Phillies' Infield - Review and Preview

For most of the season, Charlie Manuel platooned his catcher and third baseman. Pedro Feliz started a majority of the games at third base but Greg Dobbs received a significant number of starts against right-handed pitchers. Likewise, Carlos Ruiz started most games behind the plate but Chris Coste played often, particularly earlier in the season when he was hitting well. However, this pattern changed late in the season. Although Manuel never made any formal announcement on the subject, Feliz and Ruiz began starting virtually every game. Ruiz had a terrible year at the plate but he is an excellent defensive catcher, and when Coste's hitting went south, pencilling Carlos' name in the lineup became an easy decision. The icing on the cake was that Ruiz' hitting picked up dramatically at the end of the season and into the playoffs. Manuel's decision to play Feliz more was obviously dictated by defensive considerations - Feliz was rock solid with a Gold Glove to prove it. Pedro was erratic at the plate all year but he did manage to come through at some very opportune times.

So assuming the Phils stand pat, we are looking at an infield of Ruiz, Howard, Utley, Rollins and Feliz next year with Bruntlett as backup. Defensively, Ruiz, Rollins, and Feliz are as good as it gets. Utley is solid if not spectacular. Howard, unfortunately, is a liability, but this is not the American League and there is no place for him to hide.

Offensively, Utley, Howard and Rollins are the team's nucleus, but in the best of all possible worlds, they would and should each hit at least 15 points higher next year. If Feliz plays almost every day, he should hit at least 20 home runs but probably not for average. Ruiz is the intriguing case. It should not be hard to improve on his .219 average of 2008 and if he can get to .260 with a bit of power, he would provide some needed juice to the bottom of the order. But more importantly, it would enable Manuel to stick with Feliz. It's difficult for any team, especially in the National League and no DH, to use two position players solely for their defense. It just takes too much pressure off opposing pitchers. If either Ruiz or Feliz don't become a more consistent threat at the plate, the Phils' manager will likely have to return to some sort of platooning scheme, or even consider a trade or acquisition.