GaryMrMets
03-31-2004, 04:32 PM
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/8317574.htm
Posted on Wed, Mar. 31, 2004
A few uncertainties
As spring winds down, some players' fates remain unknown
By MARCUS HAYES
hayesm@phillynews.com
BRADENTON, Fla. - Three games remain before the Phillies announce their decisions on which extra man to keep, which pitchers will fill the last two slots in the bullpen.
Three games before the Phillies make their final cuts Saturday, probably after the afternoon exhibition game against Cleveland to christen Citizens Bank Park. Really, what more can the players in question do?
If second baseman Chase Utley hits three homers, does that mean he's on the club? If Doug Glanville goes 5-for-8, is he in? Do Ryan Madson, Amaury Telemaco and David Coggin have to strike out every batter they face?
No...but there can be no letup.
"Can these guys still hurt their chances? Sure," general manager Ed Wade said. "It is a little performance-related these last few games."
As for anyone opening eyes further, Wade said: "Everybody here still in the mix has taken advantage of their opportunities. They've put us in a position, performancewise, that we hoped we'd be in. We have some difficult decisions to make."
As manager Larry Bowa says, "The competition is very close," and, "We're going to do what's best for our team," but isn't there more to it than that?
Sure, Bowa said:
"Part of it is how much we're going to utilize players. What guys can fit. Which guys can't. Which guys can handle it, which guys can't...We'll do what's best for the team. And, in some instances, what's best for the individual."
Despite repeated assurances to the contrary, that sure sounds like players without major league track records who can be optioned to the minors. And that's Utley and Ryan Howard.
Because, really, how can they tell whether Utley, a rookie last season, can handle what is sure to be an occasional lefthanded pinch-hitting role, behind veteran Ricky Ledee? Utley, hitting .262 this spring after his double yesterday against the Pirates, was hitless in four pinch-hit at-bats last season, with one walk. Most of his 134 at-bats came when he replaced injured David Bell in the infield; Utley finished at .239.
He hit .323 with 18 homers in Triple A last season, which makes it tempting for the Phillies to put him back there as an insurance policy against injury to one of their everyday infielders. Would it make more sense to have him playing every day with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre or have him learning (but atrophying?) on the Phillies' bench?
Similarly, relief opportunities likely will be few for Madson, especially in April, when the light schedule will give their veteran bullpen 3 days off in the first 15 days of the season. As their acknowledged sixth starter, would Madson be better served to start in Triple A, stretching his arm out?
"I'd rather be here," said Madson, who has a 2.70 ERA this spring, which included two scoreless innings yesterday.
His druthers might not be met.
Telemaco did well at Triple A in 2003, with a 3.24 earned run average, and followed that with a respectable finish in the majors as the fifth starter, all of which makes him an apparent shoo-in for the 10th bullpen spot.
Coggin, however, must prove to himself and the team he can stand up to the rigors of the job - long stints between appearances, warming up multiple times in one game, pitching several innings at a time. He had shoulder surgery in September 2002 and elbow surgery in March 2003, the latter of which cost him all of last season. Coggin's last job before the surgeries: last man in the bullpen.
Can Coggin convince the team he's healthy and durable with only 11 big-league spring appearances and a 1.84 ERA?
With back-to-back appearances and longer outings in minor league games, as well as consistent control and acceptable velocity, Coggin's fitness for the demanding, often undefined bullpen role is no longer a question for the Phillies - or for him.
He places less emphasis on making the team than making sure his shoulder is healthy at the end of the exhibitions. Despite giving up a walkoff homer yesterday after getting five outs, Coggin said his shoulder felt better and stronger than it had all spring.
Things will sort themselves out. An injury to a pitcher or position player simplifies the Phillies' decision. Their willingness to listen to trade offers for Ledee, too, could clear that picture. Utley hasn't been a bench player before but could be; just look at the 2 years of success enjoyed by Jason Michaels, who started 2002 in Triple A, but was called up early that season and now is entrenched on the bench.
Glanville, .260 this spring and 1-for-4 in the leadoff spot yesterday, also has little track record as a bench player. No one questions his fine defensive skills and his ability to both back up and help nurture second-year centerfielder Marlon Byrd. But, while he's a career .254 pinch-hitter, he's never entered a season resigned to a backup role - much less one in which he has to make the team, despite the fact his $550,000 contract becomes guaranteed today.
All these things the Phillies will take into account when Wade and Bowa process the input from the coaches and front office. Not that Coggin, Utley and Glanville have thought about any of that.
"That doesn't even enter into how I go about it," Glanville said.
"Tell me now. Tell me later. Tell me at the beginning of spring training," Utley said. "It wouldn't change anything."
Really, since the beginning of spring training, little has changed in the Phillies' quest to fill the final roster spots.
Pirates 6, Phillies 5
These things take time.
Mike Lieberthal caught newcomer Eric Milton for the first time yesterday. With a 3-1 lead, two on and two out in the third, Milton threw a 3-2 fastball to Raul Mondesi. It landed 400 feet from home plate.
"We talked about that afterward," Milton said. "Talked about throwing a changeup instead."
Mondesi's bomb erased Lieberthal's three-run, first-inning homer off Oliver Perez. Pat Burrell ripped a two-run double in the fifth off Josh Meadows to make it 5-4, but Meadows' bloop double and Bobby Hill's single knotted things at 5 in the fifth. Milton got out of the inning, and none too soon.
"I didn't feel good today," acknowledged Milton, whose ERA jumped from 6.35 to 6.96. He liked how his curveball worked, but "I couldn't locate my fastball. Usually, it's pinpoint. It wasn't."
