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Tuesday, March.12, 2013

The Phillies will need their staring rotation to be strong, if they want to dethrone the Washington Nationals and take back the top spot in the NL East. The Phillies have three pitchers at the top of their rotation that can match up against any other teams top 3.

By Chris Lacey (Baseball Writer) Follow @aecanada12

The Philadelphia Phillies had various injuries to key players on their roster last season that had an impact on their season. They were not able to field a healthy team on a consistent basis.  The health of the team was a major factor as to why the Phillies finished the season with a .500 record and 3^rd in the National League East putting them behind the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals.

The major area where the health impacted the team was with the starting rotation. The starting rotation had been an area of strength for the Phillies in past seasons. The 2012 season the Phillies were ranked 7^th in the NL with a 3.83 ERA for their starting pitching. This was a significant drop-off when compared to 2011 – when they were ranked 1^st in the NL with a 2.86 ERA for the starters.

Philadelphia Phillies 2008 World Series Champion Highlights. Mature Lyrics – Parental Guidance Is Advised:

The Phillies will need Halladay or as most Phillies fans would say ‘Doc’ to return to his Ace form. Halladay went 21-10 with a 2.44 ERA, had 9 CG, threw 250.2 IP, had a WHIP of 1.04, and won the Cy Young in 2010. He also leads all active pitchers in CG with 66 and shutouts with 20. Halladay also has the highest Career Win Percentage among Active pitchers with .666.

The key pitcher that hurt the team the most when he was out due to soreness in his right shoulder was the Phillies ace Roy Halladay. Halladay had to miss six weeks because of this injury. Halladay just never looked like himself at all during the season. Halladay is the type of pitcher when he likes to finish what he starts.

Halladay had a total of 17 Complete Games in his first two seasons with the Phillies. The last season Halladay had a grand total of zero complete games. Another telling sign Halladay was not his normal self was his ERA. Halladay did not have an ERA higher than 2.80 in his previous four seasons, last season his ERA spiked up to 4.49. The Phillies will be able to contend in the NL East if Halladay is healthy.

Ryan Howard will need to remain healthy and be a force in the Phillies lineup. Howard  had a career year in 2006 – by hitting 58 HRs and he had 149 RBI en route to him winning the NL  MVP Award. He had a three slash line of .313/.425/1.084.

Another player whose injury impacted the team was that of Ryan Howard. Howard was injured on the last play that ended the Phillies 2011 postseason. Howard tore his Achilles tendon, and this caused him to miss the first three months of the  2012 season. This injury impacted the Phillies because his offensive production is tough to replace. The previous two seasons Howard had an average of at least 30 HRs and over 100 RBIs. If Howard is able to return to his production from the 2010 season then the Phillies will have no problem scoring runs.

Chase Utley is one of most productive 2B in baseball when healthy. Utley best year came in 2007 when hit 22 HRs had 102 RBIs. He had a three slash line of .332/.410/.976.

The next player whose injury had an impact on the team was Chase Utley. Utley had been dealing with a sore left knee that limited him to only playing in 82 games last season. Utley had been healthy from 2005 to 2009 where he averaged playing in 150 games.  Utley had averaged 29 HRs and 101 RBI for those five seasons where he was healthy.

The last three seasons Utley has only averaged playing in 100 games. The last three seasons Utley’s production has dipped. Utley has just averaged 13 HRs and 51 RBI in those three seasons.  The health of Chase Utley will be very important for the team moving forward this season.

Carlos Ruiz is a fan favorite among Phillies fans. He is known as ‘Chooch.’
Ruiz will miss the first 25 games of the season because he tested positive twice for a banned stimulant. Ruiz had three slash line of .325/.394/.935 last season.

The next Phillies player whose injury had an impact on the team was Carlos Ruiz. Ruiz was having a career year until he went down for the entire month of August with plantar fasciitis. Ruiz even with the injury had a great year; he had a three slash line of .325/.394/.935. He also had set career highs with 16 HRs and 68 RBI. Ruiz was the Phillies most consistent hitter last season.  

Carlos Ruiz will miss the first 25 games of the 2013 season because he tested positive twice for a banned stimulant which was Adderall. This impacts the Phillies because they will have a tough time replacing his bat in the lineup. The other impact this will have is that the replacement will also have to deal with catching the pitching staff as well. This means that Ryan Howard and Chase Utley will have to be the main source of offensive production while Ruiz is serving his suspension.

The health of these players will be a major factor for the team moving forward this season. The Phillies will surprise people this season by their play, and the players who were injured last season will have a  bounce back season.

Jonathan Paplebon had a great first season with the Phillies. He had 38 Saves, 2.44 ERA, WHIP of 1.05, and 11.8 SO/9. When the game is on the line there is no other closer  I would want with the ball in his hands than Papelbon. He has a great make up for a closer, a bulldog type mentality that wants the ball for those final three outs in the 9th inning.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com or their partners.***

A big thank-you goes out to our ”Phillies Correspondent’ Chris Lacey. Chris has been a fan of watching baseball since the age of 13. Now he does like all sports – but his favorites after baseball are  hockey and basketball.  Chris is very good with computers and is a college graduate.   Chris is very active on Twitter and especially during the baseball season chatting with other Diamondbacks fans. Be sure to follow him and talk about the great game of baseball. Follow @aecanada12

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