Comments on: Who’s right and who’s left

By: egrissom

egrissom — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:31:02 +0000

I agree the Phils would be a lot better off with Damon. I think he’s looking for a DH team, though, and more money than Pierre without a minor league deal.

By: DaMannse

DaMannse — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:51:21 +0000

I wonder why they went for Pierre and not Damon, who just seems to me the more complete player.. not to mention that he also just seems to be a winner.

By: egrissom

egrissom — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:16:27 +0000

I’m hoping for the best with Qualls. It’s nice to have a veteran out there would can eat up some innings so you don’t have to count on someone who hasn’t done much in the majors yet. I’m a little worried about Qualls cause his 2010 was so terrible and he followed that up with a 2011 where his numbers were a lot better, but his strikeouts were way down. Will be interesting to see how it does — it seems pretty clear he’s going to get a bunch of chances with the Phils this year.

His home/road splits from last year are pretty scary. At Petco he had a 2.09 ERA with an 0.96 ratio. Away from Petco he threw to a 5.05 ERA and a 1.57 ratio.

I’d take Utley of ’09 or ’10, too. And Utley of ’11 if the other choice at second is Martinez.

By: Leighton

Leighton — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:14:34 +0000

Those are good numbers to be reminded about with Mayberry…between 1st and left it would be nice to get that production out of him.

and Howard not playing gives some extra playing time to guys that otherwise would not have had those at bats

And agreed on Pierre, seems like more of a win win insurance policy

I feel better with Qualls than some of the other unproven arms in the BP

Should be an interesting ST and beginning of the year…boy I wish we had the Utley of 2007/2008 back

By: egrissom

egrissom — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:55:18 +0000

I’m hoping for close to no competition in the OF during Spring Training, with the exception of Brown hitting his way on to the Opening Day roster. I really don’t think you want to see too much of Pierre in the outfield.

Mayberry hit 301/368/607 from the start of July to the end of the year. With Howard out, I think he needs to be in the lineup virtually every day. I think he will be, either in left or at first.

I think the young arms mostly fit in by playing in the minors. At least to start the year.

By: DaMannse

DaMannse — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:34:37 +0000

I am trying to figure out how all of our young arms are going to fit in. Weren’t we to be getting “younger”?

By: Leighton

Leighton — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:06:26 +0000

Agreed on Thome…and having that many DH games that early is nice to get him in the ‘swing’ of things.

Qualls…I mean…he is a much better option that Lidge or Baez (Lidge of last two years that is…injured too much and not sure if you can rely on him)

I am very interested to see all these new arms…Horst, Willis etc…should be interesting…

And there will be quite a bit of competition in ST with all the OF’ers…I think we know what we will get from Mayberry but it would be nice to see him really turn another corner and produce.

By: egrissom

egrissom — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:37:13 +0000

The most recent thing I remember hearing about Thome playing first is that the most optimistic thinking is that he could play first once or twice a month. It’s obviously a huge deal and a huge bonus for the Phils if Thome can, but my guess is we won’t see him there much at all.

On the other hand, the Phils do have something like nine DH games before June 20 or something.

I’m glad to have Qualls, too. One miserable year in 2010, but he’s been pretty good otherwise. Strikeouts were down last year, but one-year, $1.15 shouldn’t hurt too much even if he doesn’t work out.

By: Leighton

Leighton — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:25:37 +0000

Is there ANY chance Thome will play any first base while Howard is out? Do we think its maybe 20% chance?

I heard a joke something like…Thome doesn’t even know where his first baseman’s mitt is, he last wore it 5 years ago etc etc…

I like the Chad Qualls signing…durable guy (knock on wood) I always remember playing against him and thinking he was a quality arm. Not an all-star but durable and servicable.

By: egrissom

egrissom — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:36:40 +0000

I expect he’ll be back before the All-Star break, but I guess we’re just going to have to wait and see. Hopefully the Phillies can stay afloat without him — I don’t think that’s going to be a problem unless another big bat goes down. It will be interesting to see what they do at first against righties with Howard out.