Just got back and I can't say how brutal this is going to be this year. Epicly bad. They will be competitive once every 5 days. Some insights:
1 - Everyone respects Charlie a ton, but Charlie seems to think that Howard is in a good spot hitting. We all know where Howard has a huge hole but his bat also seemed slider slow in ADDITION to his inability to have any success on the outside portion of the plate. But Charlie thinks he is in a good spot. Breaking stuff outside has been an issue but he had difficulty catching up to the fastball as well once it got mixed in with breaking balls as the spring continued. But Charlie seems to think that he will bounce back and be effective.
2 - If anyone is looking for a silver lining some thought that Asche might be the one person to move his game forward this year. Not 25 home runs, 95 rbi's forward, but a solid and productive major league player. It would not surprise at all if he leads this team in HR. Franco on the other hand raised a TON of questions. People remarked that his swing, game, and approach all seem to change when he makes the big club. Everything goes backwards with him. Some scouts believe that he can still be good, but an ever increasing # of scouts think that the Phillies have GROSSLY over-rated him and that he will never be a good major league player.
3 - The organization seems to be a total mess from the senior group through the coaching staff. The one person who people just shake their head on is McClure. Does not communicate with people he should be communicating with and he pissed off Gillick a couple of times whether it be starting a pitcher who was not supposed to pitch or not communicating with a pitcher who did indeed get a start and who was not ready. I had an interesting talk one night about Aumont. Some think that he has ability and that big pitchers need time since there is a lot of delivery issues when you are that tall. Some suggested that the Phillies might want to reach out to Randy Johnson just to talk to him but the suggestion went nowhere. It was noted that it was frustrating that when Johnson got the HOF nod that he specifically mentioned people who talked and worked with him early in his career to help him in a similar way. Not saying that Aumont could be Randy Johnson but an idea of trying something/anything that never got off the ground.
4 - As far as the roster goes, not sure what they have announced so far. Nobody had a clue who the #5 would be but it is so bad that Chad Billingsly will figure into a spot at some time simply because there is nobody else. In the OF, it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if Brown was healthy figuring you would have Brown/Revere/Rule 5/Seizmore as 4 spots. Charlie was/is a big advocate for Francouer so it would have been interesting to see if it was him or Danks. The Phillies like Danks defensively. I guess to start they both make it, but it will be interesting to see who goes when Brown is ready. Herrera will be their best OF'er which says it all to some extent that a Rule 5 is your brightest spot. Seizmore obviously makes team but a lot of people said he should not make the team. In the IF, it really doesn't matter whether it was Blanco or Hernandez. Hernandez can't play short even though they ran him out there a bit. Rupp obviously the back-up C.
Everyone said epicly bad with not one bright or interesting spot to watch. Starting P will be epicly bad when Cole is traded and offensively, they can't score and have ZERO power. Their bullpen is thought to be a strength but that includes Pappelbon who they obviously want to move. They will have little chances and be overworked anyway since the starting pitching will be so bad. No farm players with Crawford hurt to start. A total disaster.
1 - Everyone respects Charlie a ton, but Charlie seems to think that Howard is in a good spot hitting. We all know where Howard has a huge hole but his bat also seemed slider slow in ADDITION to his inability to have any success on the outside portion of the plate. But Charlie thinks he is in a good spot. Breaking stuff outside has been an issue but he had difficulty catching up to the fastball as well once it got mixed in with breaking balls as the spring continued. But Charlie seems to think that he will bounce back and be effective.
2 - If anyone is looking for a silver lining some thought that Asche might be the one person to move his game forward this year. Not 25 home runs, 95 rbi's forward, but a solid and productive major league player. It would not surprise at all if he leads this team in HR. Franco on the other hand raised a TON of questions. People remarked that his swing, game, and approach all seem to change when he makes the big club. Everything goes backwards with him. Some scouts believe that he can still be good, but an ever increasing # of scouts think that the Phillies have GROSSLY over-rated him and that he will never be a good major league player.
3 - The organization seems to be a total mess from the senior group through the coaching staff. The one person who people just shake their head on is McClure. Does not communicate with people he should be communicating with and he pissed off Gillick a couple of times whether it be starting a pitcher who was not supposed to pitch or not communicating with a pitcher who did indeed get a start and who was not ready. I had an interesting talk one night about Aumont. Some think that he has ability and that big pitchers need time since there is a lot of delivery issues when you are that tall. Some suggested that the Phillies might want to reach out to Randy Johnson just to talk to him but the suggestion went nowhere. It was noted that it was frustrating that when Johnson got the HOF nod that he specifically mentioned people who talked and worked with him early in his career to help him in a similar way. Not saying that Aumont could be Randy Johnson but an idea of trying something/anything that never got off the ground.
4 - As far as the roster goes, not sure what they have announced so far. Nobody had a clue who the #5 would be but it is so bad that Chad Billingsly will figure into a spot at some time simply because there is nobody else. In the OF, it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if Brown was healthy figuring you would have Brown/Revere/Rule 5/Seizmore as 4 spots. Charlie was/is a big advocate for Francouer so it would have been interesting to see if it was him or Danks. The Phillies like Danks defensively. I guess to start they both make it, but it will be interesting to see who goes when Brown is ready. Herrera will be their best OF'er which says it all to some extent that a Rule 5 is your brightest spot. Seizmore obviously makes team but a lot of people said he should not make the team. In the IF, it really doesn't matter whether it was Blanco or Hernandez. Hernandez can't play short even though they ran him out there a bit. Rupp obviously the back-up C.
Everyone said epicly bad with not one bright or interesting spot to watch. Starting P will be epicly bad when Cole is traded and offensively, they can't score and have ZERO power. Their bullpen is thought to be a strength but that includes Pappelbon who they obviously want to move. They will have little chances and be overworked anyway since the starting pitching will be so bad. No farm players with Crawford hurt to start. A total disaster.
