Philliedelphia

Phillies End Spring Training with 10-4 Loss to Toronto

The Phillies and Blue Jays squared off one more time this afternoon in the final game of spring training. Kyle Kendrick took the hill for his team with Josh Johnson on for Toronto.

The Jays jumped ahead to an early lead in the top of the first after Jose Bautista went yard to left field for a solo home run.

In the top of the third with Kendrick still in, Toronto scored four more in the inning. Jose Reyes doubled to score Henry Blanco, Melky Cabrera singled to score Reyes, then Edwin Encarnacion doubled to score two. 

After three, Kendrick's afternoon was done. He was charged with five earned runs on six hits, walking one and striking out four.

In the bottom of the third, John Mayberry put the Phils on the board with a solo shot to left field. Later in the inning, Erik Kratz was able to score on a sac fly from Chase Utley. 5-2 Jays. With Ben Revere and Jimmy Rollins on base, Michael Young made it a 5-4 game with a two-run double to deep right field. 

John Lannan came in for three innings of work and allowed one run to score on three hits, walking none and striking out five. The run came from a groundout from Colby Rasmus which sent Bautista home. 6-4 Jays.

 Chad Durbin pitched a scoreless seventh, walking one. Antonio Bastardo replaced him in the eighth and after allowing two hits, he loaded the bases with a walk. With one gone, the Jays scored one on a sac fly from Emilio Bonifacio. Zach Miner came in with two outs to finish the inning. 7-4 Jays.

Mike Nickeas doubled in the top of the ninth to score two runs, making it 9-4 Toronto. Later, Nickeas scored on a single from Adam Loewen. 10-4 ballgame.

Unfortunately the Phils could not come back in the bottom of the inning, wrapping up 2013 spring training with a loss to the Jays. 

The Phillies have the day off tomorrow in preparation for Opening Night at Atlanta on Monday. Cole Hamels is your Opening Day starter at 7:05! 

Minor League Rosters Come Into Focus

Ryan Howard will not be an IronPig.

Today, the IronPigs broke camp and went north, as will the other teams in Florida within the system. With their win on Thursday, the IronPigs assured themselves of a winning spring. Today, they assured us of their rotation, announcing that Tom Cochran is staying behind in Extended Spring Training. Between this and the Phillies cuts, I'm comfortable calling the IronPigs roster:

• Rotation: Cloyd, Pettibone, Martin, Morgan, Rosenberg.
• Line-Up: Gillies-CF, Hernandez-2B, J. Mitchell-RF, Ruf-LF, Asche-3B, Joseph-C, Overbeck-1B/DH, Fields-DH/1B, Martinez-SS.
• Bullpen: Stutes, De Fratus, Diekman, Savery, Friend, Jimenez, Miner.
• Bench: Orr, Lerud, Castro, Susdorf.
• DL-Left Behind: Blanco, Cochran.

The staff is impressive obviously, and entirely made up of guys with high upside. The line-up is also prospect heavy, and has lots of positive upside to look forward to this summer. Tuesday night I'll be watching them play Reading in Allentown. Speaking of Reading, no change in the final roster predictions there:

• Rotation: Biddle, Buchanan, Garcia, Wright, Colvin.
• Line-Up: Collier-CF, Hanzawa-SS, Welty-RF, Murphy-1B, Mitchell-LF, Valle-C/DH, Rupp-DH/C, Abreu-3B, Cartwright-2B.
• Bullpen: Simon, Robles, Rosin, Ramirez, Sosa, Ellis, Neris.
• Bench: Suomi, Murphy, Tolbert, Hewitt.
• DL: James, Henson, Johnson.

I'd like to see them start Hewitt in A ball and put Henson on, but that'll wait. The interesting thing here is, they will probably have three catchers break camp with this group. I'll be watching the top of the rotation obviously with Biddle. There's a lot of other talent here too, and guys like Hewitt and Colvin are in basically make-or-break seasons. It will be interesting to see how the Rupp/Valle dynamic plays out too.

