Final Roster Spots On The Line For Phillies Hopefuls

EXHIBITION GAME RECAP: Game Called Due To Rain

Thursday evening's contest between the Braves and Phillies at ESPN's Wide World of Sports complex was rained out. The game was called with no score in the top of the fourth inning, with one out for the Phillies. Braves right-hander Matt Wisler allowed two hits and walked two in 3 1/3 innings, while Philadelphia's Adam Morgan allowed two hits, walked one and struck out two in three innings.

NEXT GAME:

Phillies right-hander Jeremy Hellickson (0-1, 1.29 ERA) faces the Blue Jays on Friday at Bright House Field at 6:35 p.m. ET. It is the third of three consecutive night games. The Phillies on Wednesday named Hellickson their Opening Day starter for April 4 in Cincinnati.

PHILS PHACTS:

Competition Down To The Wire – This changes nothing for Phillies left-hander Adam Morgan. Morgan pitched three scoreless innings Thursday night against the Braves in a Grapefruit League game at Champion Stadium. He had been scheduled to pitch five or six, except a strong storm whipped through the area and eventually cancelled the contest. Morgan allowed two hits, one walk and struck out two. He stranded a runner at third in the first inning and runners at the corners in the third inning. He has pitched better this spring, but his effort Thursday or the fact he had his night cut short because of rain should not affect his candidacy to be the Phillies' No. 5 starter. "Nothing to change my mind about him still being in the hunt," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said afterward. Morgan is competing with right-hander Vince Velasquez for the final spot in the rotation. Velasquez has a 3.21 ERA in four Grapefruit League appearances (three starts). He has allowed 13 hits, six runs (five earned runs), four walks and has struck out 16 in 14 innings. He also allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings in a Minor League game. Morgan has a 1.50 ERA in four Grapefruit League starts. He has allowed six hits, two runs, three walks and has struck out four in 12 innings. He also threw five scoreless innings in a Minor League game. "Even though I felt like I was kind of struggling a little bit getting the ball down, I felt like I was making the right adjustments," Morgan said. "But you can't control Mother Nature. It's definitely a bummer, because I want to showcase what I have." "He was OK, just OK," Mackanin said. "He pitched out of trouble. He was fine. He threw some of those cutters he was working on. If anything, he might have been overthrowing."

Flexibility Considered – If Emmanuel Burriss stands a chance to make the Phillies' Opening Day roster, he must be flexible. He thinks he can be. "I consider myself a super-utility [man] anyway," Burriss said before Thursday night's Grapefruit League game against the Braves at Champion Stadium. Burriss, 31, started the game in center field as the Phillies try to figure out if he can play the outfield well enough to warrant a roster spot. Injuries to Aaron Altherr and Cody Asche have the Phillies looking at Darnell Sweeney and non-roster invitees Cedric Hunter, David Lough, Ryan Jackson and Burriss for the final two bench jobs. Hunter, Burriss and Lough might be the favorites. "You know as an extra guy in the National League you want versatility, so I want to get a good look at him to see if he can play in the outfield," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said about Burriss. "I know he plays solid defense in the infield, anywhere he plays." But Burriss also has helped himself offensively, entering the night hitting .323 (10-for-31) with three doubles, one triple, two RBIs, two walks, six strikeouts and an .866 OPS. "I feel good," Burriss said. "I think just to be the type of player I am, moving around the entire field has never been a big problem for me. I've been getting the reps in since I've been in professional baseball. Even though I haven't been out there in games, I've been getting the work in. I feel really confident." Burriss hasn't started a game in the outfield in the big leagues. He has started only 13 games there in his Minor League career. But he entered Thursday having played five games there this spring. "When I talked to Pete in the offseason, we talked about really displaying some versatility," Burriss said. "I think it would be tense if I wasn't prepared. I don't think anybody is really pressing, because I think everybody came into camp prepared. I don't think anybody has really taken their names out of the ranks." Burriss, who has hit .245 with a .578 OPS in parts of six seasons with the Giants and Nationals, certainly hasn't. He has a chance to win a job with a little more than a week to go before Opening Day.

Phillies Feeling Fine – The Phillies are sweating the small stuff this spring, because they know they have little room for error. So Phillies manager Pete Mackanin is fining his players 50 cents at a time for those little mistakes on the field. "If you don't get a bunt down, everyone pays 50 cents," Mackanin said before Thursday night's rained out Grapefruit League game against the Braves at Champion Stadium. "If you don't hustle, everyone pays 50 cents. If you miss a cutoff man, everyone pays 50 cents. "It's a way to be picky about little things, like you made it into second base, but you should've slid. You hit a double, but you coasted into second when you should've come around hard in case the guy bobbles the ball. Fifty cents. It allows me to be a real [jerk] about things like that. What, are you going to complain about 50 cents?" So how much is in the pot at this point? "We're closing in on $1,000," Mackanin said. He said the proceeds likely will go to the Baseball Assistance Team. "When I announce the fines and this week you have $2.50, a half-dozen players get on that guy," Mackanin said. "Not meanly, but like, 'Come on, don't do that anymore.'"

Waiting Game – Phillies center fielder Odubel Herrera has not played since March 12 because of a bruised left middle finger, but he made the trip Thursday because Mackanin hoped to have him pinch-hit at some point. "We'd like to get him in as soon as I can," Mackanin said before the rainout. "He said he feels fine today. So I'll give him one more day, maybe one at-bat." Herrera could be in the starting lineup Friday against the Blue Jays in Clearwater. "He's a pretty natural hitter," Mackanin said. "Within a week, he should get that timing down, I think."

Frenchy A Phillies Fan – Jeff Francoeur made the rounds Wednesday afternoon at Champion Stadium. He started in left field with a lengthy conversation with Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard. He moved toward the visitors' dugout, where he stopped and chatted with Phillies manager Pete Mackanin, coaches Larry Bowa and Juan Samuel, and catcher Cameron Rupp. He eventually made his way through the Phillies' pregame stretch, shaking hands or having a quick conversation with nearly every former teammate. "They'll have a big fan in me, I promise you that," Francoeur said. Francoeur signed a Minor League contract with the Braves just before Spring Training last month. He had hoped to re-sign with the Phillies, with whom he resurrected his career last season, but they expressed no interest over the offseason. Essentially, the Phillies' front office felt Francoeur had no place once the club claimed Peter Bourjos off waivers and selected Rule 5 Draft pick Tyler Goeddel. But the Phillies arguably could use a veteran outfielder like Francoeur right now. Aaron Altherr will not play until July, at the earliest, following left wrist surgery, and Cody Asche seems likely to open the season on the disabled list because of a strained right oblique. It leaves the Phillies' Opening Day outfield as Odubel Herrera, Bourjos and Goeddel, with Darnell Sweeney and non-roster invitees Cedric Hunter, David Lough and Emmanuel Burriss competing for bench jobs. Herrera hasn't played since March 12 because of a bruised left middle finger. He had a chance to pinch-hit Wednesday. "I was wearing Odubel out," Francoeur said, laughing. "Good Lord, your finger? Are you kidding me? He said April 1. I said, 'You've already turned into that guy after one season?' He took it good." But even if the Phillies suddenly had interest in Francoeur, he might not be available. He has a good chance of making the Braves' Opening Day roster -- he has a March 28 out clause, so he should know soon -- not only because he has played well this spring, but because the Braves have loved what he brings to a clubhouse. A few folks in the Phillies' clubhouse Wednesday said they miss Francoeur's presence and leadership. He had a knack for getting along with everybody, and his energy proved contagious, which he illustrated Wednesday. "I've got no hard feelings," Francoeur said. "It's a new regime. They can do what they want. All those guys there, Pete, Larry, I loved them. They helped me out a lot last year. [Hitting coach Steve Henderson]. I've got nothing but love for those guys. … I definitely thought I would be coming back, but then, obviously, different stuff happened. But hopefully in the end it's all going to work out." But Francoeur also wants to set the record straight about one thing: He does not owe Maikel Franco a new suit. Francoeur last season told Franco he would buy him a suit if he hit 15 home runs. Franco fell one short because of an injury, but Franco said earlier this spring Frenchy still agreed to buy him one. "I think things got a little miscommunicated," Francoeur said. "I think what I'm going to do instead of a suit -- because he didn't hit 15, you've got to get 15 -- I'm going to get him a couple nice dress shirts. That's what I'm going to do, all right? I'll get him taken care of. I see him calling me out with the suit, and I'm like, you didn't hit 15, bro. The last time I checked, a bet is a bet. "I'll keep him happy. Especially with what he's doing this spring, I think he'll be able to afford his own suits anyway."

