In Howard's absence, Phillies will look for cleanup hitter

THE MANAGER appeared to be in good spirits yesterday evening. Later this week, he'll fly to Tampa and put down some money on the place he is renting for spring training. Last night, he was in a conference room at the Crowne Plaza in Cherry Hill, part of the sizable contingent that the Phillies sent to the annual banquet hosted by the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association. Three months have elapsed since the Phillies lost to the Cardinals in Game 5 of the National League Division Series, more than enough time to restore some youth to Charlie Manuel's face.

That said, every new season brings with it new worry, and if last night was any indication, finding a new cleanup hitter sits atop the veteran skipper's list. First, he offered an overly optimistic prognosis for usual No. 4 hitter Ryan Howard, saying he did not think the slugger would miss "much time" while recovering from offseason surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles' tendon. Then, he seemed to allow a bit of an edge to creep into his voice after a reporter asked who he envisioned hitting cleanup in Howard's absence.

"Depends on who we play there," Manuel said.

Maybe he was just stating the obvious. Or maybe he knows the question has no obvious answer. Manuel went on to say that leftfielder John Mayberry Jr. would probably be the first option, but he also mentioned Jim Thome, Ty Wigginton and Laynce Nix as possible candidates.

"I've got [Chase] Utley and Hunter Pence," Manuel said. "They can play there too."

In other words, unless you were hoping he would say Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco, Carlos Ruiz, Michael Martinez, Brian Schneider or Pat Burrell, chances are your horse is still alive. Mayberry has the type of power that could replace Howard's, but you'd have to worry whether thrusting him into such a prominent role would affect his mental approach at the plate. The 28-year-old righthanded hitter still hasn't logged 300 plate appearances in a season and is just 2-for-11 with four strikeouts and no extra-base hits in his career at No. 4. Pence has struggled in 30 career starts in the cleanup spot: His numbers are far more prolific at No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6. Whether Thome can play defense well enough to start a game remains a question. And Wigginton and Nix wouldn't hit cleanup on most major league teams, let alone one that is coming off a major league-leading 102 wins.