Philadelphia Phillies 2004 Season Preview

Jimmy Rollins and Co. should be all smiles this season

On Opening Day for the past few years, Philadelphia Phillies fans faced a few familiar sights, sounds, and tastes: a cheesesteak from Pat's Famous Steaks, the voice of Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Kalas, the concrete mass known as Veterans Stadium, and an underachieving team on the baseball diamond. But this year, the Phillies organization has made sure that fans get to see some unfamiliar sights this season.

Gone is the mess of Astroturf and metal that made up the Phillies' home for decades. Its replacement, Citizens Bank Park, makes Veterans Stadium look like a Triple-A ballpark. The Phillies who will open up the new stadium are just as improved as their new home with the hope that they'll be able to take advantage of some of the best offseason moves the club has seen in recent years just in time to compete against a decimated National League East division.

Last season, the Phillies made an exciting run at the National League Wild Card, only to be beaten out by the eventual World Series champion Florida Marlins. It's hard to assign any of the blame on any single aspect of the club, which suffered from underachievers in both its starting rotation and lineup. Their biggest concern was the bullpen, which had trouble closing games after great performances by their starters. And that's where they began rebuilding. They started by acquiring closer Billy Wagner, one of the best in the game today, in exchange for young pitcher Brandon Duckworth and some spare parts. Wagner comes off of another spectacular year, saving 44 games for the Houston Astros, holding batters to a .169 average with 105 Ks to go along with a stellar 1.78 ERA. He is a huge improvement over Jose Mesa, who ended last season with an awful 6.54 ERA. The Phils didn't stop there, adding former closers Roberto Hernandez and Tim Worrell, the latter of whom saved an impressive 38 games for the San Francisco Giants last season in place of injured Robb Nen. Alongside returning Phillies Rheal Cormier and Dave Coggin, Philadelphia's revamped bullpen won't be giving fans heart attacks this season.

General Manager Ed Wade then turned his attention to the starting rotation, where he saw that four of the five pitchers won 14 games or more. Wade's best move of the offseason was to offer arbitration to and eventually re-sign ace Kevin Millwood. With Millwood, Randy Wolf and Vincente Padilla, the Phillies have a great front three from last season. Add young gun Brett Myers and the Phils become truly formidable. But Wade wanted a fifth pitcher to make Philadelphia solid from the top to the bottom of the rotation. And he found him in Eric Milton, the oft-injured but solid-when-healthy pitcher who once went 15-7 for the Minnesota Twins. If (and that's a pretty big if) Milton stays healthy, the Phils' rotation is one of the top five in the National League, up there with the Houston Astros' and Chicago Cubs' star-studded staffs.

But imagine how much better Philly's staff must feel staring at a lineup card with Jim Thome's name on it. The burly first baseman came off of another stellar season, his first in the City of Brotherly Love, batting .266 with an NL-leading 47 dingers and an eye-popping 131 RBIs, good for third in the league. Right fielder Bobby Abreu (300, 20, 101, and 22 stolen bases) had a solid season. Phillies management is hoping Pat Burrell will bounce back from his dismal 2003 numbers in which he batted .209 and struck out 142 times. With centerfielder Marlon Byrd developing into a good leadoff hitter and the front office hoping that shortstop Jimmy Rollins will stop trying to hit homers and just make contact, the Phillies have some talent surrounding their core of Thome and Abreu. While second baseman Placido Polanco (.289, 14, 63) and third baseman David Bell (.195, 4, 37) didn't exactly impress anyone with their performances last year, the Phils did have a surprise as catcher Mike Lieberthal made a great comeback from two tough years to bat .313 with 13 homers and a stellar 81 RBIs.

Wade didn't make any changes to the Phils' starting lineup, but he did add a few utility players that could play important roles on the team. Former Anaheim Angel Shawn Wooten has come into camp in shape and will be a great addition as Thome's backup. Wade even brought back centerfielder and former Philly fan favorite Doug Glanville to be a leader in the clubhouse. This is a Phillies squad with enough offense to support its great pitching staff and a great bench to match. The only problem facing their lineup is the abundance of strikeouts: they were the fourth worst team in all of Major League Baseball with 1155 Ks.

So what should Philadelphia expect this season? They're in the best position in the NL East: The Atlanta Braves have holes in their rotation. The Montreal Expos lost their best pitcher (Javier Vasquez) and player (Vladimir Guerrero). The New York Mets are in the middle of a rebuilding period. And those very Florida Marlins who made a miraculous run to the championship? Losing Derrek Lee and Ugueth Urbina has raised some real concerns about them.

If the Phillies are poised to make a playoff run, this is their year, especially in a new stadium and with the immense amount of talent. This "Philadelphia Story" could have an even happier marriage at the end: after waiting 24 years, the city finally gets its ring.