Feb 17 2009
Phillies complete first full squad workout
The Phillies’ defense of their World Series title is now in full swing. Today, the Phightins took part in their first official full squad workout. There’s no major news to report, but there are a few odds and ends.
On the injury front, “Uncle” Charlie Manuel stated that Chase Utley is further along in his rehab from hip surgery than Pedro Feliz is on rehabbing his back. Today, Chase took fielding practice and hit balls off of a tee, while Pedro is doing neither. However, Peter Happy could start throwing in a few days. Hopefully, both players will be in the starting line-up on Opening Day and Manuel believes that will be the case.
Right now, Utley looks like he’s on track for April 5, but Feliz is in his 13th week of a rehab program that was supposed to be a maximum of 12 weeks. That’s kind of a red flag. Eric Bruntlett, Jason Donald, Marcus Giles and Miguel Cairo seem to be the guys in the running to fill-in if Utley and/or Feliz need more time to heal. Bruntlett is the only one of that group who is guaranteed a spot on the team, and in my opinion, would be the likely replacement starter for both guys.
In other news, the Phils now have 37 players on their 40-man roster under contract. Catcher Chris Coste agreed to a split contract and will earn $460,000 in the majors, and $249,000 in the minors. The only members of the 40-man roster that have yet to sign are catchers Carlos Ruiz and Ronny Paulino, and reliever Mike Zagurski. I’m pretty sure the Phillies will not have a problem signing any of them.
The Phillies will play their first Spring Training game on February 25 at McKechnie Field in Bradenton, Florida against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Go Phillies!