A Different Sweet 16 – It's getting near time for the bell to ring on the regular season. The guys want to play, and most of them -- pitchers excluded -- want the regular season to begin yesterday. One good late-March distraction is the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Telecasts of its games -- and even those of the NIT and the women's tournament -- have been on clubhouse television monitors for days now, and more eyes will be focused on them between today and Opening Night. Hence, the time has come for our annual salute to Sweet 16 weekend. This year, we focus on the Phillies, the favorite team of New York Times baseball writer Tyler Kepner (when he was a young 'un, of course). The Tigers, Giants, Mets, Reds, Yankees, Red Sox and Cubs have been examined through the prism of 16 in previous years. So, you might be familiar with the process. To whet your appetite for ball, we present 16 facts -- or sets of facts -- involving the sweet number and, this time, the Fightin' Phils. 1. Hall of Famer Robin Roberts led the NL in allowing home runs (five times), triples (five times) and doubles (six times). That's 16. But in the 12 seasons involved (1949-60), Roberts won 226 games. Warren Spahn won 244 in the same period. 2. Grover Cleveland Alexander (aka Pete) led the National League in shutouts in 1916 with 16, a career and Phillies franchise high. 3. Phillies players have produced 16 games of seven RBIs, including two each by Cy Williams and Del Ennis and one, in 2002, by pitcher Robert Person. Person, of course, had 16 RBIs in his nine-year career. The franchise record for single-game RBIs is eight, shared by Mike Schmidt, Jayson Werth and the wonderful Willie "Puddin' Head" Jones. 4. Roberts led the NL in intentional walks in 1957 with 16. His personal high, 21, had come four years earlier. The big league record is 24. 5. The 16 highest single-season RBI totals in Phillies history are 130 or more. Ryan Howard is responsible for four of them 149 (2006), 146 ('08), 141 ('09) and 136 ('07). That's a nice four-year run. Chuck Klein has the highest total (170 in 1930) and two others (145 in '29 and 137 in '32). Schmidt didn't make the cut. His career high was 121 (1980). 6. Schmidt and Chuck Klein are the Phillies players who have hit four home runs on one game: Schmidt on April 17, 1976, at Wrigley Field (with the wind blowing out, needless to say), and Klein on July 10, 1936, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Schmidt's fourth homer broke a 15-15 tie in the 10th inning, and the Phils won, 18-16. But Klein is the lone Phillies players with 16 total bases in one game. Schmidt homered in the fifth, seventh, eighth and 10th innings. But back, back, back, back in the fourth, he singled. So his TBT (total bass total) was a franchise-record - still standing -- 17. 7. Steve Carlton, Curt Schilling and Cliff Lee had 16-strikeout games as Phillies. The franchise record belongs to Chris Short who fanned 18 in a 15-inning start against the Mets in the second game of a doubleheader that ended in an 18-inning scoreless tie on the second to last day of the 1965 season. Teammate Jim Bunning had struck out 10 in a nine-inning shutout in the first game. Three Phillies pitchers struck out 16 in 13 innings in the second game of the season-ending doubleheader the following day. Ray Culp had struck out merely six while winning a complete game in the first game. So the Phillies allowed two runs and struck out 53 in 49 innings in sweeping the last four games of the season at Shea Stadium. Payback (much delayed): Twenty-six years later, David Cone, pitching for the Mets, struck out 19 against the Phils on the last game of season, in Philadelphia. 8. From 2005-14, Chase Utley played regularly with the Phillies, averaging 134 games per sesason. In those years, he was hit by pitches an average of 16 times per season. Not an everyday player last season -- he started 87 games total for the Phils and Dodgers -- he nonetheless was hit 10 times. Utley figures to play less frequently this year. But he is all but guaranteed one hit by pitch. The Dodgers play the Mets from May 9-12 in L.A. Enough said. 9. Forty-eight (or three times 16) players have worn No. 16 for the Phillies, none so long as Luis Aguayo from 1980-88. Two of those 48, right-handed pitcher Ken Raffensberger (1946-47) and infielder George Jumonville ('41) had 16 characters in their baseball card names. Raffensberger pitched 16 innings in one start in '44, when he was wearing No. 15. Sixteen players wore No. 16 in a 14-year sequence, beginning in 1933. 10. Cookie Rojas wore No. 16 with the Phillies in the 1960s, when he and double-play partner Bobby Wine created the "Days of Wine and Rojas." 11. Jimmy Rollins hit 30 home runs, 20 triples and 38 doubles in 2007, when he won the NL MVP Award with the NL East champion Phillies. That's 88 extra-base hits. Granted this is a stretch, but 8 plus 8 equals 16. And Rollins deserves mention in this four-squared exercise. 12. The Phillies allowed 16 walks in their game against the Cardinals Sept. 13, 1974, which lasted 17 innings (four hours, 47 minutes, not including a one-hour, 41-minute rain delay in the 17th). After allowing 14 walks, 11 hits and only two runs in 16 innings, the Phils gave up five run in the 17th, when they issued two walks (one intentional). They lost, 7-3. The Cardinals had played 25 innings at Shea Stadium two nights earlier, and nine in New York on Sept. 12. 13. In a sequence of 26 seasons beginning in 1919, the Phillies placed eighth (or last) 16 times. Their seventh-place finishes numbered eight (or half of 16) times. And since 1958, they have placed last 16 more times. 14. Including the 99-loss team of 2015, the Phillies have had 16 teams with 99 of more losses. Ten Phils teams lost at least 100 games in a 20-year sequence (1923-42). 15. Ryne Sandberg put together the bulk of his Hall of Fame resume with the Cubs, of course, but the first of his 16 big league seasons came in 1981 with the Phillies. 16. Since Gene Mauch managed the Phillies (1960 through June 1968), the Phils have employed 16 skippers. They are chronologically: George Myatt, Bob Skinner, Frank Lucceshi, Paul Owens, Danny Ozark, Dallas Green, Pat Corrales, John Felski, Lee Elia, Nick Leyva, Jim Fregosi, Terry Francona, Larry Bowa, Charlie Manuel, Sandberg and Pete Mackanin.

