Phillies have growing concerns all over

by Gerry Fraley

Charlie Manuel is not happy.

The Philadelphia Phillies begin defense of their World Series championship in less than three weeks. The manager does not like what he sees.

Sloppy play. A 50-game suspension for valuable left-handed reliever J.C. Romero for violating the performance-enhancing-substances policy.

A roster disjointed because of injuries and the World Baseball Classic. Routine fundamental matters such as bunt defenses that have not been addressed because the full team has not yet been together.

Even the middle-infield combination has been in separate area codes. Second baseman Chase Utley has been recovering from offseason hip surgery while shortstop Jimmy Rollins has been playing with Team USA.

"We're going to have to get a lot of things done the last 10 or 12 days,'' Manuel said.

And then there is lefthander Cole Hamels.

The Phillies ace spent Tuesday undergoing an examination to find the cause of persistent pain in the left elbow. The organization pitched it as a routine matter that was not a cause for alarm.

Anything involving the talented Hamels, a hothouse flower, is cause for alarm within the Phillies. His innings total, including the playoffs, rose by 38 percent to 262 1/3 innings. That is a huge increase for a 25-year-old pitcher with a history of injuries.

Hamels is a true ace. He won 14 games and had the National League's fifth-best ERA (3.09) last season. The other Philadelphia starters, including 46-year-old lefthander Jamie Moyer, were 45-37 with a 4.58 ERA.

Hamels kept the Phillies from descending into losing streaks by going 10-3 with a 2.61 ERA for starts after a team loss. The Phillies had a full turn through the five-man rotation without a win only once last season.

Repeating under the best of circumstances is difficult. For the Phillies, the task becomes more challenging with each day.

"The biggest thing is we can't let what we did last year affect how we play today,'' Manuel said. "We still have to play, and we have to play harder because we are on the top of the mountain. The other teams are going to come gunning for us. They're going to push us and try to be aggressive with us.

"They're going to try to beat us because we are the champions.''

New general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. has done relatively little tinkering with the club that won 27 of its final 36 games, including playoffs, last season. The Phillies made a change in left field with Raul Ibanez in place of streaky but productive Pat Burrell and added righthander Chan Ho Park as a swing man for the staff.

(The team that signed Park as a free agent after he had pitched well for the Los Angeles Dodgers quickly regretted the move; Park went 22-23 with a 5.79 ERA in four seasons with Texas.)

Philadelphia's moves pale in comparison to what some East rivals did.

Atlanta overhauled a rotation that went 50-60 with a 4.60 ERA last season by adding Derek Lowe and Javier Vazquez, both of whom consistently pitch more than 200 innings. The bullpen should also be better with the return of lefthander Mike Gonzalez and righthander Rafael Soriano, both of whom were injured last season.

The Phillies dominated Atlanta last season, going 14-4 against the Braves.

The New York Mets also addressed their main problem by acquiring a pair of closers: J.J. Putz of Seattle and Francisco Rodriguez of the Los Angeles Angels.

A year ago, Philadelphia went 79-0 when leading through eight innings in the regular season. The Mets had seven losses when leading through eight innings, most in the majors.

"Nobody's walking around with their chest out or a ballooned head,'' said Rollins, the team leader. "Everybody's still working. We're still trying to win respect. We know we're winners, but we're fighting for respect as a champion.

"The World Series has been owned by a different team every year (since 2000). It would be nice to hold onto it for a while and be known as the champs the way the Yankees were in the '90s.''

Phillies ownership did give the payroll a significant goose, raising it by 25 percent to $130 million. Most of that went to multiyear deals for first baseman Ryan Howard, outfielder Jayson Werth, reliever Ryan Madson and Hamels. The Phillies committed a total of $96.5 million to them.

That is the price for managing success. The risk is that financial security will make this club comfortable. In winning two consecutive East titles, the Phillies have played with a hard edge that the Mets lacked. The difference showed during strong stretch runs by the Phillies. They made the Mets blink.

"You can get away from what your main priority is,'' Manuel said of the season after success. "There are going to be distractions. Any time you get distractions, it can definitely become a problem. That's my concern. Not that we have guys who don't love to play. We've got guys who love to play.

"They've got a reputation now, and they've got to live up to that.''

The challenge starts soon. The Phillies race the clock to get ready for it.

Originally Published at:
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/9347138/Phillies-have-growing-concerns-all-over

Philadelphia Phillies' Charlie Manuel picks his team to repeat as N.L. East champs

By Brian Costa

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- He didn't use the words "team to beat." And given that his team won the World Series last season, he didn't say anything outrageous.

But with the history between the Mets and Phillies, Charlie Manuel's comments to mlb.com Thursday are worth noting.

The Phillies manager said he would pick his team (well, duh) to repeat as National League East champions.

"I think if our pitching just stays consistent, I don't see any reason in the world why we can't win our division and go onto the World Series," Manuel said. "If I was picking a team in our league, I'd pick the Phillies, and that's not because I manage them."

The Phillies have been a confident team for a few years now, and the verbal back-and-forth between them and the Mets has been well-documented.

At this point, can you really blame the Phillies for believing they are a superior team?

Manuel confident Phillies can repeat

By Todd Zolecki

Originally Published at: http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090304&content_id=3916874&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Charlie Manuel is getting greedy, and that's not a bad thing.

He has talked constantly this spring about the Phillies defending their World Series championship. No team has won back-to-back titles since the Yankees won three in a row from 1998-2000.

Winning one World Series is tough enough. Repeating? That takes a special kind of team.

Manuel thinks he has that team in Spring Training.

