Phillies Displaying Healthy Amount Of Offense

EXHIBITION GAME RECAP: Phillies Blast Braves 12-11

Maikel Franco hit a three-run homer during a seven-run second inning before Cedric Hunter's three-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth of Friday's 12-11 Grapefruit League win over the Braves at Bright House Field. Franco homered for the second straight day, and he added an RBI single in the fourth, as the Phillies built a 9-2 lead after four innings. Hunter, a non-roster invitee who was released by the Braves at the end of last season, was in the game because he replaced Aaron Altherr in the top of the second. Altherr injured his left wrist diving for a line drive to right hit by Ender Inciarte leading off the game. "You know, that was my team from last year," Hunter said. "I'm over here now and it just kind of feels good to do it the right way with the team we've got here. We put together some good at bats, battled through some tough innings and ended up with the win." The Braves collected 14 hits and drew eight walks to rally in the final two innings, the last two runs coming in on a Darnell Sweeney throwing error in the top of the ninth to give Atlanta an 11-9 lead. However, Hunter hit a towering drive over the wall in right field in the bottom half of the inning. Braves right-hander Lucas Sims, Atlanta's top Draft pick in 2012, started and pitched around a walk in a scoreless first inning. However, he walked two more and gave up three hits while facing seven batters in the second. The final two runs of the Phillies' seven-run inning were charged to right-hander Victor Mateo, who surrendered Franco's homer. Sims is likely to begin the 2016 season at Double-A Mississippi. Veteran right-hander Jeremy Hellickson had early trouble commanding his fastball and gave up back-to-back doubles to Inciarte and Erick Aybar to start the game. He then begin relying more on his changeup and retired the final six batters he faced, five on strikeouts. Hellickson, acquired from the Diamondbacks during the offseason, is in the running to be the Phillies' Opening Day starter. Aybar finished 3-for-3 and Matt Kennelly added a two-run single in the Braves' four-run eighth. "It's always good to win a game, but I'm not real pleased with a lot of things," said Phillies manager Pete Mackanin. "We always talk about pitching and defense. That's how you win games. And the pitching and defense kind of let us down late in the game. I'm not going to be happy about that. But we won so we're going to move on and learn from our mistakes."

PHAST PHACTS:

• Rightfielder Aaron Altherr had to leave the game in the second inning when he jammed his left wrist while trying to make a diving catch of a line drive hit by Braves centerfielder Ender Inciarte leading off the game. "I can't say it looked real bad, but we'll wait and see," Mackanin said.
• First baseman Ryan Howard left the game after two at bats. He was feeling the effects of the flu bug that's been sweeping through the clubhouse this spring.
• Fans have until 5 p.m. ET on Monday to vote for which player, coach or manager will be added to the Phillies Wall of Fame. The top five choices will form the official ballot for the Wall of Fame Selection Committee. Last year, Pat Burrell became the 36th alumni member to be honored. Click here to participate.

NEXT GAME:

Right-hander Aaron Nola, who also is vying to be the Phillies' Opening Day starter despite having just 13 career Major League starts, will make his Grapefruit League debut in Saturday's game against the Blue Jays at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 1:07 p.m. ET on MLB.TV. Nola, the 23-year-old who was the Phillies' first-round Draft pick out of LSU in 2014, went 6-2 with a 3.59 earned run average as a rookie last season.

PHILS PHACTS:

Franco Heating Up – Third baseman Maikel Franco played well enough after being called up last season to start being included in the National League Rookie of the Year conversation. A broken wrist in August short-circuited his chances. He's a key piece to the Phillies' rebuilding plan, though, which is why manager Pete Mackanin is so happy to see Franco off to such a hot start this spring. Franco drove in four runs in Friday's 12-11 Grapefruit League win over the Braves at Bright House Field, including his second home run of the spring. "The success he had last year helped him gain confidence," Mackanin said. "When you're a young player and you're in big league camp all of a sudden, you have to get your feet on the ground. You have to feel good about yourself and feel like you belong in the big leagues. Now he knows he belongs in the big leagues. And he's just going to grow from there and get better and better." Said Franco: "[My confidence level is] really good, because that's what I've been working for, to feel comfortable at the plate. And now I feel comfortable and just want to keep doing that. Every day, try to do my job. [Being injured last year was] a little bit frustrating. But I'm healthy, my wrist is getting better. My wrist is 100 percent. Now I'm just trying to do my workouts and what I have to do to get better every single day." The last two years, Franco has struggled in the spring. He was determined to avoid that this year. "That's what I've been working for -- come in early, do my program, do my routine in the batting cage. Be prepared for the game. Now it happened and now I'm happy," he said. "I've gotten focused, seeing the ball pretty good and just trying to go out there and enjoy the game and win."