Today In Phils History - The Phillies opened their spring training camp in Charlotte, NC on this day in 1919 as the city temporarily served as their preseason home due to travel restrictions at the end of World War I. In 1981, the Phillies made a surprise trade sending Bob Walk to the Braves in exchange for Gary Matthews who would prove his value during his 3 year tenure with the team. 

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies have an impressive record this spring… 14-7-2 (15-7-2 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!

Looking Back On A Solid Week

PHILS PHACTS:

Making Some Noise! – Nobody expected the Phillies to make much noise at this week's Winter Meetings. But then the Phils agreed to a potentially significant trade Wednesday night. The deal sent closer Ken Giles and infielder Jonathan Arauz to the Astros for five players: lefties Brett Oberholtzer and Mark Appel -- the first pick in the 2013 MLB Draft -- and right-handers Vincent Velasquez, Harold Arauz and Thomas Eshelman. Folks at the Winter Meetings like the package the Phillies received from Houston. Velasquez went 1-1 with a 4.37 ERA in 19 appearances (seven starts) with the Astros last season. He has the talent to be a No. 3 starter or a dominant late-inning reliever, like Giles. Appel, who ranked as the Astros' No. 2 prospect before the trade, went 10-3 with a 4.37 ERA in 25 starts spread across Double-A and Triple-A. He struck out 110 batters and walked 51 in 131 2/3 innings. Oberholtzer went 2-2 with a 4.46 ERA in eight starts. He is 11-20 with a 3.94 ERA in 45 appearances (42 starts) in his big league career. Oberholtzer projects into the Phils' rotation in 2016. No pitcher in the history of college baseball threw more strikes than Eshelman. He led NCAA Division I in walks per nine innings as a freshman (0.2), sophomore (0.6) and junior (0.5) at Cal State Fullerton, establishing new records for a single season and a career (0.4). Eshelman projects as a back-of-the-rotation starter. Giles essentially became a luxury to the rebuilding Phillies. They hope they swapped 65 innings a season from Giles for three pitchers who potentially could throw 200 innings a season, plus a future everyday left fielder in Fisher. Deals done: The only official deal at this point is a one-year, $3.9 million contract with right-hander David Hernandez, who signed Wednesday. He immediately becomes a candidate to close if the Giles trade is finalized. Hernandez had some success as a setup man in Arizona before Tommy John surgery forced him to miss 2014, plus the first two months of 2015. Rule 5: The Phillies selected outfielder Tyler Goeddel with the first pick in the Rule 5 Draft. He is the No. 19 prospect in Philadelphia's system, according to MLBPipeline.com. The Phils hope he plays like some of the other outfielders pro scouting director Mike Ondo has selected in the Rule 5 Draft: Shane Victorino, Ender Inciarte and Odubel Herrera. Goeddel has potential to grow offensively, and he played all three outfield positions last season, which should make him versatile in the Phillies' outfield. The Phils also selected left-hander Daniel Stumpf, who will compete for a bullpen job. He pitched in Kansas City's system last season. Goals accomplished: The Phillies continue to stockpile pitching and young talent with an eye on the future. Will the Phils compete in 2015? Probably not. But are they putting themselves in position to turn a corner in the future by adding as many young players as possible? Yes. It's a numbers game. Not every prospect is going to hit (see Domonic Brown). But the more prospects a team has in its system, the better chance there is that some of them will hit. And that should help the Phillies win again. Unfinished business: The Phillies can always use more pitching. They currently have Jeremy Hellickson, Aaron Nola, Jerad Eickhoff, Oberholtzer, Velasquez, Adam Morgan, David Buchanan and Alec Asher as candidates for the rotation. But Phils general manager Matt Klentak has correctly pointed out that a team rarely gets through a season with just five or six starters. The more, the merrier. GM's bottom line: "We're trying to balance it all. That makes us no different from any team. We have a lot of balls in the air, most of which you're working on never comes to fruition. But every once in a while, something will." – Klentak.

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.

Phillies Moving Forward With A Plan

PHILS PHACTS:

On The Same Page – Matt Klentak and Pete Mackanin seem to be getting along just fine since they first met in October. The Phillies named Mackanin their manager in 2016 before they hired Klentak as general manager in October. General managers often prefer their hand-picked men in the dugout, but both said Tuesday they expect no problems next season. "I think if we're collectively doing our jobs the right way and communicating the way that we need to that there should never be an issue," Klentak said. "There should never be a time where I want something to happen that he's doing the other way. As long as we're communicating, which we will, there shouldn't be an issue." "We're always going to talk," Mackanin said. "I'm open to any suggestion. He gets the players for me, and I run the team with his input. And I give him input on which players I'd like to have, so he makes that final decision. Ultimately he ends up making my decision too. If he tells me he wants this guy playing a little bit more, I'm open to it. I get it. I might not agree with it, but in the end if he tells me to do it, I'll do it." Mackanin later discussed numerous topics during his media session at the Winter Meetings: Who's in center field? Mackanin called Odubel Herrera one of the better defensive center fielders in the National League, but he knows the Phillies just acquired Peter Bourjos last week. Bourjos is regarded as one of the best defensive center fielders in baseball. So who plays center? "In my mind right now, [Herrera] is the incumbent center fielder, which doesn't mean it won't change in the spring," Mackanin said. "As hard as he worked towards accomplishing his goals defensively last year, I want to make him -- I don't want to discourage him after doing such a good job for us." Interestingly, Mackanin also said Herrera could get some time at second base in Spring Training. Herrera played primarily second base in the Minor Leagues before joining the Phillies last season. But the Phillies have other outfielders coming through the system, so if they need to make room for somebody, Herrera could transition to second to keep him in the lineup. "It might come to that," Mackanin said. "I'm not looking to do that right now, but it may happen. But I don't want to. He had such a great showing defensively that I don't want to, like I said, discourage him from making him think it was all for nothing." Bourjos will play: The Phillies did not acquire Bourjos to sit on the bench. The Phillies believe he will perform better offensively if he plays on a more regular basis. "There's a lot of people that feel that he's better than the way he's played the last few years," Mackanin said. "I'm one of them." Franco's D: Third baseman Maikel Franco had a fine rookie season offensively, but he struggled defensively at times. He committed 10 errors in 75 games at third. "I think he got a little careless, and we're going to see a Gold Glove-type performance out of him defensively," Mackanin said. "He felt like he let himself down last year. We know he's better."

