Jim Thome entered the 2012 season having played four games at first base in the last six seasons in part because he was in the American League for the majority of that time, and in part because he suffers from chronic back pain.

Throughout spring training, the Phillies and Thome slowly worked into getting him regular reps at first base. Throughout spring training, Thome was encouraged with how his body had responded with each step toward getting more and more action in the field.


But in his fourth start of the 2012 season, Thome's back became an issue.


The future Hall-of-Famer came out of Saturday's game after four innings with left lower back tightness.

"It’s very concerning," manager Charlie Manuel said. "I think mostly he’s been in the American League and that’s why they used him in the DH role, because when he’s on the field….  he didn’t always have what you call great range, balls hit close he’d dive to try to catch them. He's heavy. When he’d hit on the ground, it would jar him; he’s a big man, that takes its toll after years."

Thome's injury Saturday, however occurred on the bases and not in the field.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Thome drew a walk and then was forced out at second on a fielder's choice. He slid into second on the play, aggravating his back.


"It kind of accumulated during the game," Thome said. "I could kind of feel it getting stiff. Then when I slid into second and I got up, then I really felt it. The main thing is to get here, get the treatment that we're going to do, and hopefully this thing will clear up here quick."


Thome went 0-for-1 with a walk on Saturday. The 41-year-old is 2-for-18 (.111) this season with 10 strikeouts and three walks. 

"That part of it is frustrating because you do want to get out there and you do want to play. Then this happens," Thome sad. "I think the key is to stay positive and be a good teammate and get here as early as you can and get in there and get your treatment."

Thome is hopeful his back won't cause him to miss any more time.

"Any time you come out of a game, you're concerned, absolutely," Thome said. "I have dealt with it in the past. I just think it's one of them things that's day to day."

Most Phillies fans flock to Clearwater in March to get their spring training experience during the height of Grapefruit League play.

But getting down there in May might not be a bad idea if you want to see Ryan Howard and Chase Utley go through their own regular season preparation.

Prior to Saturday's game against the Cubs at Citizens Bank Park, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Howard will be flying to Clearwater on Sunday and could be hitting within the week. As for Utley...

"We think he's going to join us at some point in the next week or so, and if he continues to go well, which so far he's done pretty darn well, at some point he'll be headed to Clearwater, too," Amaro said. 


Howard is two months removed from the Feb. 27 procedure he had to clean in infection out of the sight of his October Achilles' surgery. He hasn't hit in more than two months and has had his activities limited during a lengthy process waiting for the wound to heal.


Howard visited a wound specialist twice this week.

"I don't think it's completely healed, but it's healed enough that at this stage they don't feel like it's going to be compromised anymore, and they can dress the wound in a way that will help that," Amaro said. That's a good thing."

The Phils will have a better idea on when Utley will join Howard in Clearwater after he joins them on the road this week. Utley, who is suffering from chondromalacia in his left knee, has been working out with a physical therapist in Phoenix since the team left spring training at the beginning of the month.

Amaro wasn't sure how long either Utley or Howard would be in Clearwater nor how long it would take them to get into game shape.

A year ago, Utley moved fairly quickly once he began his official rehab: he played just nine games with Class A Clearwater before being activated off the disabled list.

"I think it's going to be longer than that," Amaro said. "I would say we'll have get him some time to really get on the field and really get after it. But we'll talk with Chase about it and how he feels and monitor it day to day as we did last year, and we'll do the same with Ryan."

The list is now five players long.


Following Tuesday night's 8-5 win over the Diamondbacks, the Phillies placed right-handed relievr Michael Stutes on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation. Stutes joins Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Cliff Lee and Michael Martinez on a crowded disabled list.

Stutes will have an MRI when the Phillies return to Philadelphia on Thursday. Right-hander Michael Schwimmer was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take Stutes' place in the bullpen.


Stutes first felt the pain in his shoulder in mid-March. He tried to pitch through it, then took a short break at the end of spring training, and then tried to pitch through it again once the regular season began.


