As the Philadelphia Phillies’ first spring training game on Feb. 28 against the Detroit Tigers approaches, the team seems to be better situated than it was as the offseason dawned. Very important players have been re-signed, and last year’s god-awful bullpen appears to have bolstered. A number of predictors of the NL East final standings have put the Fightin’s no better than third after gazing into their crystal balls, but an objective observer should conclude that the team can challenge for the division championship.
However, this doesn’t mean the Phillies don’t have concerns to be overcome and pivotal questions to be answered. They are as follows in a rough order of importance:
The Four-way Race for the Final Starting Slots
While some teams are toying with the notion of six-man rotations, the Phillies are not among them. Manager Joe Girardi has said as much plainly. Three slots are filled with quality starters; the two remaining slots have four runners lining up for a sprint to a pivotal job every fifth day: Spencer Howard, Vince Velasquez, and this winter’s additions, Matt Moore, and Chase Anderson.
Good pitching will always stop good hitting and vice-versa. –Casey Stengel
Moore and Anderson are widely seen as the front runners. Moore is left-handed and would break up an otherwise entirely right-handed rotation. Anderson was actually “recruited” by Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto.
But what if neither works out that well early on, and what if it doesn’t appear that number three starter Zach Eflin will continue to progress?
And this is to say nothing about concerns about the number one and two starters, Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler, which we’ll come to after our second concern…
Realmuto’s Broken Thumb
The All-Star catcher recently re-signed by the Phillies has a non-displaced, minor fracture at the base of his right (throwing) thumb, as widely reported. The injury, which is immobilized, still allows him to participate in some early drills. (He catches; somebody else returns the throw.)
This seems to be a matter that could be termed “all well and good,” given the best player on the team is now injured.
Phillies fans go negative before they go anywhere else, so many are surely thinking, “Will this injury in any way cut into Realmuto’s ability to throw out base stealers?” In ’19 the Gold Glove catcher threw out those would-be thieves by a huge margin over the next best MLB catcher.
Phillies fans are, thus, in hope mode.