Phillies Potentially Allow 15 Dreams to Come True or Be Crushed
By Justin Klugh
Now is that time of year when we all squint at lists of names to see if we recognize anybody coming to Spring Training.
“The, Phillies, huh? Is that Ryan Howard still playing?” ask uninformed middle-aged men, adjusting their pants.
Well, person I just made up to make myself seem smarter, no. Ryan Howard is not playing at the moment. Chances are he’s having NASA scientists vomit in trash cans at the nature of his horrible achilles injury. Who we’re talking about here are guys like Austin Hyatt and B.J. Rosenberg and Scott Podsednik.
In a sense, these are the guys that Spring Training is all about. Sure, an important part of Ryan Howard has exploded. But that doesn’t necessarily eliminate him from contention to start at first base for the Phillies this year. In fact, it definitely doesn’t. So we can all go to sleep tonight knowing that Chase and Jimmy and Ryan and all those guys who aren’t getting older at all, ever, will make the squad.
But for the rest of these guys, this is tryouts. And as a former participant in tryouts, I can assure you, they’re no picnic. At least, I imagine they aren’t. These guys probably don’t have the advantage of their dad being the athletic director so they’re probably even more concerned about not making the cut.
So, your 2012 list of Phillies hopefuls includes:
RHP
- Austin Hyatt
- Dave Bush
- B.J. Rosenberg
- Scott Elarton
- Brian Sanches
LHP
- David Purcey
- Pat Misch
- Raul Valdes
C
- Tuffy Gosewisch
- Steven Lerud
IF
- Hector Luna
- Kevin Frandsen
- Pete Orr
OF
- Scott Podsednik
- Luis Montanez
I know what you’re thinking. “Isn’t Kevin Frandsen that troublemaker from the Giants who got suspended for drugs?” Yes, he is. Only back then, he was some guy you’ve never heard of. Now, he’s a Phillies trainee, with a second lease on life.One thing, however, is guaranteed: Nothing is guaranteed to these fellows.