One On One With The Manager – At the end of the season, you kind of talked about how getting a full-time job, how you could maybe do some more stuff, implement some things and that you would take some time in the off-season to kind of think about what that would be. Have you given much thought about any specific things or adjustments? Well, I constantly find myself thinking of new things, things I'd like to do, but I keep fighting the urge. I'm trying to enjoy my off-season as much as possible before we start that grind of seven months. But I've got some good ideas about just the way we're going to execute drills. We're going to put a lot of emphasis on baserunning, for one, which is why I eliminated your typical coach who is an outfielder/baserunning guy. Juan is going to remain the outfield guy, and Mickey Morandini is going to take over strictly baserunning and we are going to zero inasmuch as we can. I know everybody talks about fundamentals and how we are really going to pay attention to those things, but this is one way I feel we can really do that. Defense is a very important part of the game, and I'm very happy that we've got some outfielders that can cover a lot of ground and they are sure-handed outfielders. That makes the pitching better which takes runs away. In a couple areas, I feel we've already improved in that respect. A few more things like that, we're going to introduce a few more different ways of going about doing things. You had talked at the end of the season about how you've been in different situations whereas part of scouting, whatever, you talked about you look at free agents and which one are we going to get and sometimes you have to flip the page to lesser guys. How much of a role have you had at the Winter Meetings and looking over free agents? We gather in that suite every day and just hash things out. We just talk about different players, who you run into. You kind of walk around and talk to people that you know and get a feeling of what other teams are looking for. You kind of have an idea, but it's just about schmoozing people and trying to get some information, and they get information from you. As I said, when I was with, for example, the Expos, we would go over in our group, we would go over the list of free agents. And by the time we would flip most pages to the back page, guys we can afford to get. But then when I was with the Yankees as a scout, it was anybody. We could look at anybody. The Phillies, and Matt, they have a certain way they go about doing things. So we are discussing more than anything. I can't really comment much on his attack, so to say. We just all give our input and they make the decisions. Given where the roster is in terms of rebuilding, when you get to Spring Training, how do you convince the players and the fan base, even, that there's any chance to be competitive? The first thing I want to get across to the players is that I'm looking for positive energy. I start with that. I tell them that -- I'll give you an example. Freddy Galvis hit .260 something and he showed some promise there, and I think he's capable of doing better. César Hernández started playing finally, and he showed a lot of promise. We always felt like these guys were going to play well enough and hit well enough to be part of the future, but now they finally have an opportunity to do that. Maikel Franco stepped into his role and showed us that he was going to be a solid middle-of-the-order guy. Now that being said, all I can do as a manager to keep these guys pointed in the right direction is make them feel like how good they are, reinforce how good they are, and explain to these guys that in baseball, it's not necessarily always going to go their way and when you get knocked down, you're going to get knocked down during the course of the season, it's how you get back up, rather than staying down on the ground. So my approach is just to remain positive; at the same time, demand results. How about the fans? The fans, well, let's put it this way: Somebody asked me how I was going to manage the team knowing that we weren't really at the place we want to be. Well, I manage -- I only know one way to manage. I just want to manage each day to win that game. And if I can convince the players to worry about how they compete on that given day, and let the fans know that we are competing and doing the best we can with what we have, I don't see how -- I think the way the players play will convince the fans that these guys are really trying and for real. What's the biggest thing you're looking forward to in terms of next season compared to last season where you had a lot of young guys and a lot of guys showing that they could do things, but what are you looking for in terms of a next step in terms of the guys that were on the roster last year? Well, you take a guy like Galvis and Hernandez and Franco, and Cameron made some strides late in the season, and he's a solid, strong-arm catcher, we've seen Odubel Herrera come out of nowhere to start off pretty good. He faltered a bit and went back to .250, .260, but then he battled back and hosed in right at .300. For me he's going to become a perennial .300 hitter. He's one of the better center fielders in the league in my opinion. That was a plus. Aaron Altherr, he made a good impression. He still needs a ways to go. But he made a great impression, as well as Cody Asche. We feel strongly that he's better than he's shown. We want these guys -- the next step is for Freddy to improve even more, for Hernández to improve. They have to incrementally have to get better. That's what we're looking for all of them to do, get better each year because we are counting on them to be part of the future. You mentioned Herrera defensively. Bourjos, I guess, arguably, is probably one of the guys that might be better than him defensively. How do you see those guys working and in terms of rotation, playing time? You know, I know that I've scouted Bourjos in the past, and I know that he's a premiere center fielder. I'm told, although I haven't seen them play that much, Aaron Altherr is an outstanding center fielder. What I saw out of Odubel this year was very impressive. He made some mistakes, but he outran his mistakes. He's flamboyant. He's not afraid to dive. He takes charge out there. To me a center fielder, my opinion of a center fielder is that he catches every ball that's hit in the air until he can't get it, and then the corners help him out. And that's how Odubel plays. You saw it. If they are all three close to being as good as Bourjos is, we have three center fielders, no matter where they play, it's going to cover ground and help the pitching and take hits away and we have improved that way. Do you see him playing more than Frenchy played last year? Well, under the circumstances with what we have, he's going to get a lot of playing time. There's a lot of people that feel that he's better than the way he's played the last few years. I'm one of them. I like Peter Bourjos. I think he's got an upside to him, and I'm looking forward to seeing him in the spring and have Steve Henderson work with him and get him back on the right track. If he gets enough playing time, that's what players need in order to get some kind of a rhythm going. You made the deal for Hellickson from the Diamondbacks. What do you like about him? He's a solid strike thrower. He's going to give us some innings. He's got some experience. I know he started off extremely well his first couple years and hasn't been quite the same since, but, once again, we feel he's a guy that's going to pitch better than he has the last couple years. I thought Matt made a great deal getting him. When you look at Nola and how he kind of handled things last year, what do you expect from a second act from him going forward? The thing about Nola, a lot of young guys, especially Nola, I recall my first time in the Big Leagues, I was scared to death. When Nola pitched, it's like he knew he belonged there from day one. He never showed fear. He's got a great presence on the mound. He made some mistakes with pitch selection and/or location, but he knew it and he adjusted immediately. The guy, he's a cool customer. This guy really is an intelligent pitcher. The thing he's got going for him the most is his ability to command his fastball to both sides of the plate. And you can't teach that. If you've got that, plus you add in his other things -- and I think his changeup we didn't see as much; that he could have thrown it more. I think once we see that, he's going to become even better. I'm not by any way comparing him to Greg Maddux, but Greg Maddux became a premier pitcher because he figured it out. He read swings. He knew what he had to do to get hitters out, and I think Nola has got the capability of being that kind of a guy. What strides would you like to see Franco make in what will be his second full season? The one thing, the first thing that comes to my mind is, No. 