Last season, the Phillies had one of the best offensive lineups in baseball. They feature three perennial MVP candidates in Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins.
Despite the loss of Pat Burrell to free agency, the Phillies were able to upgrade the left field position to a more consistent hitter with the recently signed Raul Ibanez, and more importantly they added yet another dangerous lefthanded hitter to their already potent lineup.
In addition to switch hitters Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins, they now feature lefthanded sluggers Utley, Howard and Ibanez. When a right hander is on the mound, platoon players Geoff Jenkins and Gregg Dobbs are in the lineup too.
John Maine and Mike Pelfrey will have their work cut out for them. So will any other right handed starter the Mets choose to sign in the coming weeks.
It’s almost as if the Phillies strongly considered our weakness and used their off season capital to gain some leverage against the Mets and exploit that weakness further.
With the additions of K-Rod and Putz to the bullpen, no one can deny the obvious upgrade to what was a poison pen, but it’s a bullpen that currently features just one lefthander at the moment in Pedro Feliciano.
Obviously, the Mets have some more work to do between now and Opening Day, but clearly the focus should be not just on adding another starter, but making sure it’s a lefthanded starter at that. Finding a capable left handed specialist for that bullpen, will also be a top priority.
