Philadelphia Phillies

If the Phillies struggle with their health again this season, guys are going to have to step up besides Wilson Valdez.  A couple of prospects have shown some rather nice signs in camp. 

At the start of spring training, there were approximately 12 pitchers fighting for two to three spots in the bullpen.  A few have emerged.

Let's take a look at five prospects that have caught my eye in spring training.

Chase Utley's Bum Knee

In spite of the positive spin the Philadelphia Phillies and Chase Utley are putting on his pained knee, he has been diagnosed with patella tendinitis, chondromalacia and bone inflammation, and is now heading to see a rehab specialist because the team is afraid to have his knee cut open—and rightly so. 

On Sunday, the Philadelphia Phillies signed Luis Castillo to a minor league deal and it makes perfect sense to do so.

Much like the Miami Heat when they signed the triplets, many in the sports world had them winning it all, including 70 games.  Now, they will be lucky to get to 60 games on the season and winning it all doesn't seem so likely anymore.  

When the Phillies signed their stellar rotation, most in the sports world had them winning the World Series.  People thought that they had it all sewn up—ready to hand them the trophy.  Not so fast my friends, not so fast.

Well, it looks like it may be a reality: Luis Castillo is reported close to signing a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. Quite frankly, I am not sure how I feel about this. One would assume that there are some pros and some cons so let's take a look at some of them

With the injury to Chase Utley, a hole is left in the Phillies infield. How the Phillies will fill this hole is still unknown. In fact, the significance of Utley's injury is not yet known either.

Wilson Valdez, who filled in for the injured Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins last season, can be a quick fix for the Phillies. Valdez did a great job filling in for these two key players and did a great job as a bench player as well, hitting .258 over the entire 2010 season.

This letter is intended for all players, coaches, trainers and fans of the National League, but most importantly for the Phillies Phaithful:

Dear National League,

As spring training winds down with under two weeks to go, the Phillies 2011 roster is starting to come into focus.  The chart on the bottom right is a look at 24 of the 25 available roster spots as they may unfold.

The list right now has 12 pitchers, although the Phillies could add David Herndon and go with 13.  Kyle Kendrick has not had a good spring, but the Phils are paying him too much to send him back to Triple-A.  It could happen, as Herndon has been pretty good, but it is unlikely.

News of Chase Utley's tendinitis in his right knee has spread around the baseball world over the past few weeks. While Utley doesn't look like he'll need any serious treatment, he's already received a cortisone shot in the knee, but it didn't have any effect.

He's rested and stayed off the knee as much as possible, but that was to no avail. He's even suggested that he could receive either a steroid injection or lubricant injection to speed up the process, but neither are certain as of yet.

As Phillies fans, we have all shared times of pain and futility.

If you are unfortunate enough to remember the '84 to '92 years, or more recently, the '94 to '00 seasons, then you've experienced as much heartache as any Phillies fans in history.

Thank goodness, we've been fortunate enough to experience quite a bit of team success on our times as well. 

I began my journey with the Phillies as a six-year-old in 1979, and I've been very lucky to see my team come away with five NL Pennants and two World Series Championships.