1, he's going to be a solid, three, four, five hitter in my opinion. He's aggressive. He's a run producer. This past season, he did not play the defense we expected him to play. He made some careless errors, and I think the year before in AAA, he made -- it was something like five errors and they were all throwing errors. The guy doesn't miss. I think he got a little careless, and we're going to see a Gold Glove-type performance out of him defensively. He felt like he let himself down last year. We know he's better. Larry Bowa worked with him quite a bit and they both talked, which was a nice sign for Maikel to talk about it and say, I know I'm better than that. So that's the thing I'm expecting from him. How much time, if any, have you really gotten away from thinking about baseball? I'm sure when the season ends, you're thinking about what's coming up. I've been in the game 48 years and you never stop thinking about it because something always comes up. Especially nowadays, every time you turn on the TV, there's another media outlet, MLB and ESPN and all these sports channels and you can't get away from it. I try to avoid it because I'd like to have a week or two where I just don't have to worry about it, because, like I said, once you start that first day of Spring Training, it's all systems go for seven months, hopefully eight months. And you talked a little about Cameron Rupp, a guy that you saw improvement from offensively at the end of the year last year. Is he a guy that can catch a hundred games? What do you see? It's hard for me to project that, but let's put it this way: This guy can catch and throw, he's got plus power, above average power potential, and that's the kind of guy you're looking for at catcher; that cannot only do a good job handling pitchers but he can catch and throw runners out. He's got a bazooka for an arm and he's accurate with it. Now the next thing is getting his average where you'd like it, and he started hitting home runs later on in the season. I think with a few adjustments to his approach, I think he's going to be capable of hitting even more home runs and improve more as a hitter. Once again it, was his first full year in the Big Leagues, so you have to keep that in the back of your mind that it's not that easy just to jump in and hit .280 and 25 home runs and knock in 80 runs. There's an adjustment to be made. Getting back to your previous question, we are expecting these guys to get better than they showed they were last year. And how would you describe so far your relationship with Matt? Obviously it's one that's a very important relationship. How do you think things have gone and what have you learned about him? He's a genuine person. He's very easy to talk to. He's intelligent. And he's congenial. This guy knows how to relate to people. At least he and I get along very well. I can say what I feel to him, and we can banter back and forth. I'm being paid for my opinion, all of us in baseball, at some point or another, we're paid for our opinions, and he solicits those opinions and he makes his decisions based on knowledge of the game. When you first saw him -- Everybody wants to be liked. At some point you like -- you like me, don't you? (Laughing.) Sure, there's always that little anxious moment, but at the same time, I know I get along with people very well, and it is what it is. He's my boss and I try to get along with him, which is easy. Being on the same page with the lineup, do you feel like you already have that understanding of what you guys are aiming for? He's been great. He has not sent me any mandates or made any demands from me or told me who I had to play. Once again, we talked about this earlier, I'm certainly going to discuss the team and what I'd like to do with them and he might have an idea that I might say, you know what, that's a good idea, we'll use it. So far as I'm concerned, I'm making out the lineup and until I'm told any differently, I'm going to continue making it out. There have been a few guys added for the bullpen, or at least potentially for the bullpen. Do you view it as kind of open competition or do you say, hey, I already have Gomez, Garcia, Giles, so now I have to fill in the rest? No question about it. It's open competition. As I said, we've got some speed in the outfield, which makes any pitchers better. Takes away hits. We've got more pitchers with some backgrounds to them, which is going to increase the competitive environment of Spring Training, and these guys are going to know that, hey, if you want to play at the Big League level, we are looking for guys who can help us win. You've got to be better than the next guy. You're going to have to compete to make the team. It's a great environment to be in. So these guys who maybe thought they were doing okay, might get a wake-up call. Are you thinking about Giles as your closer at this point, or is that still pretty much an open question? He's my closer right now. I like what he did last year. You talked about having three center fielders in the outfield potentially at the same time, to cover all that ground, is it Odubel's job or is it going to be an open competition as far as center field itself in Spring Training? We've just been discussing that, and I know as we said, I know how good Bourjos is and I know how good alter can be in center field. But I also saw Odubel play last year. In my mind right now, he's the incumbent center fielder, which doesn't mean it won't change in the spring. As hard as he worked towards accomplishing his goals defensively last year, I want to make him -- I don't want to discourage him after doing such a good job for us. But I'll talk to him. Juan Samuel and I will talk to him, and we'll talk to all three of those guys, and even Cody Asche will be in the mix, and Darin Ruf will be in the mix. I'm just going to talk to these guys. That's the best way I know how to manage is talk to them. Are you going to have Herrera get any reps at second base in the spring or use him solely as an outfielder? We'll probably work him out there. You never know, there's always guys coming up behind him, and, once again, as I said, when you're a three- or four-year player, there's always that young kid that everybody's talking about. So you've got to continue to compete and to keep your job. So let's put it this way: If somebody comes up that has to play center field for whatever reason, then we want -- I certainly want Odubel's bat in the lineup. It might come to that. I'm not looking to do that right now, but it may happen. I don't want to -- he had such a great showing defensively that I don't want to, like I said, discourage him from making him think it was all for nothing. With Matt coming in, he's going to bring more of an analytic angle to the club that's been there before. How will that impact you as a manager? I scouted for the Yankees in 2008 and 2013. We used a lot of the analytics, and really it was the scouting director. We used a lot of the analytics and I used them to write my reports. There was a lot of information in there. I, for one, believe that anything that can help you make a decision on a player and evaluate a player is invaluable. I believe in it wholeheartedly. That doesn't mean that instinct doesn't come in. For example, you can look on an elementary level, during the course of the game as a manager, you look at matchups and so-and-so is 15 or 20 off a pitcher. But your hitter might be in the midst of the worst slump of his career, even though he hits this other guy well, so you might choose not to let him hit for him, because he's in such a bad slump. So the analytics tell you you should use him, but your gut kind of tells you, you know, not right now, he's not going to hit him right now. That type of -- that's not a good example maybe. So you can combine the two. A follow-up on that, data shows that pitchers are far less effective a third time through the order and now there's a school of thought that maybe you shouldn't put most of your pitchers in that situation. That might appear to be a new concept, but over the years that I've managed, starting in 1985, you're always tentative when you get into that sixth inning. It always seems to happen late in the fifth or sixth inning where you have to keep your eye on your starter. It wasn't really one of those things that was written down or talked about, but that's always the time I, as a manager, would start getting a little nervous and be a little bit more -- and watch my starter a little closer and maybe get a guy up throwing. So it makes a lot of sense. It doesn't mean you'll always take your -- you will never let your guy face the lineup three times or four times, depending on how he's pitching. You've seen games where I think Nola went into the eighth inning, he could have thrown nine innings one night, he was just making adjustments as they came along. I think all of that is invaluable stuff, but it's nothing set in concrete for me.

