I'll try to hit more corners. My arm is definitely getting better. I have no discomfort when I'm pitching, just a little stiffness when I'm cooling down. I have no trouble getting loose and staying loose, and that's a good sign." Phillies utility infielder Andres Blanco caught Hernandez. Blanco is the team's emergency catcher, so they wanted to get him some work behind the plate. "I was happy to see him look healthy," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said.

A Different Look In The Outfield – The Phillies need another outfielder, don't they? Aaron Altherr will not return from left wrist surgery until July at the earliest, and Cody Asche could miss the beginning of the season because of a strained right oblique. Their injuries leave Odubel Herrera, Peter Bourjos and Rule 5 Draft pick Tyler Goeddel as the projected Opening Day outfield with some combination of Darnell Sweeney and non-roster invitees David Lough and Cedric Hunter as their fourth and fifth outfielders. But general manager Matt Klentak said Friday afternoon at Bright House Field that the Phillies are not aggressively pursuing outfield help. "We've got our ears open for opportunities, but I wouldn't characterize it as active," Klentak said. "This is the time of the year where most teams are starting to connect with each other to talk about different scenarios that are going to play out at the end of camp -- who is going to make the team, who may not. So those conversations have begun -- generally, anyway." So even if the Phillies are not frantically calling clubs for help, they have talked to teams about it and are watching the waiver wire. The Phillies have priority on the waiver wire through the end of April, so they could pick up somebody in the next couple of weeks. "I wouldn't say it's any more likely than it would be at any other position," Klentak said about an outfield acquisition. "But with Altherr obviously being out for an extended stretch, and with Asche not on the field, if there's a way for us to add depth, I think it's something we'll have to explore." Klentak said it is possible Asche could be ready by Opening Day, despite the fact that he has not played in a Grapefruit League game. But because of the nature of Asche's injury, the team also knows it must be careful with him. Herrera has not played since Saturday because of an injured right middle finger. He had X-rays recently, but they were negative. The Phillies said they do not think it is serious. Bourjos, who has a .645 OPS the previous four seasons, entered Friday hitting .333 (9-for-27) with three doubles, one triple, one RBI, three walks and eight strikeouts. Goeddel, who has not played higher than Double-A, had hit .250 (9-for-36) with two doubles, one home run, five RBIs, four walks and nine strikeouts. Goeddel's play the rest of the month could factor into the Phillies' sense of urgency in finding outfield help. Herrera made the adjustment from Rule 5 pick to everyday outfielder last season. Can the Phillies expect Goeddel to make the same adjustments and play on an everyday basis? "[Goeddel] hasn't shown us anything that would suggest he can't do that," Klentak said. "We've been encouraged with, not even the results so much of his ABs, but sort of the way he's gone about it. He's got a very mature approach in the batter's box. I think that's something as we're projecting how he'll do in the big leagues this year; that's something that gives us some comfort. We think he can compete. He knows how to work a count. He's not afraid to hit the ball the other way. In fact, he often tends to hit the ball the other way. I think that lends itself to him having an easier adjustment. But we'll see."

Trimming The Roster – Carlos Ruiz has played a significant role in the Phillies' success for nearly a decade. They hope his presence in camp this spring influences the future, too. The Phillies on Friday optioned catcher Jorge Alfaro to Double-A Reading and reassigned catcher Andrew Knapp to Minor League camp. Alfaro is the No. 3 catching prospect in baseball and the No. 96 prospect overall. Knapp earned the Phils' Minor League Player of the Year Award in 2015, and he is ranked No. 9 among the team's prospects by MLBPipeline.com. Both need more time in the Minor Leagues before being ready to play in the big leagues. Each young backstop mentioned Ruiz's tutelage as one of their more positive experiences in camp. Ruiz, who is in the final year of his contract, is playing with Panama this week in the World Baseball Classic qualifier. "I took a lot from Chooch on the defensive side of stuff, like how to handle a pitching staff and how to get guys through innings, stuff like that," Knapp said. "I mean, every time I talk to Chooch, I'm always asking him, 'How do you do this?'" Alfaro said. "He's got a lot of experience, you know? It was awesome." Knapp hit .250 (4-for-16) with one double, one home run, four RBIs, four walks, three strikeouts and a .900 OPS in eight Grapefruit League games. Alfaro hit .294 (5-for-17) with two RBIs and a .588 OPS in six games. "I felt pretty comfortable in the box all camp," Knapp said. "That was a positive." Both are talented offensively. Phillies coaches raved about Alfaro's raw power earlier in camp, with Mike Schmidt saying Alfaro's build reminded him of former All-Star Dick Allen. But both catchers know they must improve defensively, too. "You have to be a good defender behind the plate," Alfaro said. "Hitting -- I don't really worry about too much, because I really want to be a good catcher. In the Minor Leagues, I want pitchers telling me they want me to catch them." Alfaro certainly has the tools to catch. After the Phils' 15-12 Friday win, manager Pete Mackanin said that Alfaro "has the best arm I've seen, maybe ever." One scout told Mackanin that he rated Alfaro's arm an 80 on a 20-80 scale, which he said he had never done before. Knapp said he wants to improve his game management. "It's situationally based," Knapp responded when asked what Ruiz told him about game management. "You have first and third with a big hitter on deck, what are you going to do? Stuff like that, kind of how the game flows. When pitchers are struggling, how do you work with them to get through the inning? Stuff like that." Of course, the question for both catchers is how close they feel they are to the big leagues. Knapp is expected to open the season in Triple-A, while Alfaro is expected to start in Double-A, because he missed most of last season with an ankle injury. If something should happen early this season to Ruiz or Cameron Rupp, veteran J.P. Arencibia is expected to get the call. But later in the season, who knows? And if both eventually make it either this year or beyond? Each also has the ability to play either first base or the outfield. "I always think that I want to be the best catcher wherever I play," Alfaro said. "It doesn't matter if it's Rookie league or Double-A. It doesn't matter if it's in the big leagues. It doesn't matter where I play. I just want to be the best. I never think how close I am. I never worry about that. They make the decisions. I'll just play hard wherever I go." And Alfaro will be asking plenty of questions along the way. "I like to learn," he said. "[Maikel] Franco, [Freddy] Galvis, Ruiz. I learned a lot from them. They helped my routine. They helped me a lot. They talked to me a lot. We always talk on the field, off the field. How to be professional, how to play the game, playing hard -- they always talk to me like that, like what you have to do to come here and stay here." "It's getting close," Knapp said about a potential big league arrival. "This is baseball. A lot of things happen. Injuries happen. I just have to be ready for the call."

