One month to go, Phillies strengths and weaknesses

With less than a month to go before opening-day, I think it is as good a time as ever to evaluate how the Phillies stand. I will look at the strengths and weaknesses of the team at this point.

Strengths

• Carlos Carrasco. I mentioned him before as one of the reasons to be hopeful for the Phils, but since then he has only stepped it up, still not having allowed a run. In an article from Monday on phillyburbs.com, Carrasco said he can and will compete for the fifth spot. Frankly, I am rooting him on.
  
• Ryan Howard. The arbitration hearings in which Howard was awarded his requested $10 million scared a lot of fans, thinking it might leave a debilitatingly sour taste in his mouth. Howard, who arrived with pitchers and catchers, has shown no sign of frustration or stopping so far and is, as Bill Conlin observed, hitting the ball as hard as that $10 mil hit the Phillies. If this pace continues, the Phillies owe him whatever they've got.
• Depth. I realize that this topic has been over-discussed recently, but I believe it is simply worth looking at the Phillies and Mets injury reports. If the pre-season is any indicator of the regular season, even Johan Santana every fifth day won't be able to keep that ship afloat.
  

Weaknesses

• Relief Pitching/Closer. With the loss of Brad Lidge until as late as the second week of the season, the Phillies have had to take a good look at what they're working with. The problem is that the answer is not much. Aside from the still strong and dependable Romero, Condrey and (hopefully) Gordon, the Phillies do not have a lot of options, and this is before the season has started. If the Phillies are going to be able to win games deep into the season, they will need to make some changes.
• Cole Hamels. There is no doubt that Hamels has the stuff to be a Cy-Young contender for at least the next few years. There isn't even very much doubt about his health for this year. What I do doubt, however, is his mental stability. As we saw a few years ago with Brett Myers, good stuff can go unused if a pitcher can't focus under the pressure of national attention. Fortunately, Myers quickly matured and I hope that he can show Hamels a little bit of what he learned.
  

This is not a comprehensive assessment, but these are the issues that I think deserve the most attention now and further into Spring Training. The Phillies will need to address each of the weaknesses and above all be flexible. While Adam Eaton is now penciled in as the #5 starter, the Phillies must evaluate and re-evaluate their young talent, as they did last year with Kendrick and before that with Hamels. Our strength is our young talent and raw enthusiasm for playing and if that is allowed to stagnate, it will be detrimental to our post-season hopes.

Hope to see new faces in April, because that is where our next great Phillie will be.