David Coggin gave up a two-out walkoff homer to Jose Castillo in the ninth.
Posted on Wed, Mar. 31, 2004
A few uncertainties
As spring winds down, some players' fates remain unknown
By MARCUS HAYES
hayesm@phillynews.com
BRADENTON, Fla. - Three games remain before the Phillies announce their decisions on which extra man to keep, which pitchers will fill the last two slots in the bullpen.
Three games before the Phillies make their final cuts Saturday, probably after the afternoon exhibition game against Cleveland to christen Citizens Bank Park. Really, what more can the players in question do?
If second baseman Chase Utley hits three homers, does that mean he's on the club? If Doug Glanville goes 5-for-8, is he in? Do Ryan Madson, Amaury Telemaco and David Coggin have to strike out every batter they face?
No...but there can be no letup.
"Can these guys still hurt their chances? Sure," general manager Ed Wade said. "It is a little performance-related these last few games."
As for anyone opening eyes further, Wade said: "Everybody here still in the mix has taken advantage of their opportunities. They've put us in a position, performancewise, that we hoped we'd be in. We have some difficult decisions to make."
As manager Larry Bowa says, "The competition is very close," and, "We're going to do what's best for our team," but isn't there more to it than that?
Sure, Bowa said:
"Part of it is how much we're going to utilize players. What guys can fit. Which guys can't. Which guys can handle it, which guys can't...We'll do what's best for the team. And, in some instances, what's best for the individual."
Despite repeated assurances to the contrary, that sure sounds like players without major league track records who can be optioned to the minors. And that's Utley and Ryan Howard.
Because, really, how can they tell whether Utley, a rookie last season, can handle what is sure to be an occasional lefthanded pinch-hitting role, behind veteran Ricky Ledee? Utley, hitting .262 this spring after his double yesterday against the Pirates, was hitless in four pinch-hit at-bats last season, with one walk. Most of his 134 at-bats came when he replaced injured David Bell in the infield; Utley finished at .239.
He hit .323 with 18 homers in Triple A last season, which makes it tempting for the Phillies to put him back there as an insurance policy against injury to one of their everyday infielders. Would it make more sense to have him playing every day with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre or have him learning (but atrophying?) on the Phillies' bench?
Similarly, relief opportunities likely will be few for Madson, especially in April, when the light schedule will give their veteran bullpen 3 days off in the first 15 days of the season. As their acknowledged sixth starter, would Madson be better served to start in Triple A, stretching his arm out?
"I'd rather be here," said Madson, who has a 2.70 ERA this spring, which included two scoreless innings yesterday.
His druthers might not be met.
Telemaco did well at Triple A in 2003, with a 3.24 earned run average, and followed that with a respectable finish in the majors as the fifth starter, all of which makes him an apparent shoo-in for the 10th bullpen spot.
Coggin, however, must prove to himself and the team he can stand up to the rigors of the job - long stints between appearances, warming up multiple times in one game, pitching several innings at a time. He had shoulder surgery in September 2002 and elbow surgery in March 2003, the latter of which cost him all of last season. Coggin's last job before the surgeries: last man in the bullpen.
Can Coggin convince the team he's healthy and durable with only 11 big-league spring appearances and a 1.84 ERA?
With back-to-back appearances and longer outings in minor league games, as well as consistent control and acceptable velocity, Coggin's fitness for the demanding, often undefined bullpen role is no longer a question for the Phillies - or for him.
He places less emphasis on making the team than making sure his shoulder is healthy at the end of the exhibitions. Despite giving up a walkoff homer yesterday after getting five outs, Coggin said his shoulder felt better and stronger than it had all spring.
Things will sort themselves out. An injury to a pitcher or position player simplifies the Phillies' decision. Their willingness to listen to trade offers for Ledee, too, could clear that picture. Utley hasn't been a bench player before but could be; just look at the 2 years of success enjoyed by Jason Michaels, who started 2002 in Triple A, but was called up early that season and now is entrenched on the bench.
Glanville, .260 this spring and 1-for-4 in the leadoff spot yesterday, also has little track record as a bench player. No one questions his fine defensive skills and his ability to both back up and help nurture second-year centerfielder Marlon Byrd. But, while he's a career .254 pinch-hitter, he's never entered a season resigned to a backup role - much less one in which he has to make the team, despite the fact his $550,000 contract becomes guaranteed today.
All these things the Phillies will take into account when Wade and Bowa process the input from the coaches and front office. Not that Coggin, Utley and Glanville have thought about any of that.
"That doesn't even enter into how I go about it," Glanville said.
"Tell me now. Tell me later. Tell me at the beginning of spring training," Utley said. "It wouldn't change anything."
Really, since the beginning of spring training, little has changed in the Phillies' quest to fill the final roster spots.
Pirates 6, Phillies 5
These things take time.
Mike Lieberthal caught newcomer Eric Milton for the first time yesterday. With a 3-1 lead, two on and two out in the third, Milton threw a 3-2 fastball to Raul Mondesi. It landed 400 feet from home plate.
"We talked about that afterward," Milton said. "Talked about throwing a changeup instead."
Mondesi's bomb erased Lieberthal's three-run, first-inning homer off Oliver Perez. Pat Burrell ripped a two-run double in the fifth off Josh Meadows to make it 5-4, but Meadows' bloop double and Bobby Hill's single knotted things at 5 in the fifth. Milton got out of the inning, and none too soon.
"I didn't feel good today," acknowledged Milton, whose ERA jumped from 6.35 to 6.96. He liked how his curveball worked, but "I couldn't locate my fastball. Usually, it's pinpoint. It wasn't."
David Coggin gave up a two-out walkoff homer to Jose Castillo in the ninth.