Hellickson Wants The Ball On Opening Day – The Phillies haven't named their Opening Day starter yet. The choice seems to boil down to Aaron Nola, who was pitching for LSU two years ago, and Jeremy Hellickson, who has more than five years of big league service time. Hellickson made his pitch against the Braves on Friday at Bright House Field. After giving up back-to-back doubles to Ender Inciarte and Erick Aybar to open the game, he retired the next six batters he faced, five of them on strikeouts as the Phillies went on to a 12-11 victory. "He knows how to pitch," said manager Pete Mackanin. "He changed speeds, he hit spots. He wasn't happy when he gave up that run, even in Spring Training, which we like to see. " The Phillies have amassed a lot of good young arms, but acquired Hellickson from the Diamondbacks (and signed Charlie Morton as a free agent) to add some veteran stability to the rotation. "After the first couple of batters, I felt sharp," Hellickson said. "My fastball command was a little shaky. But after those first couple of batters I got locked in a little bit, started pitching backwards. The off-speed stuff was pretty good today. I've just got to work on the fastball command a little more. "I think I threw all my pitches today. As I said, the fastball command was a little shaky. It just wasn't there today. So I just kind of went away from that early and worked on my off-speed stuff. Last year I tried to establish my fastball early in games. Games like this I probably would have tried to keep forcing it instead of going to my off-speed early. I'm going to try to get back to more changeups, more curveballs this year."

Goeddel Proving He Was Worth The Pick – Manager Pete Mackanin heard Tyler Goeddel was pretty good even before the Phillies took the outfielder with the first pick in the Rule 5 draft last December at the Winter Meetings. He heard good things about the two hits Goeddel got against the Yankees in a split squad game in Tampa on Thursday while he was managing the squad that stayed behind to play the Astros. He finally got to see it for himself on Friday when the 23-year-old outfielder whacked a two-run double in a 12-11 win over the Braves at Bright House Field. "At the Winter Meetings, his name came up quite a bit, and not just from our people in our room. Friends of mine on different teams mentioned how much they liked him. Scouts that I knew told me he was a pretty good-looking player," Mackanin said. "And I had heard he looked really good on [Thursday.] This was my first chance to see him, and I like him a lot." In a precautionary move, Goeddel left the game after being hit on the helmet by an off-speed pitch in the sixth. "I feel good. They checked me out and everything's fine," he said. Goeddel, who was left unprotected by Tampa Bay after batting .279 with a .783 OPS for Double-A Montgomery last season, will get a long look this spring. But he also wants to make a good first impression. "At the same time, I'm trying not to put too much pressure on myself. I want to show them what I can do. So I'm trying to come out every day and do something to help the team, whether it's in the batter's box or out on defense. I'm just trying to compete." And, yes, he was aware that this was the first time he was playing in front of Mackanin. "A little bit," he said. "I'm sure he reads the reports. But obviously I want to play well in front of Pete and the rest of the staff. It was nice to get a hit in front of him for sure." Goeddel also has an interesting back story. His father, David, is a legend in the biotechnology industry. While at Genentech, he successfully used genetic engineering to make bacteria create synthetic human insulin, human growth hormone for use in therapeutic medicine. Later he co-founded a company, Tularik, in 1991, that sold for $1.3 billion in 2004. "He's a pretty smart guy," Goeddel said. "Human growth hormone is a hormone [that occurs naturally] in your body. He was able to clone it so people who need more can take it. It's funny with all the baseball HGH stuff going on. It's definitely ironic, being in professional baseball with all that stuff going on." His brother also played baseball at UCLA. As a result, their father has taken more interest in the sport. "Ever since we got to high school he's been part of the baseball craze. Reads everything on it. Tries to learn as much about the game as he can so he can help us," Goeddel said. "At this point he knows as much about baseball as any dad I know. He's been a great help for me growing up with mental stuff, physical stuff. He studies swings. He helps me with everything. It's great."

