The Philadelphia Phillies had a pretty good season in 2006. The Phillies finished in second place 12 games out in the National League East. With a little improvement the Phillies will be even more competitive in their division.
Offensively the team lead the league in runs scored and finished second in both on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The pitching needs some work. The pitching staff was eleventh in earned run average, thirteenth in batting average against, and dead last in on-base plus slugging percentage.
Ryan Howard had an awesome season, at the age of 26. Howard hit .313 with 58 home runs and drove in 149 runs. Chase Utley had his best season in 2006. Utley hit .309, 203 hits, 32 home runs, 102 runs batted in. Shortstop Jimmy Rollins had another good year. He set career highs in home runs and runs batted in. Rollins hit .277, 45 doubles, 25 home runs, 83 runs batted in, and 36 stolen bases. Other guys who had good seasons with the bat were David Dellucci, Aaron Rowand, and Shane Victorino.
Brett Myers was the only starter to make at least 30 starts for the Phillies in 2006. Myers threw 198 innings with an era of 3.91 and a 12 and 7 record. Cory Lidle made 21 starts and was traded to the New York Yankees during the season. Jon Lieber started 27 games and posted a 4.93 era in 168 innings. Randy Wolf started 12, Ryan Madson started 17, and Gavin Floyd had 11 starts. Each of those three had an era of over 5.56. Rookie Cole Hamels was impressive as he put up an era of 4.08 in 23 starts. After Lidle and Bobby Abreu were traded away the Phillies started getting back in the playoff race. Since they got back in it, they traded for veteran lefty Jamie Moyer. Moyer did pretty well in his 8 starts for the Phillies.
Closer Tom Gordon saved 34 games and had an era 3.34 in 59 games. Geoff Geary had a great season out of the bullpen. Geary appeared in 81 games and had an era of 2.96. Rheal Cormier was have a good season for Philadelphia before he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds. The rest of the guys in the bullpen did not fair as well. None had an era of lower that 4.54 with at least 45 innings of work.
During the off season the Phillies re-signed Jamie Moyer to a two-year contract. Adam Eaton was signed to a three-year deal worth $24.5 million. Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez were traded to the Chicago White Sox for starter Freddy Garcia. Veteran outfielder Jeff Conine was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for two minor leaguers. Reliever Antonio Alfonseca signed a one-year contract. Chase Utley signed a seven-year contract extension worth $85 million.
Going into the 2007 season the Phillies should make a run at the playoffs again. The offense should remain as good as 2006. The pitching staff should be better with the addition of Freddy Garcia and they will get a full season of Jamie Moyer. Phillie fans expect them to have a good shot at the playoffs.