"It just didn't feel right," Stutes said Tuesday night. "I threw through it. I've never had any issues with my shoulder. I just thought it's not a big deal. If you only knew what goes on... last year, my entire back was hurting, this was hurting, that was hurting. There's always aches and pains. Then this thing didn't go away."


Stutes gave up three runs in one inning of work Saturday and has been scored on in three of his six appearances this season. He’s walked four while striking out five in 5 2/3 innings.

"After I threw against the Giants, something felt a little funky," referring to his appearance on April 17. "It wasn't killing me. It's just off."

On Monday, there was mostly encouraging news on the Phillies injury front, a place that's currently home to $66.9 million of their Opening Day salary.


Chase Utley ($15 million) took ground balls at second base for the first time in two months. His return isn't imminent, but Utley is certainly on an upward path in his rehab from as ailing left knee.


On the same day, Hunter Pence ($10.4) was out of the lineup for the first time all season with a sore left shoulder. It's highly possible Pence will miss his second straight game tonight; Phils general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Pence will have an MRI on his shoulder today in Phoenix.

There was more news on Tuesday, but you could hardly use the word "encouraging," to describe it. Ryan Howard ($20 million) saw a wound specialist on Monday and was not cleared to resume full baseball activities. 


Howard has taken light ground ball work in the last three weeks, but he hasn't hit in two months --- since Feb. 25. 


"(Howard's) wound has gotten smaller and is healing," Amaro said in a statement.  "We’ve been advised to limit his activities for one more week to allow it to continue to heal.  We hope that he will be able to re-start his baseball activities thereafter."


Meanwhile, Cliff Lee ($21.5 million) played catch prior to Monday's game at Chase Field, a game he was originally on tap to start before landing on the disabled list on Saturday with a left oblique injury. Lee isn't eligible to return until May 4.


Throw in utility infielder Michael Martinez, who isn't expected back until early May, and you can bump that salary number on injured players to over $67 million of the Phillies $172 million Opening Day payroll.


All of the aforementioned players, with the exception of Pence, are on the DL. If Pence joins them, well, an offense that's the second worst in baseball surely won't be getting any better for at least another two weeks.

 When the Phillies left spring training to get the 2012 season underway, Chase Utley went to Phoenix to work with physical therapist Brett Fischer on his ailing knees. 

On Monday, the Phillies arrived to Chase Field and Phoenix and Utley met up with them. He also took ground balls at second base for the first time in almost two months.

He didn't have a timetable for when he expected to be able to do more and said he will stay in Phoenix for a little longer when the Phils fly home Wednesday.

Here is more from Utley:

Q: First time you've taken ground balls in a while, right?

Utley: "Today was the first time I took groundballs on a baseball field. I was simulating some groundballs at Fischer's, which have been going well. Again it went well today. I was able to hit on the field, which was nice for a change. It's been a while since I've done that.

Q: Hitting, too? 

Utley: Yeah,  for the last two weeks or so I've been swinging the bat. No pain whatsoever, which in my opinion, is a positive sign. 

Q: Pain in taking ground balls?

Utley: Still getting used to it in the field. Overall, it's much improved since the end of spring training.

Q: Have you ran?

Utley: I've done running. I've done a lot of things over the last three weeks to get me to this point. There's still some things I need to do to get ready to play games. But I think we're right on track.

Q: How much longer until you're back?

Utley: It's hard to tell. So far, on a daily basis, I've been feeling good. I haven't had to slow things down. Being here for a little longer will benefit me. At some point I'll meet with the team and continue to do more baseball stuff with the team. Then we'll see what happens.


Q: Can you compare to last year, when you returned after missing first 7 weeks?

Utley: It's hard to compare. I think my legs are actually stronger than they were last year. Last year, I went with the mindset of getting everything loose and not trying to make my legs tight. Right now, we're trying to gain strength and continue to keep my legs loose.

Q: You seem upbeat.

Utley: I'm not happy that I'm not playing. I'm looking at it from a positive, like I always have. I've definitely gained strength over the past three weeks. I'm able to run. I'm able to take some groundballs like I did today. Fairly light but it'll be a progression to make them tougher. Hitting wise, it was uncomfortable during spring training. Right now it's not.


