State of the Phillies, part 2: The Supporting Cast

It's easy to forget about bench players and bullpen pitchers, especially on this star-packed Phillies team.  But the injury bug filled last year's box scores with named like Valdez, Gload, Schneider, Sardinha and Sweeney among others.  Today I'll investigate the Phillies' "other guys" by position and their role in 2011.

Brian Schneider, C: Hitting .240 in 125 at-bats for the season hardly screams "value," but Schneider has plenty as the backup catcher.  Schneider is literally a coach-player: he calls a brilliant game behind the plate, blocks pitches in the dirt well, and constantly challenges and encourages the pitchers to give their best effort.  I tend to think he's even better as a motivator for younger pitchers than Carlos Ruiz.  From acknowledging a quality strike to trotting out to the mound for a pep talk and a slap on the rear, Schneider has a great feel for the young pitcher's psyche and when to encourage or ride him.  And as a starter for most of his career, he can also fill in for Ruiz for extended periods of time.  An unglamorous but invaluable player to have on the roster.

Wilson Valdez, IF: Except for an early-season power surge in which he hit 4 of his 5 career home runs, Wilson Valdez is not a great offensive contributor.  In fact, he was downright awful with the bat in 2010, hitting into 20 (yep, count 'em) double plays in roughly a half-season's worth of at-bats.  But Valdez is a capable defender with a rocket arm who can play 2B, 3B or SS (he manned third base during Roy Halladay's playoff no-hitter against the Reds).  With injuries to Utley, Rollins and Polanco throughout the season, Valdez certainly kept the Phillies' infield defense stout, and with some of his dazzling stops and throws at shortstop may have even upgraded it on occasion.  As a spot starter and insurance policy against injury, Valdez is the Phillies' version of the utility player every team needs but hopes to use sparingly.

Ross Gload, RF/1B: On a rather light-hitting Phillies bench, Gload is by far the best offensive threat.  The left-handed veteran always seems to run deep counts and hammer fastballs left over the plate.  Gload became the team's best overall pinch-hitter and got into a real offensive groove during starting stints at first base, coming up with some timely extra-base hits.  As a veteran player used to making the most out of limited playing time, Gload will be a great late-inning bench threat in 2011 and an occasional starter in place of Domonic Brown and Ben Francisco in right field or Ryan Howard at first base.  Without Gload, the Phils' bench would be overmatched in most situational at-bats in the 7th through 9th innings.

Domonic Brown

Ben Francisco/Domonic Brown, RF:  Neither of these two are true bench-players in 2011, as both will likely share time as the starting right-fielders.  Francisco, a member of the bench since mid-2009, has basically served as the team's 4th outfielder and primary right-handed pinch-hitter.  He plays good defense, has adequate speed, and shows some competence at the plate.  Brown, however, represents the Phils' future.  A lanky outfielder likened by some to a young Daryl Strawberry (or even another Jayson Werth), Brown has a sweet lefty stroke that yields both power and average while also possessing tremendous speed on the basepaths and in the field.  He really needs to play every day to hone his raw talents, and Charlie Manuel should give him plenty of reps in spring training.  While the Phils desperately need another right-handed bat in the lineup, Brown is the best hitter to compensate for Jayson Werth's departure and should earn the right to start Opening Day barring any setbacks.

John Mayberry, OF: Since coming over from the Rangers in 2009, Mayberry has never materialized into the formidable slugger scouts once thought he could become.  In limited playing time with the Phils, Mayberry has literally been hit-or-miss.  In his first major-league at-bat, Mayberry belted a pitch from Andy Pettitte into the left-field bleachers at new Yankee Stadium for a three-run home run.  He had 2 homers in his first 12 at-bats in the big leagues, but only hit .211 with 4 HR's in 57 AB's for 2009.  In 2010 he had only 12 AB's, but still hit 2 HR's.  The Phillies will bring Mayberry to spring training to compete for a bench job, but unless he becomes much more consistent, he won't see much action in 2011.

Inaugural post -- State of the 2011 Phillies, part 1

The Phillies need a big year from #11 in 2011.

How could the first post on this blog be on anything BUT baseball?  I can't envision any other way to start, so I'll throw a "first pitch" of sorts with my take on the 2011 Phillies.

I can't seem to shake a feeling of skepticism heading into the season.  While the Cliff Lee megadeal was about the coolest FA signing since Jim Thome, it did nothing to address the hitting problems from a year ago.  The Phillies are probably the best-equipped team in baseball to win low-scoring games, and even without Jayson Werth's bat behind Ryan Howard, the offense should still have a fine year.  On paper, that is.  With the rash of injuries and the combined season-long slump among the Phillies' offensive stars in 2010, it would seem 2011 must bring better run production.  But by the end of 2010, Rollins, Utley, Howard, Victorino, Ibanez and the gang were relatively healthy and playing every day -- yet the run-producing woes continued.  Runners were left stranded in scoring position when a simple groundball out or flyout would have brought them home.  Every left-handed specialist to toe the rubber against the Phils completely shut down a healthy Utley and Howard.  Literally every one.  And as the Phillies discovered, not even their vaunted H2O rotation could carry them with such an anemic offense.  Of course, a return to normal production (compared to career averages) for the Phillies' hitters would make these concerns irrelevant -- and fans have every reason to think that should happen.  But if 2010 was an indicator of the first effects of declining skills, left-handed hitters who can't quite adjust to left-handed pitching, or an inability to stay healthy, the Phillies could be in real trouble.  The bats will have to speak loudly in 2011 to reveal the answers.

The absence of a true right-handed power threat in the lineup is definitely a concern.  Shane Victorino and Placido Polanco are simply contact hitters with occasional power who can run the bases.  Ben Francisco is unproven as a starter.  Carlos Ruiz, though a surprisingly clutch hitter with pop, can't be counted on for more than 10-15 homers let alone 20 or more.  The dark horse in my opinion is Jimmy Rollins.  The '07 NL MVP version was as dynamic and dangerous as any hitter in baseball, with a .296 average, 30 homers and 94 runs batted in as a leadoff hitter.  Rollins hit 21 longballs in '09, but has hit just 40 total home runs in the three seasons since his '07 campaign.  Charlie Manuel has never really relinquished the idea of Rollins as his leadoff hitter, and may still insist on having him atop the lineup.  But with no real alternative to complementing left-handers Chase Utley and Ryan Howard (not to mention lefty-swingers Raul Ibanez and Domonic Brown) with right-handed power, Manuel may be forced to experiment with Rollins in the middle of the lineup.  J-Roll obviously enjoys swinging for the fences (and popping out, especially in those just-make-contact scenarios), and has historically hit for more power batting right-handed.  If Jimmy gets a shot as a middle-of-the-order man AND has a year at least reminiscent of his 2007 season, the Phillies' offense could be as good as any in baseball.

I feel like I'm just getting warmed up here...but alas, time dictates otherwise.  More to come on this and many other topics in the future.