But Garcia isn't healthy. And the bullpen continues to be a concern.
Time will sort out those issues. So let's sort out some of the changes that took place since the Phillies challenged for the National League wild card through the final weekend of last season.
Armed. Ready?
It's hard to remember, but the Phillies were having a pretty unsuccessful off-season before they acquired Freddy Garcia from the Chicago White Sox. They lost the Alfonso Soriano sweepstakes. They lost Randy Wolf to the Los Angeles Dodgers. They couldn't find a setup man to help closer Tom Gordon. But then the Phillies surprised everybody by acquiring Garcia when they already had five starting pitchers.
Suddenly, optimism soared.
The Phillies expected to open the season with a rotation of Brett Myers, Cole Hamels, Garcia, Jamie Moyer and Adam Eaton, with Jon Lieber in the bullpen. But Garcia experienced soreness in his right biceps March 21. He probably won't be back until the middle of the month. But before he was hurt, he hadn't shown much velocity on his fastball. Is he the same Freddy Garcia who pitched 200 or more innings the previous six seasons?
The Phillies badly need him to be. But the season will open with Garcia and Lieber on the disabled list.
The bullpen
Charlie Manuel's mood soured as the spring wore on - and understandably so. He was concerned about his bullpen.
The Phillies made no off-season moves to improve their relief corps other than to take a flier on righthander Antonio Alfonseca. That could mean trouble. Closer Tom Gordon was brought along slowly this spring, which makes one wonder how often he can be relied upon during the season. The Phillies wanted to find a certified stud to set up and fill in should Gordon miss time this season with an injury.