Q: So in the field you're still feeling pain?
It's just trying to get the comfort zone. I couldn't take groundballs. It just got to the point where I couldn't take ground balls. In my mind, that's a positive that I'm able to go out there and take groundballs.

Q: Could you return before June 1?

Utley: "I'd like to be back right now. I have to listen to my body and right now it's telling me to continue to move forward with the things I'm doing. I don't want to put a certain date on it because I don't want to force something that's not ready to happen. When my knee is ready to go, I'll be out there."

So Hunter Pence isn't out of the lineup because he's in an 0-for-15 funk.

He's not playing because he has a sore left shoulder. Pence suffered the injury when he dove for a ball in the third inning of Sunday's game in San Diego.

Pence is still waiting to get checked out by the medical staff, but he sounded hopeful it wasn't anything that would keep him out of the lineup much longer.

"I felt it after it happened but I had adrenaline going... this morning when I woke up, I didn’t have the mobility that you need," Pence said Monday at Chase Field. "I want to try to do more (today), but they don’t want me to. Hopefully it’s not a big deal, but we have to get it checked out first."

The Phillies have scored two runs or less in five of their last six games.

So, upon arrival to Chase Field in Phoenix, it's a little surprising that Hunter Pence is out of the lineup for the first time this year. Less than 48 hours ago, manager Charlie Manuel referred to Pence as the only true run producer at his disposal with Chase Utley and Ryan Howard on the DL.

"When you look, we have Hunter Pence, he’s the guy who actually has stats," Manuel said Saturday night. "We don’t have nobody that has a lot of stats as far as run production. We’re starting to get up into same games now, this was our 15^th game, yeah we need that."

But following the Phillies 6-1 loss to the Padres a day later, Pence is mired in an 0-for-15 funk. He has one extra-base hit in his last 10 games.

“I have to get better than what I’m doing right now. I know that. And I will,” Pence said Sunday. “These last three games I’ve had no hits. I’ve done a whole bunch of hurting the team. But there are going to be stretches where that goes on and you have to pick each other up. And we will.”

And so, Pence sits.

The Phillies lineup for tonight's 9:40 p.m. EST start vs. the D-backs:

1. Juan Pierre, LF

2. Placido Polanco, 3B

3. Jimmy Rollins, SS

4. Ty Wigginton, 1B

5. Shane Victorino, CF

6. Carlos Ruiz, C

7. John Mayberry Jr., LF

8. Freddy Galvis, 2B

9. Kyle Kendrick, P

Cliff Lee doesn't know exactly which pitch he made in the 10th inning on Wednesday in San Francisco that led to his current stint on the disabled list. 

But he did sound like a guy who doesn't believe his left oblique strain will keep him off the field long.


Lee, who landed on the 15-day DL on Saturday, said there was debate between Wednesday and Saturday whether to go the route of skipping one start vs. going on the DL.


"We were debating on whether to just miss a start or go on the 15-day DL," Lee said. "So we erred on the side of caution and play it safe. I can't really argue with that either."


The fact that Lee, the Phils medical staff and management even considered avoiding the DL and skipping one start should speak to their concern with the injury. 


"I feel like it should go away," Lee said. "But I've never dealt with anything like this before. It's something different. Hope we'll miss a couple starts and it's back to normal."


Lee is eligible to return from the DL on May 4. Kyle Kendrick will start in his place Monday night in Phoenix.

"I think the biggest thing about him is to make sure he’s healthy," manager Charlie Manuel said of Lee. "We’ve got Kendrick. I feel comfortable with Kendrick. We’ve got the pitching to offset that. I got a feeling he’s not going to be out long. When his time is up, he’s going to be back... I think we can definitely cover that."

Just when you thought the Phillies dismal start to the season was going away with back-to-back wins in San Diego... the Phils placed All-Star left-hander Cliff Lee on the 15-day disabled list before game No.3 in Petco Park.

 Lee suffered a left oblique strain in the 10th inning of Wednesday night's game in San Francisco. He is eligible to return from the DL on May 4, but it remains unclear if the injury will take longer than two weeks to subside.

