Philadelphia Phillies

Cole Hamels most likely won't be on the mound when Opening Night comes around next Sunday for the Philadelphia Phillies.

His trip from sunny Clearwater to Philadelphia last week to see doctors about his elbow tightness means he won't debut until the team's fourth game against Colorado.

David Price won't open the 2009 season with the Tampa Bay Rays.

He will be in the minors, where the Rays will closely monitor his early-season workload hopefully he will be fresh for the dog days of summer.

If you’re looking for the news and stats from the game, you’re probably reading the wrong article, but I can tell you a few things that I noticed.

Joba Chamberlain looked a little rough in the first inning. By a little rough, I mean he let up a couple of home runs in the first inning. That’s never sexy, but at least it was better than what happened the last time I saw him pitch. It was in Cleavland, there were a bunch of bugs, and it was during the playoffs. Need I say more?

The Phillies have won two World Series titles since 1883. The Florida Marlins have won two titles since 1993. The Marlins are a pesky team for the Phillies.

Yes, the Mets will finally hold off the Phillies to win the NL East this year, I swear.

As the waning weeks of spring training come to a close, we are reminded of the troubles that Philadelphia Phillies have trying to fill openings in the starting rotation, and bullpen.

A lot of players' major league lives are on the line. A bad outing here, a blown game there, and the next thing you know your back to triple-A trying to figure out what exactly went wrong, and how to fix it.

There are certain iconic phrases and images whose mere mention will produce galvanized memories among most. 

The line "I'll be back" makes us all think of Arnold Schwarzenegger in "The Terminator."  The phrase "Do you believe in miracles?" is forever screamed in Al Michael's excited register and in reference to the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team. 

Unless you have lived in a cave since the late 1990s, the image of a bloody sock makes you think of Curt Schilling.

Today, Schilling announced his retirement. 

After the Tampa Bay Rays halted the New York Yankees' bid for a ten-game winning streak yesterday, the Phillies handed Chien-Ming Wang his second loss of the spring.

Matt Stairs will forever be remembered for the game-winning home run in in a 7-5 win against the Los Angeles Dodgersin Game 4 of the 2008 NLCS.

That being said, when the season opens, or shortly thereafter, he could be gone.

I watched my first full exhibition game today against the Minnesota Twins (a 2-1 loss) and noticed a few things. Matt Stairs was playing left field and Raul Ibenez pinch hit. Geoff Jenkins played right and John Mayberry, Jr., shown above, played center.

Scott Lauber covers the Phillies beat for the Wilmington News Journal.  He also runs the blog Philled In, an inside take on your WFC. 

I caught up with him, from Clearwater, to talk baseball last night.

SHAY RODDY: Alex Rodriguez admitted to taking steroids from 2001-2003. What does this mean for the game?

No, folks, the battle for the last spot in the Phillies rotation is not over.

And yes, Kyle Kendrick is a long shot to make it.

Going into spring training, there was four-way battle for the fifth spot in the Phillies rotation. The contenders were Kyle Kendrick, J.A. Happ, Chan Ho Park, and Carlos Carrasco.

The other four spots in the Phillies rotation are currently held by Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Jamie Moyer, and Joe Blanton.