Mar. 7 -- MAYBERRY? MAYBE

BY SCOTT LAUBER

In 2006, it was Chris Coste.

In 2007, it was Greg Dobbs.

Will it be John Mayberry Jr. in 2009?

Every spring, it seems, there's one player who is the surprise of camp. Coste, a longtime minor leaguer, put himself on the Phillies' radar -- and in position for a midseason call-up -- by batting .463 in 41 spring-training at-bats in 2006. Dobbs, claimed off waivers before the 2007 season, made the Phillies' roster with a strong spring training. This year, Mayberry is taking his turn. Acquired from the Rangers for Greg Golson in November, he's 7-for-24 (.292) with two doubles, two homers and a team-leading eight RBIs in eight Grapefruit League games. He also homered in Wednesday's exhibition against Team Canada, a game that doesn't count in the spring-training statistics. And in a camp that doesn't have many battles for jobs, his prodigious power (today's homer hit the thatched roof of Frenchy's Tiki bar in left field) is getting quite a bit of attention.

To me, two things need to happen for Mayberry to make the team as a right-handed pinch-hitter. a) He needs to continue to impress Charlie Manuel and Milt Thompson with his approach at the plate, inspiring confidence that he can come off the bench and get a big hit, something that most young players struggle to do; b) The Phillies must trade either Geoff Jenkins or Matt Stairs (more likely Stairs). If they aren't able to unload one of their twin lefty-hitting reserve outfielders, there won't be a spot for Mayberry regardless of how well he plays over the next three weeks.

***
Ryan Howard hit a three-run homer today, surely a good sign for the typically slow-starting slugger. Just remember: Howard batted .313 with five homers in spring training last year and was batting .163 on May 7.

***
J.A. Happ may have taken the lead in the fifth-starter competition by allowing two hits and striking out seven in three scoreless innings. If nothing else, Happ and Chan Ho Park are going to make Kyle Kendrick earn his job back. And, really, isn't that how it should be?

***
Caught the final few innings of the U.S.-Canada game today, and it was incredibly exciting. How many of y'all actually watched? Within our Sunday MLB notes, we examine why the World Baseball Classic is a hit in places like Japan, Korea and the Dominican Republic and a huge dud in the U.S.