 "I hope not," Phils GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said when asked if it could take longer than 15 days. "But again, obliques you just don't know how long they're going to take. He's shown improvement. We're hopeful that he's only going to miss a couple of starts. We have an off day in between. If we can slide him in on the 15th or 16th day, that would be great."

  Kyle Kendrick will start in Lee's place on Monday night in Phoenix against the Diamondbacks.

 Lee is coming off one of the most dominant starts of his career. He held the San Francisco Giants to 10 hits, while striking out seven and walking zero, in a career-high 10 innings of a 1-0 loss at AT&T Park.

 Amaro didn't believe the 10 innings had anything to do with Lee's injury. Lee only needed 102 pitches to get through those 10 innings.

 "I don't think so; it just happened," Amaro said. "He was moving through that game pretty well and efficiently. He didn't show any signs of fatigue. He was crisp in the 10th."

 Amaro said Lee felt his left side "grab" on one of the pitches he threw in the 10th.

 Fellow left-hander Joe Savery was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take Lee's place on the 25-man roster. He is expected to be in San Diego and available for Sunday's series finale at Petco Park.

 "It's improved each day but we're being very cautious with this," Amaro said of Lee's injury. "There's no reason for him to completely blow it out. It's an injury that if he really pulls it, we could lose him for a long time. We'll be cautious with him, shut him down, and get him right. Hopefully he only misses a couple of starts."

Worth mentioning: Lee had a left abdominal injury this spring.

For the first time since last fall, there were clothes inside Jose Contreras' locker stall at Citizens Bank Park. There was also a suitcase and a travel bag leaning against a chair.

Following today's game, Contreras said he will fly with the team to San Francisco. But Contreras did not want to speak out of turn Sunday morning, and didn't want to relay word on his upcoming activation because he hadn't spoken with manager Charlie Manuel yet.

"If not, I wouldn't be here," Contreras said through an interpreter on whether he was flying out west. "I can tell you more after I talk to the manager."

But it sounds as if his official activation is nothing more than a formality. The best guess here: he'll be activated following today's game.

"Personally, I'm very happy because my health is good, my arm is good and I can help the team," Contreras said through an interpreter.

Contreras, who had elbow surgery in September, began pitching in games four weeks ago in Clearwater. He has made five appearances for the Class A Threshers since his official rehab stint began on April 5.

Contreras likely cleared the last hurdle to his return on Friday. For the first time on his rehab, he pitched in back-to-back games on Thursday and Friday.

"My last five outings have been good," he said. "My speed was better, my location was better. The flight on my fastball was working much better."

Contreras has not pitched in a major league game in 10 months - his last appearance came on June 19 in Seattle.

The Phillies had agreed to a minor league contract with veteran infielder Mike Fontenot.

The 31-year-old Fontenot, who was released by the San Francisco Giants at the end of spring training, will report to Clearwater for extended spring training. He's a .263 hitter in parts of six big league seasons with the Giants and Chicago Cubs.

So how does Fontenot fit into the Phillies plans? That's a good question.

Fontenot could be an upgrade over current utility infielder Pete Orr.

Like Orr, Fontenot bats from the left side. But unlike Orr, he has played a big league shortstop.

Orr has played nine career games at shortstop; Fontenot has been used at short in 50 games, including in 37 games with the Giants last season.

With Michael Martinez out with a broken foot and not due back until late April or early May, the Phillies do not have a lot of depth in the middle infield, particularly in guys that can play shortstop. The guy who was supposed to open the season as Triple-A Lehigh Valley's shortstop, Freddy Galvis, has been the major league starting second baseman in place of injured all-Star Chase Utley.

Galvis is also, by defaut, the current major league backup shortstop for Jimmy Rollins.

So, if nothing else, Fontenot is another player in the organization who can play shortstop if another injury arises.

As far as his hitting is concerned, Fontenot is coming off a pretty subpar season with San Francisco. He hit .227 with a .304 on-base percentage in 85 games with the Giants.


Since those numbers don't represent a significant upgrade, it would be shocking, at least from where I stand, to think Fontenot could come to the big leagues and unseat Galvis at second. The Phillies put a great deal of value on defense up the middle and there might not be anyone on the major league roster with a better glove than Galvis, who has been exceptional at second base through the season's first week.

