LAKELAND, Fla. -- Good morning, all.So, we're here at Joker Marchant Stadium, spring-training home of the Tigers, on the ultimate get-away day. When today's game ends, the Phillies will board a charter a Lakeland Regional Airport (they have a 5:30 p.m. flight, I think). Me? I'll hit the road and drive 50 minutes west to Tampa International for my commerical flight on Southwest. Adam Eaton starts the Grapefruit League finale. We'll get you lineups when they're posted.
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How many home runs will Ryan Howard hit this season? Judging from how he has swung the bat in spring training, he may be primed for a big year. Bigger, in fact, than his 47-homer, 136-RBI 2007 which most folks, including me, thought was a down year after his 58-homer, 149-RBI MVP season in 2006. The best sign, so far, is that Howard is hitting opposite-field home runs again. Talked to hitting coach Milt Thompson yesterday, and he explained why he believes Howard didn't go the other way more often last season. His strained left quad had a lot to do with it, Thompson said.
For now, I'll conservatively put Howard's home-run total at 50. What's your guess?
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More on Drew Carpenter's big day here in this notebook. Also, Brett Myers thinks the Phillies have the best starting rotation in the National League. At least somebody does.
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One bit of news to pass along: Kris Benson has been re-assigned to minor-league camp. That means his contract has been reconfigured. Assistant GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has been tight-lipped about Benson's contract status, but it's a solid bet that Benson's base salary in the minors has been raised and the deadline for him to opt-out of his contract if he isn't added to the 40-man roster has been pushed back into May. We'll try to flush this out and get you more info.
(Lineup update, 10:51 a.m.): Here's your lineup against Tigers LHP Kenny Rogers: DH Jayson Werth, CF Shane Victorino, 3B Pedro Feliz, 2B Chase Utley, LF Pat Burrell, 1B Wes Helms, RF So Taguchi, C Chris Coste, SS Eric Bruntlett. Tigers are starting pretty much their regular lineup, which should provide a good test for Eaton. SS Edgar Renteria, 2B Placido Polanco, DH Gary Sheffield, RF Magglio Ordonez, 3B Miguel Cabrera, 1B Carlos Guillen, C Ivan Rodriguez, LF Jacque Jones, CF Brandon Inge.
1 comment:
while down in ST. i saw howard smash ball after ball after ball. it seemed like if he wasn't K'ing, he was absolutely mashing the ball somewhere. while they were being caught as well, its such a positive sign to make that kinda contact. i think he gets close to 60 again. lets repeat at 58 again.
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