Fan Report: Spring Is Here

Commenter Kyle A. is down in Clearwater and filed this fan report.

This is my second trip to Clearwater, Florida to watch our Fightin’ Phils get ready for the regular season.  Coming from State College where the temperatures have hovered in the 20s and 30s all winter, today’s weather, 80 degrees and extremely sunny was enough to put a smile on my face.  To make the day better, the world champion Phillies played some baseball.

Even though the fightins’ lost the game to the Reds, there were several positives to take away from the game.  Jason Donald impressed all afternoon, going 3-4 with 3 base hits.  Donald looks like he is ready to contribute at the major league level, especially if Chase Utley needs some more time to get back healthy.  Cole Hamels pitched well, for his first two innings before giving up a triple and a 2 run homerun in the third.

Ryan Howard played well overall, hitting another homerun this spring.  Howard also flashed some leather, showing off his new-found fielding abilities when he snagged a hard hit grounder in the hole; a ball he would have watched roll into right field twenty-five pounds ago.  It was good to see Howard has improved on of the few flaws in his game.

            The game ended up being a loss, but, after Hamels I could not recall ever hearing the names of the pitchers that finished the game.  Aside from a grand slam hit off of Phillies pitching, Pablo Ozuna provided the low-light of the day when he fell down in left field trying to catch a fly ball, not exactly the best way to make the team Pablo.

From a personal point of view, my experience at Bright House filed was amazing once again.  I caught a batting practice ball on the right field grassy berm.  The little Phillies fans around me had no chance to catch a ball with all the people around, so my friends and I took it upon ourselves to heckle the Reds’ scrubs into throwing our young Phillies fan brethren extra practice balls, I must say, they were very unwilling until we promised to stop yelling if they gave the kids a ball.  Overall, it was a great day in Florida at the ballpark.  More to come Wednesday after the Fightins’ game against the Braves.

Many thanks to Kyle who is a junior sports journalism major at Penn State.

Comments

[ricky]

Kyle must be taking Comm 460W

Good report. I need to get down there next spring/when I actually get some bo jangles in my pocket.

[Carl P]

Nice report, Kyle, but take it easy on Howard's fielding.... I don't think he's as bad at first as everybody thinks he is.... I watched Game 3 of the WS again recently (the Jamie Moyer game) and he snagged a hot shot at first that, had he not made the play, may have changed the game.

Also if you look up baseball nerd stats, he's actually middle of the pack in range rating and overall fielding for 1Bs... and nowhere near last place...

I'm glad to hear he's doing well in the field but cut him some slack on the past... that's all I'm saying

[ChesterCountyRedNeck]

Kyle A. spelled 'World Fucking Champions' wrong.

[theKrisheim]

cut howard some slack? are you serious?

the guy had the most errors at his position in the entire league last year, i think.

he sucks at first base. hopefully all he did this off season was take ground balls and throw to bases. for every game three "hot shot," there was/is the NLCS game were he fielded the bunt and practically through the ball to the warning track in right field or the braves game where he made two errors in the same 8th or 9th inning...

[joe l]

Howard's fielding of pickoff throws tells it all. I hope he's worked on that this year. Last year it looked like he was catching those throws with a broken hand or something, awful.

[Marc]

I definitely don't see the need for Kyle to cut any slack on Howard's fielding. I love the big man, but fielding is by far his worst aspect of the game. I cringe every time a routine double play grounder is hit Howard's way. For someone who made $10 million last year and will make $18 million this year, I would expect that he would be able to make a simple throw to second base. That being said, I am glad to hear that Howard is in better shape and has worked on his fielding. While he won't admit it, the fact that he is signed under contract and no longer has to deal with arbitration, or the results of arbitration, are a big plus for Howard. With that distraction out of the way, Howard seems very loose & able to just concentrate on improving his game. I'm expecting a big season from Howard this year. I hope he can have a better April than he did last year. While he is lighting it up this spring, I hope the drop in temperature come April doesn't affect him as it has in years past.

[Marc]

As for Jason Donald, I really love to watch this guy play. Like Chase Utley, he is hard-nosed player who give 110% all day every day. He doesn't seem to have a future at SS with Rollins around. Also, 2B doesn' seem like an option unless the Phils decide to trade Howard before he hits free agency and they move Utley to 1B. But that option most likely won't be considered for at least two years. I am really glad the Phils decided not to trade Donald since they dealt away Cardenas. If Donald can learn 3B, I would love to see him take over for Feliz once his contract expires after this season. Donald is the type of player you want to keep around in your organization. Since he still doesn't have MLB experience, he will be an inexpensive option for years to come. If he doesn't make the team right out of Spring Training, I am sure we will see him in the red pinstripes at some point this season.

Nice article, Kyle. I like your writing style. I am glade to hear you had a blast in Clearwater and I am looking forward to heading down there myself soon. Enjoy the season and keep up the good work!