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.

Phillies Take A Step Back Against Strasburg

GAME RECAP: National Payback Phillies 4-1

Right-hander Stephen Strasburg was solid across 7 1/3 innings for his first win of the season, leading the Nationals past the Phillies, 4-1, at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon. Freddy Galvis continued to be a thorn in the Nationals' side. His RBI single in the eighth inning accounted for the Phillies' lone run and led to Strasburg's exit after 95 pitches. "The command of my changeup and the feel for my changeup was much better," Strasburg said. "You work on things and you try to remember what the keys are -- what are you trying to do with the pitch, where you want to execute it. You try to paint that picture in your head. You go out there and let it go." The Nationals, who took three of four games in the series, improved their record to 6-7, while the Phillies are 4-9 to start the season.

OTHER NOTES FROM THE DAY:

• Phillies right-hander David Buchanan's best start this season cratered in his final inning and ended like his others, with a loss. That the damage came with two outs in the fifth added to his frustration. Matching Strasburg with zeros on the scoreboard through four innings and having allowed only two hits, Buchanan surrendered four hits with an intentional walk to the next five batters. That led to three runs and his exit after the frame. He did strike out a season-high four. Buchanan allowed 11 runs in 8 2/3 innings over his first two starts including six over three innings in his season debut at Boston. "Against the Red Sox, I wasn't really throwing strikes. I was falling behind. Eventually that's going to catch up to you," Buchanan said. "But today I thought I was throwing the ball in the zone. Had some tough breaks."
• Outfielder Ben Revere returned to the starting lineup after three games on the bench and one day after his pinch-running prowess led to a key run in Saturday's win. However, the break didn't help him break out of his early-season slump. Revere finished 1-for-4, leaving his batting average at .167 (7-for-42). He's hardly the only struggling batter. Philadelphia has scored two runs or fewer in four of its last five games.
• Outfielder Odubel Herrera's recent production at the top of the Phillies' lineup is a welcomed development for an otherwise struggling club. Over his last five games, Herrera is batting .450 (9-for-20) with four doubles, two triples and two stolen bases.
• The six-game homestand will wrap up a stretch of 16 straight games for the Phillies against fellow National League East teams. Including Sunday's 4-1 loss at Washington, Philadelphia dropped seven of 10 against division rivals.

NEXT GAME:

The Marlins and Phillies will open a three-game series Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park with both sides seeking a much-needed win. Miami has lost seven of nine and is coming off a four-game sweep by the Mets. Philadelphia has dropped seven of eight games, including three of four to the Nationals largely due to woes at the plate. The Phillies have scored two or fewer runs in four of their last five games. Dan Haren (1-0, 2.08 ERA) gets the starting nod for Miami, and fellow right-hander Jerome Williams takes the mound for Philadelphia. After one quality start and one rocky outing, Jerome Williams looks to rebound against a Marlins club he hasn't started against since 2007. He allowed one run in a no-decision against Washington in his season debut, but the righty gave up five runs (four earned) on 10 hits over five innings in Wednesday's loss to the Mets. The Phillies took last season's series from the Marlins, 11-8.

PHILS PHACTS:

Progress But Not Good Enough – For the second time in three starts, David Buchanan lost his way in an inning after picking up two quick outs. However, the Phillies right-hander didn't see a comparison between Sunday's 4-1 loss to the Nationals and a setback on April 9 against the Red Sox. "I think you just have to really look at yourself and be honest with what happened," Buchanan said shortly after his third loss in as many starts. "Against the Red Sox, I wasn't really throwing strikes. I was falling behind. Eventually that's going to catch up to you. But today I thought I was throwing the ball in the zone, had some tough breaks." Buchanan matched Stephen Strasburg in a scoreless duel for 4 2/3 innings Sunday. After allowing only two hits, Buchanan gave up four to the next five batters with one intentional walk. The batted balls weren't all drilled but were well placed. Denard Span singled and scored from first on Ian Desmond's double down the third-base line. Jayson Werth followed with an RBI single to center and took second base when center fielder Odubel Herrera's throw missed the cutoff man. After an intentional walk to Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman's blooper found fair territory in right field, scoring Werth. With Strasburg pitching like a Cy Young contender and the Phillies' lineup still lacking punch -- Philadelphia has scored two or fewer runs in four of five games -- a 3-0 deficit was a steep climb. Buchanan finished with a season-high four strikeouts while issuing three walks. He lowered his ERA to a still unsightly 9.22. Some early wobbles led to a high pitch count, 98 across the five innings. "Buchanan did throw a lot of pitches early on," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "Little things didn't go his way with the three runs. He showed some improvement over his first two starts. "He can't let up to get the final out. We had a missed cutoff man and a lazy fly ball to right, otherwise we might have potentially been talking about one run in the inning." That's how the 25-year-old hurler saw things as well, as he took reporters batter-by-batter through the rough part of the fifth. "The ball I threw to Span was a good pitch, out front," Buchanan said. "Desmond I tried to go in a little bit and he went down the line. Werth, I thought he was out front a little bit and that fly ball to Zimmerman, can't do anything about that. I thought I made some good pitches. Tough luck."

THE BEGINNING

The Phillies are starting the season as expected and are now near the bottom of the NL east at 4-9. Given the departures, aging stars, injuries, and performance this spring, don’t expect their competitive place in the standings to last. All time, the Phillies are 45-45-0 on this day.

I Wonder What The Goldbergs Think Of This Phillies Team?

EXHIBITION GAME RECAP: Phillies Beat Braves 5-3

Ryan Howard and Darin Ruf damaged Mike Foltynewicz's rotation bid with back-to-back third-inning home runs, and Brian Bogusevic delivered a decisive eighth-inning sacrifice fly for the Phillies in Tuesday afternoon's 5-3 win over the Braves at Champion Stadium. Howard's third home run of the Grapefruit League season highlighted the Phillies' offensive charge, after they struck first with Bogusevic's second-inning RBI single. The Braves remained scoreless until Andrelton Simmons highlighted a game-tying, three-run seventh with a two-run homer off Paul Clemens.

TODAY’S EXHIBITION GAME:

The Phillies host the Astros on Wednesday afternoon at Bright House Field at 1:05 p.m. ET. It is another important start for right-hander Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, who is competing for a job in the Phillies' rotation. Gonzalez's performance this spring has been uneven at best, but a solid outing Wednesday could put him in good position to make the team. Watch the game live on MLB.TV.

PHILS NOTES:

• Phillies pitching prospect Severino Gonzalez allowed four hits and struck out two in three scoreless innings. He got the start because Aaron Harang remained in Clearwater, Fla, where he threw in a Minor League game. Gonzalez is the organization's No. 15 prospect, according to MLB.com.
• It looks like Ruf is getting on track offensively. He went 3-for-5 with one double, one home run and one RBI against the Braves. He has homered twice in the past six games and remains in line for one of the Phillies' five bench jobs.
• Phillies right fielder Domonic Brown is not sure if he will be ready for Opening Day. He has been sidelined since Thursday because of tendinitis in his left Achilles. He said he hopes to begin running in the next couple of days.
• Phillies right-hander Chad Billingsley is scheduled to pitch in a Minor League game Thursday in Clearwater, Fla. The Phillies are hoping Billingsley, who is recovering from a pair of elbow surgeries, will be ready to join the rotation in late April.
• Umpire Hunter Wendelstedt walked off the field following Howard's homer. Play had been briefly halted earlier in the inning when it appeared Wendelstedt was having trouble keeping his balance while standing near first base. 

PHILS PHACTS:

Brown Questionable For Opening Day – Phillies right fielder Domonic Brown has just 13 days to get himself ready for Opening Day. He cannot say if he will make it, but he said the tendinitis in his left Achilles has improved in the past couple days. Brown left Thursday's Grapefruit League game in the third inning because the Achilles bothered him. "I'm feeling better, much better," Brown said Tuesday morning at Bright House Field. "I'm not going to lie to you guys, I was a little nervous there before the MRI. "Hopefully I can be back on the field in another week or so." Brown said he expects to start running in the next few days. In the meantime, he is receiving treatment, riding a bike and playing catch. He has not hit since Thursday. "Hopefully I can be ready for Opening Day," he said. "That's the goal right now, but we'll see what happens. I'm excited it wasn't a tear or anything like that. We're moving in the right direction." If Brown is unable to play Opening Day, the Phillies could open with Ben Revere, Odubel Herrera and Grady Sizemore or Darin Ruf in the outfield.

