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I think it's a no-brainer that they are the favorites to win it all. That means nothing at the beginning of a season, but there's a lot of reasons to be optimistic.
They kept most of their pieces from last year. Losing Michael Morse hurts offensively; that guy is going to be a monster this year. He is already locked in at the plate, and I think he'll carry it over to a 25hr/100RBI season in Seatle. Denard span doesn't have any of that power, but he gets on base more and he's great on the basepaths. With Span/Werth/Harper in the outfield, not many balls are going to fall.
Losing Edwin Jackson and Sean Burnett are more than made up for by Dan Haren and Rafael Soriano. Haren was injured last year, but if he's completely healthy he's an inning-eating top tier #2 pitcher. Despite a good ERA, Burnett was basically a lefty specialist who got rocked by right handers; Soriano is a dominant closer.
Bryce Harper is a year older, a year stronger and a year smarter. Jason Werth's wrist should be getting better. Zimmerman is Zimmerman. Stasburg is Strasburg. Gio Gonzalez is not a fluke. Jordan Zimmermann just got 27 outs in a row. Espinosa, my biggest question mark, is swinging a hot bat. Maybe LaRoche doesn't put up another career season, but he's still a solid bat.
I don't see any weaknesses, and even if a player or two goes down to injury or has an off season, you've got enough talent there to pick up the slack.
Pretty much summarizes it up. I also will say that the NL East is weaker. The Marlins won't be the threat that many people thought they would be last year. I will add too, although I really like Mikey Mo, I think getting Span is going to make the lineup better. The problem they had last year is they really didn't have a means to manufacture runs. Of course some of that is just managerial style, but honestly besides probably Espinosa or Suzuki/Flores, who was going to bunt a runner over when needed? This lineup is much more balanced now. They have a bonafide get-on-base top of the order player, instead of using Werth in that role. Werth hopefully will regain his power and become a good second place hitter to get Span more pitches to swing at.
Pretty much summarizes it up. I also will say that the NL East is weaker. The Marlins won't be the threat that many people thought they would be last year. I will add too, although I really like Mikey Mo, I think getting Span is going to make the lineup better. The problem they had last year is they really didn't have a means to manufacture runs. Of course some of that is just managerial style, but honestly besides probably Espinosa or Suzuki/Flores, who was going to bunt a runner over when needed? This lineup is much more balanced now. They have a bonafide get-on-base top of the order player, instead of using Werth in that role. Werth hopefully will regain his power and become a good second place hitter to get Span more pitches to swing at.
I agree with you; a very well balanced line-up. I'm an optimistic Phillies fan, and I think the best we can hope for is a wild card berth.
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