Phillies Spring Training Talk

[Geowhizzer]

Given a chance, I believe that Madsen will thrive in the rotation.  He's got filthy stuff.

[Rome]

Phreak:

So you'd rather have Floyd spot-start or sit his ass in the 'pen instead of taking the ball every fifth day in SWB until called upon?

That makes no sense to me whatsoever.

[Geowhizzer]

The season is saved!

Phils' Bell plays 1st big-league game this spring

ROB MAADDI
Associated Press

DUNEDIN, Fla. - David Bell moved closer to starting the season with the Philadelphia Phillies, playing in his first major league game of the spring on Wednesday.

Bell, who had been sidelined by a back injury most of the month, went 0-for-3 against former AL Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay in the Phillies' 6-2 loss to Toronto. Bell played six innings at third base, fielded his only grounder cleanly and survived a mild collision with Vernon Wells, who was caught trying to steal third in the first inning.

"Everything is good," Bell said. "I feel great."

Bell played in minor leagues games over the past week and is scheduled to start for the Phillies on Thursday. He plans to play in a minor league game on Friday and join the team for two exhibition games against Boston in Philadelphia this weekend.

Manager Charlie Manuel has maintained throughout the spring he wants Bell to have enough at-bats to be ready for the regular season, even if it means leaving him behind. Bell thinks he'll be ready for Monday's season opener against St. Louis.

"As long as everything goes smoothly, he gave me every indication I'll start the season," Bell said.

Considering how poorly Bell has played in April, some extra time in Florida may not hurt. Since 2003, his batting averages in April have been .205, .227 and .225.

"We'll take it day by day and see where he's at," Manuel said.

The 33-year-old Bell is going into the final season of a four-year, $17 million contract he signed after helping the San Francisco Giants reach the World Series in 2002.

Bell's tenure with the Phillies has been marred by injuries. He missed the entire second half of 2003 with back and hip problems. Although he played 293 games over the last two seasons, Bell had a couple of minor flare-ups each year that forced him to the bench for short stints.

Most of Bell's problems have started in the spring. He hasn't played through an entire March with the Phillies without missing time because of his back.

"It's not what you want to do," Bell said. "You want to play baseball and be on the field. It's not fun. I feel fortunate I got through it in time to start the season."

Last year, Bell missed most of the spring because of his back problems and had just 28 at-bats before starting the regular season. Then he became a main target for criticism when he batted just .248 with 10 homers and 61 RBIs. Bell hit .400 (54-for-135) against left-handers, but only .199 ( 84-for-422) against right-handers.

The Phillies acquired infielders Abraham Nunez and Alex Gonzalez in the offseason, giving Manuel the flexibility to sit Bell against right-handers.

"I've been able to work on things I wanted to offensively," Bell said. "You know when your swing is right. I feel very confident about it."

Bell hit .195 in his injury-plagued first season with the Phillies, but had his best all-around year in 2004, hitting .291 with 18 homers and 77 RBIs.

Despite his struggles last season, Bell delivered some important hits in September as the Phillies made a push for the playoffs only to fall one game behind NL wild-card winner Houston.

Bell's first career grand slam sparked a victory over Washington on Sept. 2. He had a game-tying solo homer in the ninth inning the following night and hit a two-out, two-run homer that capped a five-run ninth-inning rally in an 11-10 win at Cincinnati on Sept. 23.

Halladay, who is to make his fourth straight opening-day start on Tuesday, allowed two runs and nine hits in six innings.

"He's right where he needs to be," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "The hits they got off of him he was tying them up or they were off the end of the bat."

Philadelphia's Jon Lieber allowed six runs and 10 hits in four innings.

"I just wasn't hitting my spots like I wanted to," said Lieber, who will be the Phillies' opening-day starter for the second straight year.