Ruf Waking Up – Phillies outfielder Darin Ruf had a slow start to spring, but he remains in good shape to make the Opening Day roster. The Phillies need right-handed bats, preferably with power. Ruf fits that description, and in Tuesday's 5-3 victory over the Braves at Champion Stadium, he went 3-for-5 with one double, one home run and one RBI. He also scored the go-ahead run in the eighth. Ruf is hitting .385 (5-for-13) with one double, two home runs and two RBIs in his last five games. He opened the spring hitting .172 (5-for-29) with one double in nine games. "I would narrow that down to maybe the last three [games]," Ruf said about feeling better at the plate. "I'm feeling a little more comfortable. I've been working on something new every day, just changing things up to try to get comfortable. My timing has been better." Ruf took some at-bats in Minor League games last week, which seemed to help. "I think my hands were creeping a little too far up," Ruf said. "I worked with Mike [Schmidt] and Sal [Rende], and I started my hands back a little more. That way when I start my swing, they're a little bit quicker." Said Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg: "[He's been] a little more aggressive. I think he's found a stance that he likes as far as the hand slot. He's real short to the ball and aggressive in the count. That's a good combination from him. That's kind of what we've been preaching to him. It's good to see him take advantage of those hitting situations and be swinging the bat in those counts."

The Other Gonazalez Is Looking Good – Phillies prospect Severino Gonzalez is listed at 6-foot-1 and 153 pounds. He is so unassuming, he looked like the bat boy as he carried a couple bats and a batting helmet toward the visitors' clubhouse Tuesday at Champion Stadium. But Gonzalez, 22, had just pitched three scoreless innings in a 5-3 victory over the Braves. He held a lineup that included Freddie Freeman, Nick Markakis and Jonny Gomes to four hits. He struck out two. "I'm very, very happy," he said through an interpreter, radio personality Rickie Ricardo. "It was my first time ever in a Major League game, so I'm very pleased." Gonzalez is the organization's No. 15 prospect, according to MLB.com. The Phillies named him their Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2013, but he struggled a bit in his second season with Double-A Reading in 2014. There is a plausible explanation for that. The Phillies told Gonzalez to stop throwing his cutter and work on his changeup, which needed to improve. He went 9-13 with a 4.59 ERA in 27 starts, although he finished in the Top 10 in the Eastern League in innings pitched, strikeouts and WHIP. He led the entire Phillies' farm system in starts and innings. He got the start Tuesday because Aaron Harang pitched in a Minor League game at Carpenter Complex in Clearwater, Fla. Harang has been battling back problems this month, so there was no reason to put him on a lengthy bus ride. Gonzalez got the good news on Sunday. "I was nervous when I first found out, but then I said to myself: 'It's the same kind of baseball. All I have to do is go out there, do my thing, and everything will be fine,'" Gonzalez said. Gonzalez thinks everything will be fine this season, too. He has big goals. "I want to get called up in September," he said. "I want a taste of the Major Leagues this year." He got his first taste Tuesday, and he fared well, impressing manager Ryne Sandberg. "I think he backed up [wanting a callup] with his outing," Sandberg said. "ESPN game against the Braves. They had some good hitters in the lineup that he faced. Great pace of game. Great tempo. He threw a lot of strikes. He mixed his pitches well. I really liked the way he got the sign and delivered the pitch."

Is Harang Health? – Right-hander Aaron Harang remained on schedule to start the second game of the regular season against the Red Sox at Citizens Bank Park, if that's what the Phillies decide, after pitching five innings against a Pirates Class A lineup on Tuesday at the Carpenter Complex. Harang, who has had scheduled starts pushed back twice this spring because of lower back discomfort, allowed three runs on seven hits with no walks and five strikeouts. He threw 74 pitches, 54 for strikes, and then he went to the bullpen at Ashburn Field and threw seven more pitches. Most importantly, he said he experienced no physical problems. "It felt good. No problems getting up and down," said the 36-year-old, who threw to regular catcher Carlos Ruiz. "I felt like I had pretty decent command. Not great. But when you come over and throw one of these back-field games, it's more about just a feel. These guys want to come out and swing hard and swing early, so it makes you have to pitch backwards -- work on your offspeed stuff early in the counts and then go back to fastballs." He has been back to his normal workout routine for the last several days. Harang sailed through his first four innings, including an extra batter in the second after he needed only eight pitches to record three quick outs. He needed 21 pitches to get through the fifth when he gave up two runs on four hits. "The last inning, I was specifically working out of the stretch from the get-go, just to make sure I had a feel for that," he said. Harang's next start is expected to come Sunday against the Tigers at Bright House Field. The decision for him to pitch in a Minor League game on Tuesday was made partly to allow him to avoid the two-hour bus ride to Lake Buena Vista, Fla., for the team's Grapefruit League game against the Braves. "It was nice to be in that controlled environment, because if I got in a situation, I wasn't trying to battle through and potentially [come] out in the third or fourth inning," he said. Harang will likely aim for 85 to 90 pitches his next time out.

Billingsley Ready To Return – Phillies right-hander Chad Billingsley hopes to clear another hurdle in his recovery Thursday. He is scheduled to pitch a Minor League game at Carpenter Complex. Billingsley, 30, is recovering from a pair of right elbow surgeries, which have limited him to just 12 innings in the big leagues over the previous two seasons. Billingsley is expected to throw 30 to 35 pitches, about two innings of work. "Then do it again," Billingsley said. The Phillies have indicated Billingsley could make a Grapefruit League appearance before the team heads to Philadelphia on April 2, but he said he is not focused on that. "I'm not thinking that far ahead," Billingsley said. "When you've been going through two years of rehab, you don't look beyond the next week or the next start or the next whatever. You just kind of approach it one start at a time and put all your focus on doing your rehab and your treatment to get to the next step. I'm just getting ready for Thursday." Billingsley's bid to return to the big leagues is worth following. First, the Phillies need starting pitching help. Second, if Billingsley comes back and pitches successfully, he could be a valuable trade chip come July.