To round it out, here's Clearwater:

• Rotation: Hollands, Garner, Stewart, Kleven, Milner.
• Line-Up: Hudson-CF, Altherr-RF, Alvarez-LF, Franco-3B/DH, Martinez-1B/DH/3B, Alonso-1B/3B/DH, Ludy-C, Villalobos-SS, Carver-2B.
• Bullpen: Arias, Shreve, O'Sullivan, Murray, Nesseth, Hernandez, Giles.
• Bench: Lavin, Roof, Stassi, Moore.
• DL: Dugan, Stumpo. 

And, Lakewood:

• Rotation: Watson, Warner, Brady, Stefan, Martinez.
• Line-Up: Quinn-SS, Tocci-OF, Walding-3B, Serritella-1B, Pointer-OF, Greene-2B, Hill-C, Perkins-OF, Arthur-DH.
• Bullpen: Inch, Santos, Rojas, Broussard, Aizenstadt, Cooper, Oviedo.
• Bench: Quaranto, Olmo, Taylor, Mora.
• DL: Numata, Carmona.

I think the only surprise is that Larry Greene was left in camp. Beyond that, things are exactly where we thought they were. Lakewood is going to be really, really fun to watch.

Kyle Kendrick, Josh Johnson Close Out Spring Training This Afternoon

The Phillies have played 32 Grapefruit League games over the past two months preparing for a hopeful 2013 season. With Opening Day two days away, the Phillies are closing the books on spring training and gearing up for a 162 game ride. The Phillies will host the Blue Jays at Citizens Bank Park for their On-Deck Series finale. Last night the Jays shut out the Phils, 1-0 in the first home game in Philadelphia since September 27th. Cliff Lee was fantastic through four, but it was Phillippe Aumount who surrendered the lone run, a home run by J.P. Arencibia in the fifth inning.

This afternoon, Kyle Kendrick (1-2, 5.14 ERA) will make his fifth and final start of the spring. In Kendrick's last start, a successful outing against the Yankees last Tuesday, he tossed 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball. Kendrick allowed two hits and struck out three while taking the winning decision. With the regular season right around the corner, Kyle Kendrick will most likely make his first start of the season next weekend when the Phillies host the Kansas City Royals. Last year, Kendrick went 11-12 with a 3.90 ERA.

Josh Johnson (4-0, 1.13 ERA) will make his final start of the spring as well today, his third against the Phillies. Johnson has been spectacular so far this spring, winning three of his five starts and suppressing the opposition to a .138 batting average. Johnson's last start came on Monday against the Phillies, in that outing he threw 5 1/3 innings of shut out baseball. While allowing only four hits, Johnson struck out eight and walked just one. After today the Phillies won't see Johnson or the Blue Jays for the rest of the season. Johnson will most likely start in the Jays' first series against Cleveland.

Game Notes:

• Spring training officially ends today.
• The Phillies officially announced their 25-man roster this morning.
• Even if he shaves it off, Cole Hamels' mustache will forever hold a place in our hearts.

Phillies lineup:

1. Ben Revere CF
2. Jimmy Rollins SS
3. Chase Utley 2B
4. Ryan Howard DH
5. Michael Young 3B
6. Domonic Brown LF
7. Laynce Nix RF
8. John Mayberry Jr. 1B
9. Erik Kratz C

Kyle Kendrick will start today's game.

Blue Jays lineup: 

1. Jose Reyes SS
2. Melky Cabrera LF
3. Jose Bautista RF
4. Edwin Encarnacion DH
5. Adam Lind 1B
6. Colby Rasmus CF
7. Maicer Izturis 3B
8. Henry Blanco C
9. Emilio Bonafacio 2B

Josh Johnson will start today's game.

Gametime Forecast: 56°F • Sunny • 0%PoP

TV: MyPHL17, MLB Network

Radio: 1210 WPHT

Erik Seybold is a writer for Philliedelphia. Follow him on Twitter @ErikSeyboldPHI.

