Chan Ho Park (PHI) – A dubious choice for the team’s No. 5 starter job, Park forced the issue after a great spring (2.25 ERA, 25:2 K:BB in 21 1/3 innings). Coors Field was somewhat of a factor Sunday, but it should have surprised no one to see Park last just 3 1/3 innings and allow five runs against the Rockies in a game the Phillies eventually won thanks to the Colorado bullpen. Park experienced a bit of a career renaissance last year in his second go-around with the Dodgers, recording a 3.40 ERA in 49 relief appearances and five starts. Park’s 7.5 K/9 and 2.2 K/BB were adequate, and after posting a 2.16 ERA on those five starts for the Dodgers and having that huge spring, you can hardly blame the Phillies for giving Park the nod over J.A. Happ and prospect Carlos Carrasco. Park’s opportunities to start are far from over, but come May, if he’s still struggling and Carrasco gets off to a strong start in Triple-A, a change could come relatively quickly.
Lou Marson (PHI) – With Carlos Ruiz being placed on the 15-day DL (oblique), the Phillies recalled Lou Marson on Saturday. It appears Chris Coste will be the primary catcher, as he got the starting nod on Sunday, going 0-for-3 (2-for-11 on the season). Coste though is roster-filler at its finest, as he’s 36 years of age with just north of 600 career at-bats. Look up “Quad-A player” on websters.com and you may indeed find a picture of Coste. The 22 year-old Marson meanwhile is one of the organization’s top prospects after batting .314/.433/.416 in 322 Double-A at-bats a year ago. He could use some Triple-A seasoning after going 1-for-20 this spring, but Coste and Ruiz are not the answers. Go ahead and pick him up, as Marson and Coste are likely to split the job fairly equally. Marson has homered just once per 56 at-bats in the minors, but he’s still developing that power and his control of the strike zone is impressive - .370 OBP, 0.69 EYE in 1,402 at-bats.
Chase Utley (PHI) – Utley’s value rose rapidly over the final two weeks of spring training as it became clear that he’d miss little, if any, of the regular season after undergoing offseason hip surgery. Utley of course missed no time, and after injury concerns dropped him on average 2-4 slots in most drafts, he’s already paying dividends. Sunday, Utley went 2-for-3 with his first home run, a walk, and his second stolen base. In 21 at-bats, he’s hitting a robust .476/.577/.667 with five walks and just three strikeouts. Utley had 18 home runs by the end of May last year and appears set for another solid start in 2009. It’s unfortunate that the presence of Placido Polanco in 2003-2004 ate into Utley’s at-bats and hindered his development, as you have to wonder at age 30, whether the game’s top second baseman has enough big seasons left to make his case for a plaque at Cooperstown.
Ryan Theriot (CHC) – Batting seventh, Theriot was 2-for-4 with a walk, double, two runs scored, an RBI, and a stolen base on Sunday. For the young season, that brings “the riot” to .560/.615/.700 in 20 at-bats. He’s walked five times and has yet to strike out. Meanwhile, Alfonso Soriano continues to lead off and hit home runs (fourth roundtripper Sunday), something he really should be doing in the middle of the order. Allow me to make it easier for Lou Piniella with this lineup: SS Theriot, RF Bradley, LF Soriano, C Soto, 3B Ramirez, 1B Lee, 2B Fontenot, CF Fukudome. Theriot of course isn’t a guy that’s going to be a big fantasy contributor considering the seven career home runs in 1,280 at-bats, but move him to the leadoff slot and he’ll get on base at a nice clip and score 110 runs while stealing 30 bases. Soriano though prefers to leadoff and apparently Piniella doesn’t want to damage his fragile psyche.
Rickie Weeks (MIL) – Weeks went 3-for-5 with his first home run (off Kevin Gregg) of the season Sunday, raising his batting line to .280/.357/.480 in 25 at-bats. Because it’s so early, the three hits raised his .200 average 80 points, so up until Sunday, Weeks was just 4-for-20 on the season. He’s walked just once while striking out six times this season, so we’ll need to see a few more three-hit games before we put too much stock in Weeks’ strong spring (.311 AVG, eight XBH). Weeks, a former #2 overall pick of the Brewers a few years ago, continues to tantalize with this tools and former prospect status, but we’ve probably all been burned by our high expectations of Weeks at least once before. Sure, THIS could be the year, but he could also hit .250 again and disappoint.
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