Today In Phils History - The 1993 World Series could have been quite interesting if Elizabeth Crooks' letter of support (for which she was awarded a $100 War Bond on this day in 1944) persuaded more fans to adopt the teams new nickname, the Blue Jays. The 1980 season could have ended differently for the Phillies had they gained more support when the players (by a vote of 40-0) voted to call a strike against owners, the first team to approve the strike. Speaking of strikes, in 1995 the replacement Phillies won their exhibition opener thanks to former major leaguer Jeff Stone who went 2-2 with a walk an hit by pitch in the leadoff spot. The following season provided much better news for the Phillies when former pitcher (and Senator) Jim Bunning was elected (along with Orioles manager Earl Weaver) to the Hall of Fame by the veteran's committee. Another manager was honored, but in quite a different way, two years ago when the Phillies and Braves honored Jim Fregosi who had passed away the previous week.  Birthdays today include a legend from the early days of baseball, Sam Thompson, who was born on this day in 1960 and the other birthdays are coming out of the bullpen in Kent Tekulve (1947) and Ryan Franklin (1973). 

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies have begun the spring with a 2-2-1 record (3-2-1 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!

Slowey And Steady Beats The Yankees

EXHIBITION GAME RECAP: Phillies Beat Yankees 3-1

Phillies right-hander Kevin Slowey made a pretty routine start Wednesday afternoon against the Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Slowey spent two innings working on his fastball command in Philadelphia's second Grapefruit League game of the spring. No big deal. Well, except Yankees star Alex Rodriguez played in his first game since his season-long 2014 suspension for PED use, which meant local and national media outlets live tweeted those plate appearances across the world. "Maybe I made it into some of those live tweets," Slowey said after throwing two scoreless innings in a 3-1 victory. Slowey, who allowed one hit in two at-bats against Rodriguez, actually trended nationally on Twitter. A-Rod? Not so much because folks called Rodriguez any number of things on Twitter, including Rodriguez, ARod, A-Rod, etc. Slowey is Slowey. "All right," Slowey said. "Can I get a screen grab of that from somebody?" Cord Phelps got Philadelphia on the board in the second with an RBI single and Maikel Franco made it 2-0 with a single in the fifth. After the Yankees cut the deficit in half in the sixth, Aaron Altherr rounded out the scoring with a single in the seventh. Slowey, 30, started Wednesday because Aaron Harang was scratched due to a back issue. Slowey will need to continue to pitch well to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster. He is a non-roster invitee and has not pitched since the Marlins released him in June. Slowey had offers to pitch for other organizations, but he elected to stay home as his wife was pregnant with their first child. Slowey said he would start or relieve for the Phillies, but they are asking him to start. Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, Harang and Jerome Williams are locks for the first four spots. Slowey will compete with David Buchanan, Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez and others for the fifth spot. Buchanan is the favorite for the No. 5 spot, but there could be an opportunity for everybody. Hamels or Lee could be traded at some point, and it is a rarity for five starters to stay healthy and effective the entire season. It is why the Phillies signed Chad Billingsley before Spring Training. Billingsley is another rotation candidate, but he is not expected to be ready until late April. "In terms of breaking with the club, it's out of my hands," said Slowey, who is 43-36 with a 4.62 ERA in 137 appearances (106 starts) in seven seasons with the Twins and Marlins. "As long as I've been playing, every year you sort of realize that a little more. You go out there and you do what you can. For me, once I let go of the ball, that's it and I can prepare as best I can, and that's what I've done. The hope and the goal is to show them I can help the Phillies win and leave the decision up to them."

TODAY’S EXHIBITION GAME:

The Phillies travel to Kissimmee to play the Astros on Thursday at 1:05 p.m. ET, and fans can listen to an exclusive, free webcast on phillies.com. Lee, who finished last season on the DL because of an injured left elbow but has been healthy in camp, will make his Grapefruit League debut. Gonzalez, who is trying to reestablish himself as a starter after moving into the bullpen last season because of concerns about his health, is expected to pitch in relief of Lee.

PHILS PHACTS:

Grady Down! – Phillies left fielder Grady Sizemore left Wednesday's 3-1 win over the Yankees after getting hit on his right knee with a pitch in the fourth inning. Jordan Danks replaced Sizemore as a pinch-runner. "Just precautionary," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "He got hit on the meat in the back. He felt fine."

