Either way its time to break out those Phillies jerseys (a tip of the hat to everyone who kept their Cliff Lee merchandise) and start over-analyzing some baseball. This may seem hypocritical but I'm going to absolutely love talking incessantly about the Phils for the next two months. Ill spare everyone somewhat and not start in this post, but I honestly would talk about Cliff Lee's hair-do or Roy Halladay's shoe size and how these meaningless characteristics will lead them to 25 wins a piece if i had the access to their closets. I may not actually agree with those sentiments but at least i get to envision Lee's devastating curveball while I'm writing it. Maybe if i get good enough at talking out my behind than I can land a job at ESPN. Probably not though; I dont have the jawline or burly voice for such a career.
That's about it for today, but to end it here are some story lines heading into Spring Training.
1.)The absence of Jayson Werth in the batting order and left field. This is the obvious one as it is the team's most glaring weakness and the only position battle. My money is on Ben Francisco to get the early nod, but the hype of Dominic Brown has not left my fingertips. He will be our everyday leftfielder before the end of the season.
2.) Can Jimmy Rollins and Brad Lidge bounce back from disappointing seasons? This applies more to Jimmy than Brad, who really turned it on at the end of last season. Still Phillies fans trust in Lidge has not been 100% since '08 so it is still a legitimate question. I highly doubt that Rollins will ever regain his '07 MVP form but judging by Cholly's propensity to have him lead off he needs to hit over the .250 clip. At least make some contact. Please.
3.) Charlie's contract extension. Its not about whether this will happen, but when. Id put my money on the Phil's trying to get something done before the regular season starts to avoid any distractions moving forward.
-Tim Jay
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