MLB.com talked with Manuel about his 2009 Phillies, and why he thinks they can repeat their October glory.

MLB.com: No National League team has won back-to-back World Series since the Reds in 1975-76. Why do you think the Phillies can repeat as World Series champions?

Manuel: I think at the end of last year, our pitching definitely went to another level. I think our starting pitching with [Cole] Hamels ... he was consistent during the season. He threw 262 innings (including the postseason). The second half of the season, [Brett] Myers settled in. He should have learned something about himself.

We got young starters like [Carlos] Carrasco and [J.A.] Happ and [Kyle] Kendrick. We've got Chan Ho Park, who can start or pitch out of the bullpen. Our bullpen last year definitely proved it can handle tough games at the end of the season. They came through. That's the first time in my first four years that we did that. We should have learned a lot from our pitching.

We have a solid defense. We scored 800 runs, and in the second half of the season, I feel like we definitely didn't hit like we were capable of hitting. We ended up hitting something like .255. Offensively, I think we're a .270 to .280-hitting team. We definitely can do better offensively. I think if our pitching just stays consistent, I don't see any reason in the world why we can't win our division and go onto the World Series. If I was picking a team in our league, I'd pick the Phillies, and that's not because I manage them.

MLB.com: You've always talked about the importance of balance in a lineup, but yet you say you're not concerned about having another left-handed bat in the lineup in Raul Ibanez. Why aren't you concerned?

Manuel: If you've followed us the last four years, we've always found a way to offset that. We always come up with something. There's always somebody we can plug in like a [Jayson] Werth. We're talking about people with good ability. Werth can have a better year than he had last year. [John] Mayberry definitely looks like a good, young hitter. Somewhere along the line this year, he definitely can help us. We can definitely offset our lineup. But looking at that another way, you look at the right-handed pitching in our league. We can really load up on the righties. Somebody better stop that left-handed-hitting team.

MLB.com: Does the same hold true for the balance on the bench, where you're also left-handed-heavy with Greg Dobbs, Geoff Jenkins and Matt Stairs? Or do you feel you must have another right-handed bat on the bench?

Manuel: Offensively, we're really strong -- and power strong -- on the bench. The part where our bench will come into play is when we use [Eric] Bruntlett for defense or pinch-running or hitting. Once we use him, we need somebody who can run or play defense, and if he's a right-handed hitter, it would help. But at the same time our bench would be powerful if we carried Stairs, Dobbs and Jenkins. That would be a bench.

MLB.com: Of the hitters you have not managed before, who has impressed you this spring?

Manuel: Right now, Mayberry has been getting some hits. He's been good at the plate. Ibanez is a proven hitter. His swing is there. I'm not worried about him at all. [Marcus] Giles had a big game the other day. [Miguel] Cairo had a big game for us. Guys have drawn our interest. But this is what Spring Training is about. We have 30-some games left, and they're going to get to play a whole lot. By the end of the spring, we should be able to get a real good read on these guys.

MLB.com: You mentioned the team hitting .255 last year. Do you think the offense underachieved?

Manuel: I don't think we underachieved because although we only scored 200 runs in the second half, think about how we hit. We got big hits. It was a team effort. Everybody on our team contributed. Our starters. Our bench. We got hits at the right moments and that carried through the playoffs. Can we be more consistent and hit better? Yeah. We did not have a .300 hitter last year. We've got three or four guys. We had some guys who had off years. It wasn't a bad year because we got big hits, but we can do better. Our offense can be more potent.

MLB.com: In the battle for the fifth starter's job, is it as simple as the best man wins? Or are there going to be other factors involved in the decision-making process?

Manuel: I'd say with the team we've got in Spring Training and the starts these guys are going to get, I'd say more than likely it's going to come down to the best pitcher.

MLB.com: You won't have J.C. Romero until June 1. How concerned are you about the bullpen being able to get along without him?

Manuel: That's a concern of mine. [Ryan] Madson definitely came into his own last year. He showed he can pitch in the back end of the bullpen. I think that can take care of the eighth inning, but at the same time, Scott Eyre will be pushed into the seventh, maybe even enter the eighth inning. [Chad] Durbin had a tremendous season last year. He has to pitch just like he did last year, but we need one more guy who can throw at least two innings for us. That can be between [Clay] Condrey and whomever. We've got to prove that we can plug that hole. I don't think we'll have any problems doing that, because we've got that guy right here in camp. We just have to find him.

MLB.com: What's your biggest concern in camp right now?

Manuel: I want every one of these guys ready to play. When we talk about being ready, I'm talking about coming out of the gate and being ready to play. I was talking to [general manager] Ruben [Amaro Jr.] and sometimes we have players on the bench who -- because they don't get into the game until late -- seem like they're sharper than the regular players. And that's where we want the regulars to be. We want to be healthy and we want to be prepared to win Opening Day just like we were last year.

MLB.com: Champions in any sport can become complacent the following year. Have you seen any signs of that?

Manuel: They've been absolutely outstanding. If complacency, sets in, I think it's up to myself and my staff and some of the players on the team -- the leaders we have on the team -- those are some of the things we have to look for or be ready for and nip them in the bud. That definitely hasn't been a problem here.

MLB.com: Do you like the way the rivalry between the Mets has developed?

Manuel: It's fine. I think it's good. I think it's good for that area of the country. I think that the fans are very similar up there, because there's such a short distance between the two points. I think it's real good. There's nothing wrong with it. Sometimes you might talk too much about it. But when you get on the field you've got to prove it. For some guys, it's put up or shut up.