Since the Fontenot deal is a minor-league contract, he'd also have to be added to the 40-man roster and called up to Philadelphia before you could begin talking about where he fits into the major league plans.

Ryan Howard took his surgically-repaired left Achilles onto Citizens Bank Park Wednesday afternoon, where he participated in regular ground ball work during pregame batting practice.

Chase Utley, meanwhile, was in Phoenix, where he's working with physical therapist Brett Fischer on his ailing knees.


Jose Contreras was in Clearwater, where he's scheduled to pitch Thursday and Friday.

All are progressing, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. But there is no definitive timetable, once again, for when any are expected to suit up in a regular season game.

After Amaro briefed reporters Wednesday, however, the player who's status was easiest to gauge was Contreras. The 40-year-old reliever, who had elbow surgery in September, will pitch in back-to-back games for the first time on Thursday and Friday at Class A Clearwater.

If those go well, he could be activated this weekend (likely Sunday, since he would be unavailable to pitch Saturday coming off back-to-back games).

As for Howard... the wound at the site of his Achilles has not completely healed from his Feb. 27 procedure to clean out an infection.

"His Achilles is doing great, his strength is increasing," Amaro said. "The wound is improved. It's not all the way healed. That's the priority. It's not 100 percent yet. We're going to talk with the wound specialist here at Jefferson. We'll know a little bit more tomorrow as to what his next few progressions are. We have to wait on the wound people to give us more information on what he can do and how quickly he can do it."

As for Utley... Amaro said he is becoming more stable and is working on the one thing that he lacked when he returned after missing he first seven weeks of last season. His strength.

"Last year when he came back he was stealing bases, he was running," Amaro said. "The one thing he didn’t have a whole lot of, one of the thing he’s lacked was his strength which is something that he’s working on right now so he’s a little ahead or more ahead of the eight ball than maybe he was as far as his strength was concerned last year."

Amaro was asked a few times when he expected Utley and Amaro back and he repeated what he said a dozen times in spring training: there are no timetables. But he gave the impression that line might change when his two injured All-Stars actually begin to play in rehab games.

"Our goal is to try to get these guys to the point where they’re on real rehabs and playing so we can assess what we can get out of them," Amaro said. "But until that happens we won’t know what kind of players they’ll be until they’re out there playing."


VIDEO of Ruben talking about Ryan Howard here.

The Phillies are 1-3 after their first four games. It's actually the same place they stood this time in 2009, a year when they were coming off a World Series championship and on the way to a second straight World Series appearance.

In a professional sports city that's as parochial as Philadelphia, it's also easy to lose sight of what's going on around the rest of the league.

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, who populate the top three, highest payroll teams in baseball with the Phillies, are also 1-3. Two other National League potential playoff teams are off to similar slow starts: the San Francisco Giants are 1-3, the Atlanta Braves are 0-4.

As my buddy David Hale pointed out this morning, the eight teams that would play in the postseason in 2011 were a combined 16-20 at this point last year, including Tampa Bay (0-4), Detroit (1-3), Milwaukee (1-4) and Arizona (1-3).

Panic? Not just yet. When people ask for the appropriate time to hit that panic button, I'd say you can give it at least another month.

Just last year the Detroit Tigers were over .500 for just three days in the season's first month. They were 12-17 on May 2.

Detroit, which didn't climb over .500 for good until May 30, went on to win 95 games.

And now that we have you feeling better about the Phillies' current plight....


I was catching up on some reading this morning with the newspaper waiting on my doorstep upon returning home from Pittsburgh, the New York Times. Inside the sports section, Tyler Kepner had an interesting story on the San Francisco Giants' recent signing of Matt Cain.


The Giants signed Matt Cain to a five-year, $112.5 million extension before Opening Day. Cain, like Cole Hamels, had been scheduled to hit the open market as a free agent at the end of the season.

Within the Cain story, Giants' president and chief executive officer Larry Baer was asked whether the Cain deal would preclude the Giants from also keeping two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum, who can become a free agent after next season.