Welcome To The Chooch Show – The home crowd was treated to The Chooch Show at Rod Carew Stadium on Thursday night. Playing in front of 11,744 spirited fans, Panama catcher Carlos "Chooch" Ruiz hit two home runs and collected four RBIs to lead his squad to a 9-2 win over France in the first round of the World Baseball Classic qualifier. After opening the game's scoring with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first, Ruiz hit a solo moonshot in the third and then a two-run blast in the fifth. Panama is now set to host Colombia -- which defeated Spain, 9-2 -- at 9 p.m. ET on Friday. Spain will face France at 2 p.m. ET in an elimination game earlier in the day. In qualifier games played in Mexicali, Mexico, the hosts defeated the Czech Republic, 2-1, and Nicaragua walked off over Germany. The Czechs and Germans will meet in an elimination game at 3:30 p.m. ET Friday, and Mexico takes on Spain at 10:30 p.m. All qualifier action can be watched on MLB.com and www.worldbaseballclassic.com, or followed via MLB Gameday. Playing in his fourth WBC competition with Panama, Ruiz showed why he's been able to stay in the big leagues for a decade. "It's all about being positive," Ruiz said through a translator. "I believe I'm still a young player. I feel like a 26-year-old, not a 36-year-old. I'm proud to play with a team that has young players and such an experienced coaching staff -- especially guys I played with like [manager] Carlos Lee, [bench coach] Olmedo Saenz and [pitching coach] Lenin Picota." Once Lee saw Ruiz join Team Panama from Phillies Spring Training earlier this week, he had a feeling he would be doing some damage at the plate. "Honestly, that's the best shape I've ever seen him in," Lee said. "He's ready to go, and you can see it. He's taking good swings, taking good pitches. Two homers, that's not going to happen every day. But if you put yourself in a position to have good swings, good results can come out." While Ruiz stole the spotlight on Thursday night, Panama right-hander Paolo Espino pitched a perfect three innings, striking out four, to begin the contest. The Nationals farmhand only needed 33 pitches to get through his outing, so he'll be eligible to return to the mound on Saturday if Lee desires. Espino said everything was working well for him on the mound -- location, fastball command and his slider -- and that he only threw one changeup. By the time Lee made a pitching change, though, Panama had a four-run lead, so Espino was held back with the future in mind. Panama is guaranteed to play on Saturday, win or lose on Friday, and Espino would have been ineligible to pitch the rest of the qualifier had he surpassed 50 pitches. Naturally, Espino wanted to keep going deeper in the game but understood Lee's decision given the pitch limits. And on a night that belonged to Ruiz, perhaps it's no surprise that Espino chalked up his success to his catcher. "I think Carlos Ruiz makes a big difference for our pitching staff," Espino said through a translator. "I've known him for a long time, and he has a lot of experience. Today he called a great game, and I just tried to match him pitch for pitch, whatever he asked for." Panama broke open the game with a four-run sixth inning. Following Ruiz's two-run homer, Carlos Quiroz nearly went back-to-back, but his double bounced off the top of the wall in left field. No matter, as the next batter, shortstop Javier Guerra, went deep to right field to extend Panama's lead to seven runs. France didn't do itself any favors, committing three costly errors that led to three runs for Panama. In the second inning, on consecutive at-bats, shortstop Felix Brown booted a ball and left fielder Douglas Rodriguez dropped a routine fly. The miscues led to a sacrifice bunt and subsequently a two-run single by Eduardo Thomas. In the sixth inning, Norbert Jongerius dropped a fly ball in left field, allowing Luis Castillo to score. "We can't compete that way if we make errors," France manager Eric Gagne said. "We know we've got to play better defensively. Pitching was OK, but we can't make mistakes. We've got one guy who's affiliated, and he's in A ball, so we've got to make good plays. But there's a lot of positives. A lot of guys have probably never seen 90 mph in their life, so it's a good experience." France's first run came in the top of the fifth, when Frederic Hanvi roped a double down the left-field line to score Andy Paz. Jorge Hereaud drove home a second run in the ninth with a soft single to right field.

Today In Phils History - Unfortunately, the perfect game that Harry Coveleski threw on this day in 1909 was in an exhibition game against Trinity College in Durham, NC. 5 years later, the Phillies saw Babe Ruth for the first time as Baltimore's manager, trailing 6-0 in the sixth, called on Ruth to pitch the rest of the game when he allowed only 4 base runners as the Orioles game back to win 7-6. 13 years later, another Hall of Famer made his debut as Phillies Legend Richie Ashburn was born on this day in 1927. 

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies have begun the spring with a 12-5-2 record (13-5-2 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!