2008 R-Phils Spring Training Guide

The last line of defense

The R-Phils 24-man roster, which won't be officially set until the end of the month, will likely carry around five or six players that can patrol the outfield.  One or two can probably man the infield as well and we've already mention some of them in our infield piece.    

In the final segment of our spring training preview we're going to look at nine players who are outfield candidates.  

Luke Appert was originally the Oakland A's 6th round pick in 2003, the year after the famous Moneyball draft.  Appert spent most of his first five years as a pro in A-ball but earned a well deserved crack at Double-A last May and went on to hit .276 for Midland.  In his four full pro seasons he's had 25 or more doubles and double digit homers three times.  The lefty-hitting Appert has also played a little third base the last two seasons and some first and second in his career.  

Quintin Berry was the Phillies 5th round pick in 2006 out of San Diego State where his coach was the Hall of Famer, Tony Gwynn.  Gwynn taught him well.  Berry won the Paul Owens award last year as the best player in the Phillies Minor League System after hitting .312 with 55 stolen bases for Low-A Lakewood.  His 55 steals where the second most in the Minors.  He's the Phillies #23 prospect according to Baseball America and probably Clearwater bound you never know.  The Phillies pushed a similarly tooled outfielder right to Reading a few years ago named Michael Bourn.  Bourn was also a Division I college player.  

In 2006 on this very page we told you that Jake Blalock would be the Reading Phillies Opening Day left fielder.  Then he, and Robinson Tejeda, where traded to the Rangers for David Delucci.  Barring another unforeseen occurrence, this is the year Blalock should play for Reading.  When things didn't work out for him with Texas last year, where his older brother Hank plays third base, the Phillies were delighted to get back their 5th round pick from 2002.  A right-handed hitter, Jake graduated from high school with Cole Hamels.  

Brian Burgamy began last year at Reading before returning to Clearwater where he led the Florida State League with 110 runs scored in 2006.  The switch-hitter is anxious for another chance at setting the table in Double-A.  

Righty Branden Florence also started last year in Reading and went 7-for-20 (.350) with two doubles and a triple before suffering a freak arm injury on a swing that ended his season in April.  He's a career .310 hitter in affiliated ball and a .325 hitter since 2005.  

Center fielder Greg Golson was the Phillies first round pick in 2004 and got his first taste of Reading during the second half of last season.  His speed and arm strength make one take notice.  He has the ability to hold down a center field job for a very long time in the Major Leagues.  The Phillies have exercised patience with him and will probably continue to do so by starting him in Reading.  If things click for him at the plate he could advance faster than he goes from home to first out of that right-handed batters box.  He hit a career best 15 homers in 2007 and already has two in big league spring training games this year.  

Don't get too excited about seeing Quintin Berry skipping Clearwater for Reading.  Here's why.  We gave Jeremy Slayden the same nod last year as a potential skipper and he ended up playing the whole season in Clearwater where he was an All-Star and helped the Threshers win their championship.  His chances of landing in Reading on Opening Day have gone from maybe to likely this year.  The Georgia Tech product has averaged 34 doubles and 12 homers the last two years while hitting .298.  He won the home run derby at last year's FSL All-Star game.  

Reading fans were treated to the all-around good play and hustle of Michael Spidale in the second half of last season.  The right-handed speedster has nothing left to prove at Double-A, he's a career .307 hitter in 748 at-bats at that level, but we'll list him here in the "you never know" category.  He plays hard and can handle center field as well as anybody which makes him a great asset to any club.  His first shot at Triple-A came in 2005 but he wasn't healthy.      

UCLA product Matt Thayer was acquired from the Padres with former R-Phil Trey Johnston for Aquillino Lopez in 2006.  He hit .278 in 284 at-bats for Clearwater last year.  Thayer will be looking for his first taste of Double-A this year.

This will conclude our 2008 look at the players in spring training that might play for the R-Phils sometime in 2008.  Be sure to visit readingphillies.com for the latest on the team and look for the official roster to be posted anytime on or after March 31.  

This story was posted on March 4, 2008