"It does not,” Baer told the New York Times. “I think we’re kind of rare. We think we have the ability, with some selective trades and smart signings, to populate the club with a preponderance of homegrown guys, which is important.”

It's difficult to read about Baer's comments about Cain, Lincecum and the Giants and not think about the similarly pitching-rich Phillies and their own situation with Hamels.

The Phils undoubtedly want to re-sign Cole Hamels. Cole Hamels wants to remain with the Phillies.

It's unclear if Hamels' camp would sign a deal below market value. You can bet he could get a Johan Santana-type deal - six-years, $137.5 million - as a free agent.


Both Phils' team president David Montgomery and general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., however, have said they can afford to have three pitchers with annual, $20 million contracts. So having the money doesn't appear to be a problem.

The problem is how you spread that money around, especially with a payroll already up against the luxury tax that includes aging, injury-prone position players. Ryan Howard ($105 million), Chase Utley ($15 million) and Jimmy Rollins ($27 million), three players who have spent a significant amount of time on the DL in the last three years, are owed a combined $147 million after the 2012 season.

And of the $112.3 million the Phils already have committed to the 2013 payroll, $45 million that that is owed to two pitchers, Cliff Lee ($25 million) and Roy Halladay ($20 million). If the Phils re-sign Hamels, it's not a stretch to turn that to $65 million of $132.3 million committed to three starting pitchers in 2013.

Having three of baseball's best pitchers is all well and good, and as Amaro has said numerous times, "Pitching rules the day." But as you may have noticed, the Phils are currently having trouble scoring runs, and even when Howard and Utley return, the lineup is not getting any younger, so you can't expect the offense as whole will ever return to its 2007-2009 form.

But back to the Giants...

Within the New York Times' story, Baer says the Giants do have the flexibility to allot a large portion of the team's salary to its two, All-Star starting pitchers because of an influx of other, cheaper, homegrown talent.

As the Times' story pointed out, the Giants started two promising young players on Opening Day in first baseman Brandon Belt and shortstop Brandon Crawford (each will make less than $500,000 this season). The Giants also have top outfield prospect Gary Brown not too far away from the big leagues.

You can afford to pay two pitchers close to $50 million annually when you have other, productive players on the roster making less than $1 million annually. It's a necessary balancing act for major league teams.

“You’ve got to create cycles where, as some guys get into free-agent status, you can support them with other guys in their early years,” Baer told the New York Times.

And therein lies the biggest problem with the Phillies, an issue much larger than a 1-3 record through the season's first four games: the Phils do not have the luxury of the same influx of major league-ready, young, cheap rookies ready to take over for aging veterans to help balance to payroll budget.

Domonic Brown was supposed to lead that new wave.


But instead of seeing Brown replace Jayson Werth a year ago, the Phils first had to turn to an inexpensive-but-not-capable option in Ben Francisco before giving in and acquiring another high-payroll player in Hunter Pence. Instead of seeing Brown replace Raul Ibanez this year, the Phils signed a fringe starter in Laynce Nix, mostly because he was an inexpensive option that could provide a left-handed hitting insurance option to John Mayberry Jr.

Similarly, the Phils' chose to re-sign Rollins to a long-term, hefty contract ($38 million guaranteed) in part because they didn't feel Freddy Galvis was a major-league ready option. They also doled out $50 million to closer Jonathan Papelbon, which wouldn't be necessary if you had a homegrown, major league-ready, back-of-the-bullpen arm ready to take over for Ryan Madson.

After watching Monday's home opener, with the offense continuing to struggle and Cole Hamels becoming a victim once again of low run support, you can't help but think about how those two forces could continue to work against each other in the future.

The Phils want to bring back Hamels. But can they afford to, with an offense sorely in need of healthy, capable and productive players?

With six-plus weeks of sliding practice and batting practice and meaningless exhibition games in the rearview mirror, we're about three hours away from baseball that matters.

It's also the first official day of the No Howard or Utley Era. So, uh, Happy Opening Day!


PNC Park is as good of a place as any for the season opener. Even if the team that plays here is wretched, the ballpark is easily in my top five, and probably top 3.