Making His Presence Known – Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg liked what he saw Wednesday afternoon from Rule 5 Draft pick Odubel Herrera, who went 3-for-4 with three stolen bases and two runs scored in a 3-1 victory over the Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field. "A lot stood out," Sandberg said. "A spark plug at the top [of the lineup]. Great job with the stolen bases, getting in scoring position, which was big in a 3-1 game. He did a good job of squaring balls up and staying on top of the ball, hard grounders, line drives. Real heads up play with the stolen bases." Herrera has the inside track for one of five available bench jobs, because the Phillies are thinking beyond 2015. Having him on the 25-man roster the entire season to keep him in the organization beyond this year makes sense, especially if he continues to hit. Herrera batted .321 with 16 doubles, four triples, two home runs, 48 RBIs, 12 stolen bases and a .775 OPS in Double-A Frisco (Texas), where he won the league batting title. His OPS ranked 10th among Texas League hitters with 300 or more plate appearances. Herrera then hit .372 with 14 doubles, three triples, six home runs, 27 RBIs, eight stolen bases and a .988 OPS in Venezuelan winter ball, where he also won the batting title. Herrera is expected to play all three outfield positions this spring, but he has played second base and shortstop in the past, so he has versatility defensively. Herrera, 23, has some speed. He succeeded in 128 of 178 stolen-base attempts (71.9 percent) in his career. He went 8-for-8 in winter ball. Sandberg said Herrera was given the green light to steal in certain situations, and he took advantage. "It was an on-and-off green," Sandberg said. "There were some reds in there, because there were left-handed pitchers in there. There were some reasons. He was running really well. He seems to be real fluid in center field. He seems to go to the right spot."

Filling In The Bench – The Phillies will need to be pretty creative to score runs consistently this season. A productive and versatile bench could help. The projected Opening Day lineup includes catcher Carlos Ruiz, first baseman Ryan Howard, second baseman Chase Utley, third baseman Cody Asche, shortstop Freddy Galvis, left fielder Grady Sizemore, center fielder Ben Revere and right fielder Domonic Brown, but the Phillies' projected five-man bench could go a bunch of different ways. Here are the leading candidates: OF/1B Darin Ruf: Could Ruf finally get his opportunity to play in the big leagues on a semi-regular basis? Ruiz is literally the only right-handed bat of the everyday eight, so the Phillies desperately need balance in the lineup. The fact Ruf hits for power helps his cause. He is as close to a lock as one can find for a bench job. OF Odubel Herrera: He has the inside track for a spot because he is a Rule 5 Draft pick. He won the Double-A Texas League batting title last season and the Venezuelan winter ball batting title this winter. If Herrera shows enough promise, the Phillies could stash him on the 25-man roster the entire season to keep him in the organization. INF Cesar Hernandez: The Phillies like Hernandez and he is out of options, which gives him a big edge. Hernandez plays mostly second base, but he also has shown he can play defense on the left side of the infield. C Cameron Rupp: Ruiz is 36 and has not started more than 113 games behind the plate at any point in his career. That could give Rupp enough playing time as a backup to further his development. He has the edge over non-roster invitees Koyie Hill and John Hester. In fact, it might be Rupp's job to lose. However, Rupp will have to hit this spring. He hit .183 in 64 plate appearances last season with the Phillies and .165 in 219 plate appearances with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. OF Jeff Francoeur: He is intriguing because of his past and the fact Charlie Manuel is working with him this spring, but Francoeur will have to produce to earn a spot after posting a .511 OPS in 284 plate appearances the past two seasons in the big leagues. There is a scenario where the Phillies could carry Ruf, Herrera and Francoeur on the roster with Hernandez as the only backup infielder. INF Andres Blanco: He is a non-roster invitee, but if the Phillies want a true shortstop on the roster, Blanco is the best bet. OF Jordan Danks: If the Phillies want a defensive option in the outfield, they could turn to Danks, who would be a true backup center fielder to Revere. C Koyie Hill and C John Hester: Both are non-roster invitees with big league experience, but either one would have to outplay Rupp to earn a spot on the 25-man roster. INF Maikel Franco: The Phillies think Franco will live up to his potential, but unless something unforeseen happens, it makes little sense to have him on the Opening Day roster. Starting Franco in Triple-A allows him to play every day and continue his development. It also allows the Phillies to delay his free agency until after the 2021 season. Remember, the Phillies are not playing for 2015. They are playing for '17 and beyond. That extra year of team control could be big. Other non-roster invitees in camp include infielders Russ Canzler , Chase d'Arnaud, Chris McGuiness, Chris Nelson and Cord Phelps; and outfielders Brian Bogusevic , Darin Mastroianni and Xavier Paul. It takes a lot for a non-roster invitee to make the team out of camp. They might need a Chris Coste-type Spring Training (Coste hit .463 with three homers, 11 RBIs and a 1.305 OPS in 41 at-bats in 2006) to open eyes and enter the 25-man roster discussion.

ON THE RECORD:

The Phillies will look to rebound this season from a 73-89 record last year. While uncertainty abounds, there is little question that the franchise is in rebuild mode based on the moves and statements that have been made during the offseason. The only question that remains is whether or not the young and veteran talent on the team can work together to disprove Gillick’s predictions either this year or next.