Liberty Ball

2011 Season Picks

MVPs

AL: New York Yankees 3B Alex Rodriquez

NL: St Louis Cardinals 1B Albert Pujols

CY Young

AL: Boston Red Sox LH Jon Lester

NL: Philadelphia Phillies RH Roy Halladay

Rookie of the Year

AL: Chicago White Sox LHP Chris Sale

NL: Atlanta Braves 1B Freddie Freeman

Manager of the Year

AL: Oakland A’s Bob Geren

NL: Milwaukee Brewers Ron Roenicke

Post season teams:

AL: Boston, Minnesota,Oakland, Chicago(Wild Card)

NL: Atlanta, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Philadelphia(Wild Card)

2011 Philadelphia Phillies season preview

Prediction: 2nd in the NL East(Wild Card winner)

Team strengths: Incredible rotation, led by two true #1 starters in RH Roy Halladay and LH Cliff Lee…. Winning culture and environment…. Vastly underrated skipper Charlie Manuel….Deep bullpen… Elite infield when intact…. Play great at home….C Carlos Ruiz, the best catcher you never hear about… Farm system…. GM Ruben Amaro Jr

Team Weaknesses: Health!!! The team’s best player, 2B Chase Utley, is battling a major knee injury. Lidge is a question mark while team spark plug and SS Jimmy Rollins battled leg issues in 2010…. Division is much better than people think… This lineup has holes with Utley but without him, slugging 1B Ryan Howard will get the Barry Bonds treatment, aka 1 pitch to hit a game…Losing RF Jayson Werth, a 5 tool talent and locker room presence, is huge. Further magnified by the injury to rookie RF Domonic Brown… Team is a bit old

STARTING LINEUP

1B Howard

2B Utley(DL to open season), Luis Castillo

SS Rollins

3B Placido Polanco

RF Ben Francisco

CF Shane Victorino

LF Raul Ibanez

C  Ruiz

ROTATION

Halladay

Lee

RH  Roy Oswalt

LH Cole Hamels

RH  Joe Blanton

Closer

RH Lidge(Opening the season on the DL), Contreras

An MRI on the right shoulder of Philadelphia Phillies closer Brad Lidge Tuesday revealed right rotator cuff strain. The injury does not require surgery but he cannot throw for 3 weeks. If the rehab goes well, Lidge could return by the end of May. The closer will start the season on the disabled list for the third time in the last four years. Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel has tabbed veteran RH Jose Contreras to be the closer, keeping RH Ryan Madson in his comfortable 8th inning set-up role.

The 4 time defending NL East Champion Philadelphia Phillies will enter the 2011 campaign without two vital cogs, all star 2B Chase Utley and closer Brad Lidge. Utley, who has not run or taken ground balls since February, is still hampered by a right knee issue.  While he has improved enough to travel with the team to Pennsylvania for the start the season, he is not close to a return, according to GM Ruben Amaro Jr. The club recently signed ex NY Met Luis Castillo and he will open the season at 2nd baring any last minute miracles.   Closer Brad Lidge has pain in the back of his throwing shoulder and will start the season on the DL as well. The earliest Lidge can return is April 9th and it marks the 3rd time in 4 seasons that the closer has opened a season on the disabled list. He will undergo an MRI sometime next week in Philadelphia, Ryan Madson and Jose Contreras will close while Lidge is out.   Utley and Lidge join rookie Domonic Brown as 3 key components to hit the DL before the season starts.

Other Notes: RHSP Roy Oswalt is fine after being struck in the neck by a line drive Wednesday(March 23) and he should be good to go. The incident brought back bad memories for Oswalt who played in the Astros organization with Mike Coolbaugh. Coolbaugh died when he was struck by a ball while serving as a 1B coach in 2007…3B Placido Polanco should return Friday(March 25th) after hyperextending his left elbow March 15th.. Nothing official but it appears that OF Ben Francisco has won the RF job with a strong spring(.358,3 homers, 8 rbi in 53 at bats)….. CF Shane Victorino is ok after colliding in the field with LF Raul Ibanez in a game Monday(March 21st). He suffered a bruised left eye and sore jaw but

A mixed bag of news for the Philadelphia Phillies as the team approaches the start of the 2011 season. The team extended two key management figures in skipper Charlie Manuel(2 years, To 2013) and Senior Vice President-General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr.( 4 year Thru 2015) last week but their jobs might become much more difficult  . All star 2B Chase Utley’s right knee injury has not improved and he is more than likely to open the season on the 15 day disabled list.  The 3 part injury-patellar tendinitis, chondromalacia(runners knee)  and bone inflamation in the knee- has forced Utley to miss every Grapefruit league game and the club does not expect him to play at all until April 1st at the earliest. He took batting practice Tuesday(March 15th) but  he cannot run or take the field, look for Wilson Valdez to be the Phillies 2nd baseman on opening day. Not a good sign for this team when you consider how tough and what  a gamer Utley is.

Tough 2nd week of spring training for the 4 time defending NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies as both a franchise player and talented youngster dealt with injury issues. All star 2B Chase Utley(Tendinitis in right knee) did not improve after team physicians prescribed rest after a February 26th MRI and he received a cortisone injection Friday(March 4th). The club hopes to have a better idea where Utley is in the next 24-48 hours.  If their is no improvement the injury is probably something more than just tendinitis.

The news on potential everyday right fielder Domonic Brown is much more definitive but not good. After fracturing a bone in his hand while swinging the bat in Saturday’s  spring training game, the youngster will miss 4 to 6 weeks.   Brown was set to return to Philadelphia Sunday March 6th and will be examined by hand specialist Randall Cup Monday. Interesting to note that Brown’s chief competitor for the right field position Ben Francisco suffered the same injury in his his left hand in 2003. He was injured on March 27th and returned June 1st. “It’s tough,”  Francisco said of Brown’s injury. “I’m sure he’ll come back strong from surgery.”  Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. will not add a position player to fill Brown’s void citing Francisco, prospect John Mayberry Jr and veterans Ross Gload and Delwyn Young as potential in house replacements.