Jockeying For Bench Position – It is pretty clear that Cord Phelps has made a favorable impression on Phillies coaches this spring. Phelps, who is a non-roster invitee, hit third for the Phillies in Tuesday's 5-3 win over the Braves at Champion Field. In 13 games, he is hitting .303 (10-for-33) with one double, one home run, five RBIs, seven walks, six strikeouts and an .849 OPS. Phelps has emerged as a legitimate candidate to make the Phillies' bench as a utility player with Opening Day only 13 days away, although he might have to beat out Cesar Hernandez. Hernandez entered camp as a favorite if for no other reason than that he is out of options, and the Phillies' front office places considerable importance on that. But Hernandez entered Tuesday hitting a mere .088 (3-for-34) with two doubles, one RBI, four walks, six strikeouts and a .352 OPS in 16 games. "You want to show what you can do and try to take advantage of every opportunity," Phelps said. "That's just good preparation for the season, because you never know how things are going to play out. That's a skill we try to develop. Maybe you don't know when you're going to get in there, but when you do, you try to perform at your highest level. I feel like I'm having good at-bats. I feel like I'm putting balls in play with hard contact." The Indians selected Phelps, 28, in the third round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. He has hit .280 with an .800 OPS in 681 games in the Minor Leagues, but just .155 in 126 plate appearances in the big leagues. "This game is a crazy game," said Phelps, when asked why his Minor League numbers have not translated into a longer look in the big leagues. "Everybody does the best they can to play and get an opportunity. You've got to be a really good player, but you also have to be in the right situation. That's what everybody is hunting for. We prepare, but there is a lot of stuff out of your hands. You just hope you get into a situation where your skill set matches their needs." Right place, right time. "That's life in general," Phelps said. Phelps could be in the right place with the Phillies. Odubel Herrera, Darin Ruf and Cameron Rupp appear to have a hold on three bench jobs. (Herrera could find himself in the Opening Day lineup as well as he has played.) Phelps and Hernandez are competing for a fourth spot as a utility infielder. Jeff Francoeur, Brian Bogusevic and Jordan Danks could be fighting for an outfield job. Andres Blanco remains a possibility if the Phillies want a second utility infielder. Phelps came up as a second baseman, but has played first base, third base, shortstop, left field and right field. His versatility helps his cause, especially on a National League team. "He's come in and done a nice job," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "He shows his versatility. He's a switch-hitter. He's hit the ball well. He's done situational hitting very well. He's competing for a job."

Welcome Back To The Vet – Veterans Stadium could be an intimidating place for opposing teams and opposing fans. It could be scarring for young Phillies fans, too. Adam Goldberg knows. He is the executive producer and creator of ABC's "The Goldbergs," a sitcom about his family in 1980s suburban Philadelphia. The show is a love letter to the '80s and Philly, and has made numerous Philly references since its 2013 debut, including a remake of a Flyers game at the Spectrum. "The Goldbergs" gives the Phillies and The Vet some love in "The Lost Boy" episode at 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday. "Some of my best memories were going to Phillies games with my dad [Murray, portrayed by Jeff Garlin], going to Veterans Stadium," Goldberg said in an interview with MLB.com. "There was one particular instance where we got separated, and in the '80s when you got separated from somebody in a big place without a cell phone, there was no way to find them. So I was telling this story [in the writers' room] about how I went with my dad to a Phillies game and we got separated. And there was this panic you felt, because Veterans Stadium was so big and so scary. It was terrifying. It's really an episode about Adam's [portrayed by Sean Giambrone] transition into manhood as he learns to survive in Veterans Stadium by himself." But at one point, it looked like the episode would not happen. The scripts for "The Lost Boy" and an earlier episode, "Barry Goldberg's Day Off," were not initially cleared by Major League Baseball. Goldberg expressed his frustrations on Twitter. Phillies director of marketing and special projects Michael Harris quickly contacted Goldberg on the social media site, and later that night, they were on the phone resolving the scripts' issues. It turns out one joke caused the biggest hiccup. Goldberg said he "very cavalierly" wrote a joke in "Barry Goldberg's Day Off" about Barry Goldberg (Adam's older brother, portrayed by Troy Gentile) being pelted by batteries at a Phillies game after he caught a ball. "And here come the batteries," the announcer said. "That one line they were like, 'Oh, boy. That's a nonstarter. That's something we never want to happen again. We don't want to encourage it,'" Goldberg said. "When I heard that was the concern, I was like, 'Oh, I totally get what you're saying. We'll remove it.' "They had concerns about the scripts as any franchise would, be it sports or even when we try to get an '80s movie cleared. Everyone wants their property to be portrayed in the right way, and they have concerns." Said Harris: "Once Adam and I directly connected, we were able to resolve [the concerns] instantaneously. A good old-fashioned phone conversation is all it took. He was able to quickly tweak a few things without impacting the original integrity and intent of the scenes. It's obviously a comedy, and everything is in good fun. Adam is a big fan of the team, and obviously we're thrilled the Phillies will be featured on such an enormously popular national TV show." But clearance meant Goldberg had to recreate The Vet, which was imploded in March 2004. It was a challenge. The show does not have a massive budget, so it could not build something from the ground up. It could not use CGI. It essentially reconfigured a college football stadium near Los Angeles and had two days to shoot everything. A crew recreated the stands, yanking out the seats and replacing them with the ones Goldberg remembered. It recreated the concourses, concession stands and bathrooms, looking at old photographs as a guide. "Those bathrooms," Goldberg said. "Those giant troughs that you had to pee in with the drunk fans. You're so crowded in. I remember having stage fright for the first time, having to go so bad, but being so freaked out by the experience, I couldn't go. "I know I'm going to get tweets and Facebook messages about how they saw an orange seat, and they were blue or green. But it's what I'm working with. At the very least, I got approval from the Phillies. They're being as cooperative as possible. They're being awesome, and within my budget, I'm trying to do as much as I can. It was so ripe for material. This episode came out so easily, because we all have so many experiences going to Phillies games [at] Veterans Stadium." Goldberg also looked into recreating the Phanatic, but found it cost about $8,000 for a reproduction. He asked Harris if they could send him a Phanatic costume. "How about we send you the Phanatic?" Harris replied. "I think they're seeing that this show is a love letter to everything we grew up with," Goldberg said. "They're excited to be part of that, which is very cool. Some of my best memories were going to watch those Phillies games. This was a way that [my father] could connect with us. There was an awesome activity going on, we didn't have to talk that much and we could cheer and be on the same team. And even though I didn't really know all of the players and my dad would have to tell me what was going on, it was still some of my fondest memories of him. So it always holds a big place in my heart."

Immortalizing Dickie – Dickie Noles' phone and inbox blew up in November 2013, when ABC's "The Goldbergs" mentioned his name. In the "Call Me When You Get There" episode, Jeff Garlin's character, Murray Goldberg, was watching a Phillies' World Series game when he yelled, "Oh! What is that pitch?! That's garbage! I hate you, Dickie Noles!" The show is set in suburban Philadelphia in the 1980s, and it plays loose with the years and sequence of events because, hey, it makes the show better and funnier. But hardcore fans know Noles only pitched for the Phillies in the 1980 World Series against the Royals, and his only relief appearance came in a memorable Game 4. Noles replaced Larry Christenson in the first inning and allowed five hits, one run and two walks while striking out six in 4 2/3 innings. But most important, Noles threw a nasty brushback pitch to George Brett, which many credit for turning the series in the Phillies' favor. "I saw it," Noles said about the episode. "I think it was just a reference to Philadelphia sports. He's a Philly fan, right?" Show creator Adam Goldberg is a Philly fan and Wednesday's episode will once again feature a vintage Phillies feel. He is originally from Jenkintown, Pa., and Goldberg laughed when asked why he picked Noles out of all the Phillies' pitchers from the '80s. "That's something I remember my dad screaming as he was watching the Phillies," Goldberg said. "My dad had a bad temper, so he was a yeller. And every time he'd sit home and watch the games, I remember him screaming. I remember being a kid and hearing that name and it just stuck out in my head. That's why I picked it. Everyone in the writers' room was like, 'That is so random.' "The things you remember from when you were a kid. It's so random that you remember that name vividly. Of all the Phillies, you remember Dickie Noles." Said Noles: "It got me a lot of calls from a lot of different people, and some people that are not baseball fans. It's kind of neat that way."

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.