While I was busy hyperventilating over the fact that I will not get to watch Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee pitch back to back games 30-something times atop the Phillies rotation in 2010 (Bring this up at your own peril around me.  I’m still a little sensitive.), Ruben Amaro and company were busy rounding out the roster by signing guys like Danys Baez and Jose Contreras.  Eventually, those guys (and other guys) reported to Clearwater to start stretching and doing push-ups and stuff, and here we are.  The Phillies weren’t quite good enough to beat the Yankees to win the World Series in 2009, so let’s take our best guess at what the 2010 roster will look like and try to figure out if they are parade-down-Broad-Street good.

Lineup:

Jimmy Rollins, SS

Placido Polanco, 3B

Chase Utley, 2B

Ryan Howard, 1B

Jayson Werth, RF

Raul Ibanez, LF

Shane Victorino, CF

Carlos Ruiz, C

Placido Polanco replaces Pedro Feliz at third base.  He’ll likely hit second in the order, and as a prototypical #2 hitter he should make the lineup better.  Polanco puts just about everything in play, and with his bat control and ability to hit with two strikes he ought to provide Jimmy Rollins with a few more chances to run.  Of course, Jimmy could provide himself with a few more chances to run if he would get on base at a better than .300 clip, something he failed to do last season.  To accommodate Polanco, Shane Victorino will move down in the lineup, likely hitting 7th.  I thought Shane improved quite a bit as a situational hitter in the 2 hole for the Phillies last year, but he wasn’t necessarily a natural there.  Hitting down in the order, we might see some more power from Victorino this season as he will likely be able to swing away more often.  While most people assume that Shane will hit 7th this season, I kind of like the idea of him hitting 6th in front of Raul Ibanez.  That way, Ibanez gets more at bats with speedy guys like Werth and Victorino on base, and Victorino’s running ability isn’t wasted as much as it would be if he were hitting in front of Ruiz and the pitcher.  In fact, if someone could pass that idea along to Charlie Manuel that would be cool.

Defensively, it remains to be seen if Polanco can adequately replace Feliz at third.  Feliz was one of the better third baseman in baseball, even if it looked to me that he lost about a half a step toward the end of last season.  Polanco hasn’t played 3rd on a regular basis since his last tour of duty in Philly, but he was a Gold Glove winner in Detroit last season and is about as sure handed as they come.  My guess is that the improvements he brings to the Phillies lineup will offset any drop off we see from Feliz to Polanco defensively.  And since every other regular returns, we should expect to see another solid defensive club for the Phillies in 2010.

Bench:

Brian Schneider, C

Ross Gload, 1B/OF

Greg Dobbs, 3B/1B/OF

Juan Castro, INF

Ben Francisco, OF

The Phillies made a concerted effort to improve their bench this winter and did a nice job accomplishing that.  Brian Schneider isn’t that far removed from being a solid starting catcher, though he has been derailed by injuries and the stink of Mets (almost certainly related) over the last two seasons.  He has a decent defensive reputation and should provide better offensive production than the backup combo of Paul Bako and Chris Coste last season.  Greg Dobbs struggled last season mostly due to a lack of regular at bats.  Juan Castro figures to be an upgrade over Eric Bruntlett, but that isn’t really saying anything.  Ross Gload is a solid, professional hitter and should be an upgrade on Matty Stairs, who clearly lost some bat speed last season.  Ben Francisco was a steal in the Cliff Lee trade and is one of the better 4th outfielders in the National League.  He has some holes in his swing, but he plays all 3 outfield positions reasonably well and has some decent pop in his bat.

The question, of course, is whether or not Charlie Manuel will actually use any of these guys on a regular basis.  Charlie has a tendency to over-rely on the guys he trusts, and as the current core of players ages it becomes increasingly important that guys like Utley, Rollins, and Ibanez are rested at times to keep them fresh down the stretch.  With good reason, Manuel may not have felt entirely comfortable with his reserves last season, but the bench has been upgraded in 2010.  It’s in the best interests of everyone involved if Charlie figures out a better way to use them.

Coming Tomorrow: Part 2, The Starters and Bullpen.