ESPN.com - Major League Baseball - Philadelphia Phillies preview


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Thursday, April 5
Philadelphia Phillies preview

ESPN.com

POWER RANKINGS


	The underrated Bobby Abreu was five homers and two steals shy of a 30-30 season in 2000.

Strength of schedule
.505, 5th in NL
Lineup ranking
10th in NL
Pitching ranking
14th in NL
Prediction
4th in NL East

The lowdown
2000 record: 65-97 (5th in NL East)
Runs scored: 708, 16th in NL
Runs allowed: 830, 11th in NL

Three key issues for 2001
1. Doug Glanville and Jimmy Rollins must get on base at the top of the order to prove RBI opportunities for the meat of the order.

2. Will Larry Bowa's intensity grow old in a hurry?

3. Will the bullpen be any better than last year's disaster?

Three key facts
1. The Phillies scored a National League-low 708 runs last season and finished second-to-last in the league with a .251 team batting average.

2. Scott Rolen won his second Gold Glove and finished second among third basemen with a .971 fielding percentage. The team tied a club record by commiting just 100 errors.

3. Randy Wolf threw more than 100 pitches in 27 of his 32 starts, including 11 outings in which he threw more than 120.

RETURNING 2000 STATISTICAL LEADERS

AVG	B. Abreu	.316
HR	S. Rolen	26
RBI	S. Rolen	89
RUN	B. Abreu	103
SB	D. Glanville	31
WIN	R. Wolf	11
SV	W. Gomes	7
ERA	R. Person	3.63
Complete 2000 Statistics: Batting \| Pitching

Dave Campbell's scenarios
Best case: Bowa gets Phils Rolen.
Phillies desperately seeking to reverse losing trend.

Worst case: Gutterballs and 7-10 splits.
Twelve of last 13 years for Phils have resulted in losing records, and the end of the tunnel could be nowhere in sight.

ESPN.com's lineup analysis
Player	Comment	Pos. rank*
D. Glanville, CF	Very good in '99 (.376 OBP); very awful in '00 (.307)	11
J. Rollins, SS	Solid all-around game, but may struggle early on	9
B. Abreu, RF	Gets our vote as game's most underrated player	3
S. Rolen, 3B	Old turf is gone; hope his back isn't permanently damaged	2
P. Burrell, LF	Will hit 40 home runs -- maybe this year	7
T. Lee, 1B	Woof, woof	14
M. Lieberthal, C	Injuries led to terrible second half (.210)	5
M. Anderson, 2B	Gets second chance after hitting .252 in '99	16
ESPN.com's pitching staff analysis
B. Chen, LHP	Is ready to become one of NL's premier lefties	13
R. Person, RHP	Not a good bet to post 3.63 ERA again	31
R. Wolf, LHP	Good bet to end up on the DL due to overuse	50
O. Daal, LHP	Good bet to ... well, let's just say he won't lose 19 again	47
Middle relief	Should be better than last year, but that isn't saying much	16
J. Mesa, CL	Last good year for Mesa or Bottalico: 1997	16

	Position average (NL rank):	8.38 (T9th)
	Pitching index (NL rank):	12.00 (14th)

* Position rank, compiled by ESPN.com's baseball staff, compares each NL team's strength at that position, including platoons, based on players' total projected value (offense, defense, durability) for the 2001 season.

NL position players and bullpens ranked on a 1-16 basis, with 1 being best.
NL starting pitchers ranked on 1-64 basis, with 1 being best. Cumulative rankings of starting pitchers are combined with bullpen and closer for overall pitching index, with more weight given to starters.
In both rankings, 1.00 is the best possible score, 16.00 the worst.

Click here for position-by-position NL rankings.

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