Phils Shut Out By Buehrle, Blue Jays in 1-0 Loss

Photo courtesty of Monica on Twitter

Cliff Lee made his final spring training start this evening at Citizens Bank Park. The Blue Jays are in town for two nights to wrap up this spring in an on-deck series. But of course, with an On-Deck series comes shananigans such as Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee launching hot dogs into the crowd, because why not?

Lee looked terrific tonight in four shut-out innings. He allowed just one hit while striking out five. Phillippe Aumont replaced Lee for one inning and struck out one. Aumont also allowed a solo homer to J.P. Arencibia which gave Toronto a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning.

Jeremy Horst tossed a scoreless sixth and seventh inning tonight and allowed one hit, walked one, and he struck out two. 

Mark Buehrle tossed five scoreless for the Jays tonight, allowing just two hits and striking out five. Brett Cecil followed with one scoreless inning, then another scoreless stretch for Aaron Loup.

Mike Adams tossed a scoreless top of the eighth followed by a perfect top of the ninth for Jonathan Papelbon. Down 1-0, the Phillies could not come back in the bottom of the ninth, dropping this one to the Jays, 1-0.

Tomorrow is the last day of spring training. The Jays and Phils will square off tomorrow afternoon at Citizens Bank Park at 1:05. 

On-Deck Series, Mini-Preview

Philadelphia Phillies (81-81 in 2012) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (73-89 in 2012).

Preview:
Two more totally meaningless games in Philadelphia will complete the exhibition schedule. Presumably, Cliff Lee will throw Friday for some period of time, as will Kyle Kendrick and John Lannan on Saturday, though not even ESPN is listing any pitching names for this, let alone the Phillies. The main items of interest in these games are whether or not Ben Revere keeps hitting lead-off, and which corner Dom Brown lines up in for the outfield. The last roster battles appear to be Aumont-Stutes, and Orr-Inciarte. Both are likely to be settled by Saturday afternoon at the latest. For Toronto this is the last stop before a season where they are the trendy pick in the AL East right now. They did just give J.A. Happ a rotation spot, and ink him to an extension though, so it's tough to call them a favorite.

Game Times:
Friday's game is 7:05. Saturday's is 1:05. Tickets are available for as low as $6.

3/29 Minor League Roster Projections- The Final Ones?

Morning Call IronPig's beat writer Jeff Schuler wrote in his piece about the team that the Phillies were supposed to release minor league rosters yesterday, but didn't. So they may release them anytime today. The other big news of the overnight was the release of Austin Hyatt, a starter for Reading and Lehigh Valley over the last two years. It is apparent to me that the Phillies did not see a move to the bullpen here as being worth it, and he was better off being a starter elsewhere.

With that said, this may be my last crack at it, but here's my IronPigs prediction:

• Rotation: Cloyd, Pettibone, Martin, Morgan, Rosenberg.
• Line-Up: Gillies-CF, Hernandez-2B, J. Mitchell-RF, Ruf-LF, Asche-3B, Joseph-C, Overbeck-DH/1B, Fields-1B, Martinez-SS.
• Bullpen: Stutes, De Fratus, Diekman, Savery, Friend, Jimenez, Cochran.
• Bench: Orr, Quintero, Castro, Susdorf.
• DL: Blanco.

I think this is close to done. Cochran may not be safe if he doesn't win the fifth starter job, and Orr could possibly play short over Martinez. Either way, I don't see the actual roster changing.

So then, Reading:

• Rotation: Biddle, Buchanan, Garcia, Wright, Colvin.
• Line-Up: Collier-CF, Hanzawa-SS, Welty-RF, Murphy-1B, Mitchell-LF, Valle-C/DH, Rupp-DH/C, Abreu-3B, Cartwright-2B.
• Bullpen: Simon, Robles, Rosin, Ramirez, Sosa, Ellis, Neris.
• Bench: Suomi, Murphy, Tolbert, Hewitt.
• DL: James, Henson, Johnson.

