Week In Review – Final Roster, Opening Day, Disappointment
The final roster was set this week in anticipation of Opening Day this past Thursday afternoon in Pittsburgh. The usual suspects made the team with a few name names mixed in. Check out to see who made it and who didn’t quite make the cut.
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One of the new guys on this years team is Freddy Galvis. Galvis moved up the ranks as a speedy shortstop with a sure glove and even better arm. When Chase Utley went down, again, during the Spring, Galvis was asked to step in and play second base. Opening Day comes and Galvis is the first rookie since Marlon Byrd to start the season opener.
There are still a lot of questions to be answered about the young 22 year-old. What can we expect from him? How will switching positions affect his defense?
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So while Galvis has made the jump to the Majors, an entire farm system is also readying itself for a long summer. Clearwater, Lakewood, Reading and Lehigh Valley all have high expectations for this season. FanGraphs put out their annual ranking of baseball organizations and you might be surprised to see where the Phillies ended up.
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Well Opening Day came and went the same way a lot of people thought it would. Roy Halladay was on the mound, and it was a beautiful afternoon at PNC Park. Halladay did not disappoint and the Phillies would open the season with a big win
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The rest of the weekend was not that fulfilling. The Pirates walked off both Saturday night and Sunday afternoon after some fine pitching from Cliff Lee and Vance Worley, respectively.
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With the first weekend over with and done there are still a lot of expectations not being met. It was not too crazy to expect this team to sweep the Pirates before heading home to face Miami. Clearly, there are some things that need ironing out. Start with the offense and keep on going to the bullpen.
It is still early, obviously. No need to panic yet.
