Installment 2 of 5
THE BENCH AND THE BUBBLE
Pitchers and catchers have reported to sunny Florida to get into baseball shape, work on their game, and hurlers develop and improve new pitches in their arsenal that will have an impact. The pop of fastballs hitting catchers’ mitts, the bite of sliders in the dirt creating a splash of dust into the crisp spring air, and the banter of teammates in the prodding creativeness with jobs at stake for contenders and long-shots alike. Cole Hamels will hurl a third pitch to rebound for a big season, and Kyle Kendrick will endeavor to take his success at Triple-A Lehigh Valley to the 5-slot in the starting rotation of the parent club. The starting lineup is another issue on the table for Manager Cholley Manuel, and my original thinking was Shane Victorino batting 6th with Raul “I-Bomb” Ibanez in the 7 hole. That said, there is a strong argument for the other way around, as well. One of the many big questions of this camp is a third-straight trip to The Fall Classic, which would elevate Cholley to the best manager in the history of the franchise.
Spring Fling:
The first days of camp are in the past, the second days of everybody in uniform are over, and photo day was staged. Today, it’s not just yearbook pictures, scoreboard likenesses, bubble-gum-card mug shots; but also the game-industry-likeness gadgets. One of those players was I-Bomb. Cholley has pulled a Yogi @
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