And down the A Ball level, no changes:

Clearwater-

• Rotation: Hollands, Garner, Stewart, Kleven, Milner.
• Line-Up: Hudson-CF, Altherr-RF, Alvarez-LF, Franco-3B/DH, Martinez-1B/DH/3B, Alonso-1B/3B/DH, Ludy-C, Villalobos-SS, Carver-2B.
• Bullpen: Arias, Shreve, O'Sullivan, Murray, Nesseth, Hernandez, Giles.
• Bench: Lavin, Roof, Stassi, Moore.
• DL: Dugan, Stumpo. 

Lakewood-

• Rotation: Watson, Warner, Brady, Stefan, Martinez.
• Line-Up: Quinn-SS, Tocci-OF, Walding-3B, Serritella-1B, Pointer-OF, Greene-2B, Hill-C, Perkins-OF, Arthur-DH.
• Bullpen: Inch, Santos, Rojas, Broussard, Aizenstadt, Cooper, Oviedo.
• Bench: Quaranto, Olmo, Taylor, Mora.
• DL: Numata, Carmona.

Final Roster Projection, 3/29

Photo by my Father in Minnesota, 2012.

Well, later today the Phillies will play the Blue Jays at Citizens Bank Park.  Being that these are the final two exhibition games, it seems time to make a roster prediction. Here goes our final one:

• Rotation: Hamels, Halladay, Lee, Kendrick, Lannan.
• Line-Up: Revere-CF, Rollins-SS, Utley-2B, Howard-1B, M. Young-3B, Brown-RF/LF, Mayberry/Nix-RF/LF, Kratz.
• Bullpen: Papelbon, Adams, Durbin, Bastardo, Horst, Valdes, Aumont.
• Bench: Mayberry/Nix, Frandsen, Galvis, Lerud, Inciarte.
• DL: D. Young.
• Restricted: Ruiz.
• 40 Man, Inactive: Gillies, Ruf, Collier, Hernandez, Valle, Cloyd, Pettibone, Martin, Stutes, De Fratus, Diekman, Rosenberg, Savery, Robles.

So I basically am predicting:

• Platoon in left-field. 
• Aumont wins out over Stutes, while Horst and Valdes are going to make it.
• Lerud beats out Quintero.
• Inciarte wins out over Orr because he's an actual outfielder.

So, that's my prediction. I guess we'll see soon.

Wrapping Up Spring Training

Spring Training is over. The Phillies are breaking camp, getting on a plane, and heading north to Philadelphia to play two with the Blue Jays before heading to Atlanta for Opening Day. I wanted to take one quick moment to re-cap the good and bad of the spring.

1. Good- Seeing the prospects- I always love this part of spring training. Tommy Joseph, Cody Asche, and Adam Morgan are just names if you don't get to see them play a little. They played, and for the most part were semi-impressive this camp.

1. Bad- Doc- Ugh. A 6.06 ERA, velocity all over the place, and every kind of illness from stomach viruses to dead arm (but never a lat pull again) hit him this spring. So did minor league hitters. Doc did not look ready to go next week, even as late as today. Yes, his velocity was up to 88-91, but he was up with everything, and had no cutter.

2. Good- Healthy, happy offense- Ryan Howard looked great. Chase Utley was pretty darn good. Dom Brown was off the charts. The key was, none of them were hurt. Sure, left-field is a concern right now, but for the most part, the line-up gave a good accounting for themselves.

2. Bad- The non-roster invitee saga- I understand that you need a lot of players in camp to play the games. Makes sense. Every year though, we end up spending the latter part of spring training concerned about the Luis Castillo-Aaron Cook-Yuniesky Betancourt, and none of them end up on the team. Of course we bring them to camp, of course they perform good (a major leaguer playing for a job against a lot of minor leaguers will do that), and of course then we all talk about them making the team. Do they ever? Nah.