Here is the lineup Charlie Manuel has filled out today against Pittsburgh lefty Eric Bedard:

1. Shane Victorino, CF
2. Placido Polanco, 3B
3. Jimmy Rollins, SS
4. Hunter Pence, RF
5. Ty Wigginton, 1B
6. John Mayberry Jr., LF
7. Carlos Ruiz, C
8. Freddy Galvis, 2B
9. Roy Halladay, P

So Juan Pierre, who had been building momentum as a potential every day left fielder after making the roster last week, is on the bench. Meanwhile, John Mayberry Jr. and Ty Wigginton, who hit a combined .194 with 10 extra-base hits in 34 exhibition games, are in the starting nine.

Of course, Charlie simply went right-handed heavy against the left-handed throwing Bedard. The batting order above, in fact, doesn't have a single lefty (remember last year when everyone was whining about the Phils being too left-handed heavy??).

This lineup has six right-handers, including Halladay, and three switch hitters (Victorino, Rollins, Galvis).

But here's where it gets interesting: the Phils do not have any right-handed hitters on the bench with this lineup. Zero. Zilch. None.

The Pirates have one lefty in their pen (Tony Watson), so probably not that big of a deal. Also, Pierre hit lefties (.329, .430 OBP) better than he hit righties (.264, .296 OBP) a year ago, so he's a suitable option to hit a left-hander even if he hits from the left side.

As for a traditional right-handed hitter, Charlie's options are Vance Worley and Kyle Kendrick. Yeah.

Charlie Manuel is not a fan of injuries.

Sure, they're out of his control. But it annoys him to no end when he can't plug guys like Ryan Howard and Chase Utley in the lineup (and, in recent years, Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco and.... whatever other starters are unavailable, too).


The Phillies are set to begin the 2012 season (Thursday in Pittsburgh) with neither Howard or Utley in the lineup. Jose Contreras and Mike Stutes are also safe bets to begin the season on the disabled list.

All told, the Phils will likely have approximately $38 million in salary on the DL on Opening Day (Howard, $20 million; Utley, $15 million; Contreras, $2.5 million and Stutes, approximately $500,000). For a frame of reference, five major league teams had an entire Opening Day payroll under $50 million last season, including the Kansas City Royals at $36.1 million, a number smaller than the Phils salary slated for the DL.

But, as the overused cliche goes, it is what is is. Manuel is not letting him bum him out as the season draws close.

In fact, the manager was in an upbeat mood in Disney World's World Wide of Sports Complex on Sunday morning, where the Phillies are set to complete their Grapefruit League schedule against the Atlanta Braves this afternoon before boarding a lpane bound for Philadelphia tonight.


Q: The Nationals and Marlins have been chatty this spring, seems they're like you guys a few years ago, eager to be a contender. Are you guys still the team to beat?

Charlie Manuel: "I think until somebody beats us, we’re the team to beat. That’s what I think. We ain’t going to lay down for anybody. We’ve got a bunch of guys that like to play. You can smack us. We’re not going to turn the other cheek. We’re going to fight you back. We ain’t going to lay down and die. We’ve got some guys on our team that are going to make sure of that.”

Q: Do you see you guys as having a chip on your shoulder since people are saying you guys are old/injured?

Manuel: “I look at that as – you can say whatever you want to say. It’s up to us to make sure we handle our business. As a matter of fact, I like it when they talk a lot about us, really. That definitely might have something to do with motivating us, too.”


Q: Does this team still have that toughness that used to define them?

Manuel: “I think some of the guys we’ve had definitely have that. I think that’s why we keep winning. But at the same time, the thing you have to be careful of, the pieces you add, when you add a whole lot, you have to remember some of those guys haven’t been used to winning. A winning player is different than a guy who has always been in the second division, and they’ve got to come into the fold, too. Sometimes that takes a little while.

I know (Cliff) Lee wants to win a World Series. I know (Roy) Halladay wants to win a World Series. (Jim) Thome wants to win…. Our core guys, they definitely want to win. That’s a big jump start… we need to get the other guys under the fold. ... We’re ready."