MLB Predictions: The Phillies’ “Fab Five” Will Be Even Better Than Expected
February 14, 2011 by Gregory Pinto
Filed under Fan News
Spring Training is upon us, and boy does it feel good. Even on Valentine’s Day, the predominant feeling in the city of Philadelphia revolves around the future and not the present.
“I can’t wait for Opening Day.”
Of course, that feeling is mutual across the United States, as baseball players of all shapes and sizes head to Florida and Arizona to prepare for a long-anticipated season.
In Philadelphia, the season could not be any harder to wait for, despite being just under two months away. The reason? A resurgent, healthy offense and a fierce competition developing in right field that will have fans on their toes all spring long.
I’m kidding, of course. The good people of Philadelphia and the baseball world alike were waiting in eager anticipation to see the Phillies’ starting rotation gathered around the same table.
After hearing that the Phillies had signed Cliff Lee in December, this day could not have been any harder to wait for. Though we knew they were going to be wearing the same uniforms come Opening Day, it was almost too good to be true until we saw the likes of Roy Halladay, Lee, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton all sitting at a table surrounded by a Super Bowl-like crowd of media personnel.
With the Phillies insignia embroidered across their chests, I got to thinking, just how good can this rotation be?
Each of these guys, Blanton included, could be really good in 2011. They’re like a happy family. According to multiple reports from this morning, the Phillies’ “Fab Five,” as I’m so affectionately calling them, enjoyed one another’s company for breakfast.
Watching the press conference, it seems like these guys have been together forever. They joked and poked fun at the media. They laughed, they cried.
OK, maybe I’m getting a bit carried away here. As Lee said, the group hasn’t thrown a single pitch yet, and as Halladay quipped, “We’ve been together for what…two hours?”
Despite all that, I decided to crunch some numbers and offer up my own set of bold predictions for the Phillies’ rotation heading into 2011.