1. Good and Bad- The Hooters' Ball Girls- Ok, I like them, what guy doesn't. They're attractive women. Yes, I like Hooters' wings. Yes, I'm fine with someone playing down the line to get foul balls. My worry is that these girls had a few "slip ups" this spring. I love the idea, like the girls, and hate when they grab a fair ball. I do understand that the original Hooters was in Clearwater, so that's cool, but teach them the rules?

2. Good and Bad- The fan friendly experience... that I missed for a second straight year- Seriously, there's nothing cooler than being at spring training games. Everything's fun, everything's good, the players are in a good mood, and they'll even converse with you. I hope everyone enjoyed it. I didn't this year, for a second straight year. This just has to change next year.

Some stats for you to forget about come Monday in Atlanta-

• Dom Brown- .376/.430/.671/1.101, 7 HR, 17 RBI's, 6 BB, 14 K's.
• Ryan Howard- .338/.368/.663/1.030, 7 HR, 16 RBI's, 4 BB, 16 K's.
• Chase Utley- .273/.368/.545/.914, 5 HR, 16 RBI's, 9 BB, 10 K's.
• Ben Revere- .337/.382/.398/.780, 10 SB, 17 R, 6 BB, 10 K's.

Semi-real baseball starts tomorrow in Philly.

3/28 Phillies Roster Projections: No Changes

Yesterday I did a roster prediction for every team that is breaking camp in the Phillies system this week.

Today I have no changes.

Today they did play, and they did win their finale in Florida, a 7-2 win over the Blue Jays. The Phillies finish the Grapefruit schedule 16-15, and now head north to play the on-deck series at CBP starting tomorrow. They see the Blue Jays again, for both games.

Some of the big spring questions were answered. I'll re-cap the spring later, but for now, here's a recap of yesterday's roster projections.

Phillies-

• Rotation: Hamels, Halladay, Lee, Kendrick, Lannan.
• Line-Up: Rollins-SS, Revere-CF, Utley-2B, Howard-1B, M. Young-3B, Brown-RF, Mayberry-LF, Kratz-C.
• Bullpen: Papelbon, Adams, Durbin, Bastardo, Horst, Aumont, Valdes. In the running: Stutes, Cook.
• Bench: Nix, Frandsen, Galvis, Lerud, Inciarte. In the running: Orr, Quintero.
• DL: D. Young.
• Restricted: Ruiz.
• 40 man, inactive: Gillies, Collier, Ruf, Hernandez, Valle, Pettibone, Cloyd, Martin, Stutes, De Fratus, Rosenberg, Diekman, Robles, Savery.

Lehigh Valley-

• Rotation: Cloyd, Pettibone, Martin, Rosenberg, Morgan. In the running: Cochran, Bass.
• Line-Up: Gillies-CF, Hernandez-2B, Mitchell-RF, Ruf-LF, Asche-3B, Joseph-C, Overbeck-DH,  Field-1B, Martinez-SS.
• Bullpen: Stutes, De Fratus, Diekman, Friend, Savery, Jimenez, Cochran. In the running: Bass, Hyatt.
• Bench: Orr, Quintero, Tolbert, Susdorf.
• DL: Bass, Blanco.

Reading-

• Rotation: Biddle, Buchanan, Garcia, Wright, Colvin. In the running: Hyatt.
• Line-Up: Collier-CF, Hanzawa-SS, Welty-RF, Murphy-1B, Castro-LF, Valle-C/DH, Rupp-DH/C, Abreu-3B, Cartwright-2B.
• Bullpen: Simon, Robles, Rosin, Ramirez, Hyatt, Sosa, Ellis. In the running: Johnson.
• Bench: Suomi, Murphy, Mitchell, Hewitt. In the running: Henson.
• DL: Johnson, Henson, James.