[BigEd76]

Tejeda, Brito and Sandoval sent to AAA

Franklin to the bullpen

Madson is the new #4 starter
Floyd is the new #5 starter

[MDS]

SWEET FANCY MOSES THEY MADE THE RIGHT MOVE

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Tejeda, Brito and Sandoval sent to AAA

Franklin to the bullpen

Madson is the new #4 starter
Floyd is the new #5 starter

I say Eude, you say Brito!

[Rome]

Ed... where did you hear/read this?

It's that's indeed true, I'm totally stunned and I'll bet Ryan Franklin is as well.

[Rome]

Nevermind... I found it.

Doink.

[Rome]

Phillies.com has it now.

He's not saying whether Madson or Franklin is going to the Pen, however.

[ice grillin you]

why would you be stunned...we talked about this yesterday.

plus franklin is one of the worst starting pitchers in all of baseball...is it that much of shock that hed go to the pen

[SunMo]

SWEET FANCY MOSES THEY MADE THE RIGHT MOVE

because they have a real GM now, not some douche who worked his way up from group sales.

[ice grillin you]

Phreak:

So you'd rather have Floyd spot-start or sit his ass in the 'pen instead of taking the ball every fifth day in SWB until called upon?

That makes no sense to me whatsoever.

yes....he needs to be rewarded for his great spring....sending him out to scranton depressing him and having him regress by getting blasted in triple a is not the answer right now...

if he gets mashed up here you at least can tell him you need to go back down and work on some things....but how do you explain to him going down now....awesome spring kid but a guy whos lost 100 games the last two years is getting the nod

[SunMo]

this also proves that Gillick is not one to make the wrong move for the roster in order to justify a move.  do you really think Ed Wade would've made this decision?

[Rome]

I already stated why I thought Franklin should start.

I still feel that way.  If Madson and Floyd both get the nod, I'm fine with that too, especially if both pitch the way they're capable of pitching.

Franklin, however, has pitched well enough to earn a starting spot this spring.  I'll leave it at that.


To switch gears for a moment, did anyone else catch this today?   

Posted on Thu, Mar. 30, 2006email thisprint thisreprint or license thisNew meaning for "Fightin' Phillies."Firm earns error for DVD goof
By Todd Zolecki
Inquirer Staff Writer
Baseball treasures its traditions, which is why the national pastime is so special to so many people.

Hot dogs, peanuts, Cracker Jack.

The traditional blood sport of cockfighting has not made its way into baseball's fabric, and it probably never will considering that it is illegal in 48 states and the District of Columbia. So imagine the surprise of two Phillies season-ticket holders when they recently played a Phillies highlights DVD only to find a Spanish-language cockfighting video.

The Phillies had sent about 4,000 DVDs to season-ticket holders who had not renewed their season tickets, and as far as they know, only two have featured the sport where specially bred gamecocks are placed in an enclosure to fight to a bloody death.

The DVD manufacturer, ProAction Video, took responsibility for the error. It said when it started its Phillies DVD run, a few DVDs from a previous run to another customer inadvertently remained in the molding equipment.

Oops.

Some of the cockfighting DVDs were stamped with a Phillies graphic, which featured second baseman Chase Utley and the title Power of the Plan.

The Phillies said in a statement that they "regret if any recipient was offended as a result."

ProAction said in a statement: "We apologize for this unfortunate error... . This is a very isolated incident that affected only a few discs... . ProAction Media and our production facility take full responsibility for this unfortunate error and apologize to the great Phillies organization and the fans that were affected by this error."

Don't expect to see cockfighting on the concourse at Citizens Bank Park this season, or ever. According to the Humane Society of the United States, cockfighting in Pennsylvania is a felony. So is the possession of cocks for fighting and being a spectator at a cockfight. Possession of implements for cockfights, however, is legal.

There have been no reported complaints from cockfighting fans who have been sent Phillies highlights by mistake.

[SunMo]

that's funny shtein.

it raises the question, why is that company producing cockfighting dvds in the first place?