The state of the pen

Question marks cover the Phillies bullpen going into spring training. Pat Gillick has assembled a number of puzzle pieces but the general picture is still unclear. The Phillies reliever corps is the biggest weakness of an otherwise very strong team. Relief pitchers always want to know what role they have on the team. Unfortunately for the Phillies relievers, many of them don’t have clearly defined jobs.

Here’s what we know. Tom Gordon, Geoff Geary, Ryan Madson, and Matt Smith have spots on the Phillies roster. Tom Gordon will finish games as the closer and Matt Smith will face lefties as the Phillies southpaw specialist. After that things get cloudy.

One factor contributing to the Phils relieving quandary is the health of Antonio Alfonseca. Alfonseca will pitch; the question is in what situations. A former closer Alfonseca could be the ace reliever the Phillies need to pitch in the eighth inning. Alfonseca has also been plagued by injuries the past two seasons and could potentially not even make the Phillies roster out of spring training.

There are also a number of potential trades that could mix up the Phillies roster. Aaron Rowand and Jon Lieber have both been mentioned in trade talks for relief pitchers. Lieber will probably be traded eventually even if he remains a Phillie on opening day. If a trade does go through the Phillies would presumably receive a blue chip reliever in return who would serve as the setup man. If he weren’t traded then Lieber would start and push Adam Eaton from the Phillies rotation to the bullpen.

Assuming Eaton starts the season in the pen then the Phillies will have one bullpen spot remaining. Fabio Castro, Eude Brito, Anderson Garcia, Jim Ed Warden, Alfredo Simon, and Joseph Bisenius are all in competition for that final roster slot. Another possibility is free agent reliever Dustin Hermanson. The former White Sox closer will work out for a number of teams this week including the Phillies. Hermanson has had injury issues missing most of last season. The Phillies could benefit from taking a flyer on Hermanson if healthy.

Going into spring training with a smoky picture of their bullpen could end up benefiting the Phillies in the long run. The open competition will force the Phils pitchers to give their all during spring training. That would give Pat Gillick and Charlie Manuel a clearer picture of which pitchers they can count on during the season.

Sources:
Waiting for that other game, here are XLI tidbits
By Jim Salisbury / Philadelphia Inquirer

First picture of Tom Gordon form MLB.com, and second picture of Dustin Hermanson from sportsencyclopedia.com