Clearwater-

• Rotation: Hollands, Garner, Stewart, Kleven, Milner.
• Line-Up: Hudson-CF, Altherr-RF, Alvarez-LF, Franco-3B/DH, Martinez-1B/DH/3B, Alonso-1B/3B/DH, Ludy-C, Villalobos-SS, Carver-2B.
• Bullpen: Arias, Shreve, O'Sullivan, Murray, Nesseth, Hernandez, Giles.
• Bench: Lavin, Roof, Stassi, Moore.
• DL: Dugan, Stumpo. 

Lakewood-

• Rotation: Watson, Warner, Brady, Stefan, Martinez.
• Line-Up: Quinn-SS, Tocci-OF, Walding-3B, Serritella-1B, Pointer-OF, Greene-2B, Hill-C, Perkins-OF, Arthur-DH.
• Bullpen: Inch, Santos, Rojas, Broussard, Aizenstadt, Cooper, Oviedo.
• Bench: Quaranto, Olmo, Taylor, Mora.
• DL: Numata, Carmona.

Roy Halladay Leads Phillies In Florida Finale Against Blue Jays

Photo: Philliedelphia/Lindsey Crew

I goofed yesterday when I said that yesterday's game was the final spring training game in Florida. I mis-read the schedule and thought the On-Deck Series started today. My bad. The Phils ended up winning nonetheless, so that's good news.

Anyway, today is really the last day that the Phillies will be in Clearwater and it's a pretty big deal because not only is Opening Day arriving in five days, but Roy Halladay (2-1, 6.75 ERA) is making his last start before the regular season. Halladay has had an interesting spring full of surprises: a dead arm, a stomach bug, and extreme decrease in his velocity. Although he says he is "physically ready to go", it's certainely going to take a lot to prove himself healthy.

Halladay made his last start on Saturday against the Toronto Blue Jays' Triple-A campers. Halladay faced 18 batters and 11 of those reached base. He allowed three runs in four innings and struggled with his velocity, as most of his pitches fell below 90 MPH. He did, however, manage to strike out three batters. Halladay last made a start with the big league club on March 17th against Baltimore, where he lasted only an inning before being pulled for a stomach virus. Halladay has allowed twelve earned runs in 16 innings of work over six starts (including his minor league outing). It's tough to say what is actually going on with Halladay because what we as fans see from him opposes what sees from himself.

Opposing Halladay and the Phils will be RHP Brandon Morrow (0-2, 7.80 ERA), who is making his sixth and last start of the spring. Morrow has struggled with locating his pitches and his command and he has paid for said lack of location. In 15 innings of work Morrow has allowed 13 runs, 11 earned in five starts. In Morrow's last outing, against Atlanta on Saturday, he lasted 5 1/3 innings, allowing five earned runs on eight hits. Morrow surrendered a walk and struck out two in the no-decision outing. Morrow is in line to start the second or third games of the regular season against Cleveland next week. 

Game Notes: 

• Today is a big day for Roy Halladay, who needs to prove that he is ready for the regular season.
• Ben Revere will be leading off for the third straight ball game.
• Freddy Galvis will play 3B today.

Phillies lineup:

1. Ben Revere CF
2. Jimmy Rollins SS
3. Chase Utley 2B
4. Ryan Howard 1B
5. Domonic Brown LF
6. Laynce Nix RF
7. Freddy Galvis 3B
8. Erik Kratz C
9. Roy Halladay P

Blue Jays lineup:

1. Jose Reyes SS
2. Melky Cabrera CF
3. Jose Bautista RF
4. Edwin Encarnacion 1B
5. Adam Lind DH
6. J.P. Arencibia C
7. Colby Rasmus LF
8. Maicer Izturis 3B
9. Emilio Bonafacio 2B

Brandon Morrow will start today's game.

Gametime Forecast: 64°F • Mostly Sunny • 0%PoP

TV: The Comcast Network

Radio: None

Erik Seybold is a writer for Philliedelphia. Follow him on Twitter @ErikSeyboldPHI.