The Grapefruit League is done. The Phillies played in Reading last night, and they will be at Citizens Bank Park tonight against the Orioles. Manager Pete Mackanin has dropped the hints about where he's leaning. I have a couple of changes to my final MLB roster projection. Here's what I see the team doing:
- Starting Rotation- This is all but set. Jeremy Hellickson, Aaron Nola, Charlie Morton, Jerad Eickhoff, and Vince Velasquez are all coming north with the team. This group has a chance to be substantially better than last year's rotation. Two serviceable veterans and three very talented arms could team up to make this team a little more competitive than we expected.
- Line-Up- I think we're going to see Cesar Hernandez lead off and play second, and Freddy Galvis bat second and play shortstop. I think we'll see Odubel Herrera play center and bat third. Maikel Franco will play third base and hit fourth. I believe we'll probably see Peter Bourjos get a lot of at-bats in the five or six hole and play right and left field. We'll probably see the first base platoon of Ryan Howard and Darin Ruf play first and bat fifth or sixth regularly. I believe we'll see a Cedric Hunter and Tyler Goeddel combo start out the season hitting seventh and playing the opposite corner outfield spot from Bourjos. I think we'll see the Carlos Ruiz and Cameron Rupp tandem hit eighth and catch games.
- Bullpen- We've known for a bit that Dalier Hinojosa, David Hernandez, Jeanmar Gomez, and Brett Oberholtzer were coming north. That left three spots, and for me, that has become more clear than before. Ernesto Frieri seems destined for a spot in the bullpen, and I think he'll get one. Daniel Stumpf pretty much has to make it to stick with the organization as a Rule 5 guy. I think the last spot will go to James Russell over Andrew Bailey, if for no other reason than Mackanin's "tough love" words for Bailey, and his stated willingness to keep three lefties.
- Bench- Most of this is tied up in the line-up. The Howard/Ruf platoon requires one to be on the bench. The Rupp and Ruiz duo behind the plate puts one on the bench each night. Goeddel sounds like he'll be on the bench more than Hunter to start out the season, but one of them has to be. Andres Blanco was a lock from the start of camp. That leaves one last spot, and I think that spot is going to Emmanuel Burriss by a nose over Wil Venable.
- Non-25 man roster guys on the 40 man roster- Darnell Sweeney, Taylor Featherston, Roman Quinn, Jorge Alfaro, and the injured Cody Asche will all occupy 40 man roster spots, but not open up with the team. Aaron Altherr will open up on the 60-Day DL and not count against the roster. Relief pitchers Hector Neris, Edubray Ramos, Jimmy Cordero, Colton Murray, and Elvis Araujo all seem to be safely headed for the minors, while Luis Garcia could be a candidate to be DFA'ed if a spot is needed, though I doubt it. Michael Mariot has been injured, and might face either a 60-Day DL stint or DFA waiver status to clear a spot on the 40 man roster. Mario Hollands is almost certainly headed for the 60-Day DL as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. Starters Adam Morgan and Alec Asher seem headed for the minors safely, while David Buchanan certainly, and to a lesser extent Severino Gonzalez, are possible DFA candidates to open a spot. Matt Harrison will start the season on the 60-Day DL. With the additions of Frieri, Russell, Burriss, and Hunter to the 40 man roster, the team will have 41 players possibly occupying 40 man spots, unless they 60-Day DL someone else hurt in the system, or trade someone. They have at least one move we don't know about yet that is coming.
