Things to watch for at Phillies spring training

Although most of the Phillies' starting positions are already set with the exception of rightfield, there are still several things that fans can look out for as Grapefruit League games begin this weekend in Clearwater, Fla.

"I would try to get the spring-training roster right away," said Tom McCarthy, who returns as the Phillies' play-by-play television announcer. "There are going to be a lot of numbers and players that you may not know."

There will certainly be some new faces around Bright House Field, and with the departure of free-agent rightfielder Jayson Werth, there will be a heated position battle among outfielders Ben Francisco, John Mayberry Jr. and Domonic Brown.

"I'll try to find out more things about what they're doing to solidify the spot and what they've done during the offseason to prepare themselves," McCarthy said. "That kind of stuff is interesting from a baseball standpoint to know that Domonic went through winter ball and to know what Ben has done this offseason to prepare himself for possibly playing 100 games."

Since most teams do not leave their starters in the game for more than a few innings during spring training, McCarthy and the broadcast team will conduct in-game interviews with some of the fans' favorite players.

"I think that's kind of neat because the players get to talk about what they've done during the offseason to prepare and what they're looking forward to," McCarthy said. "You get it in their own words instead of us relaying that information."

With leftfielder Raul Ibanez and shortstop Jimmy Rollins entering spring camp healthy after battling through injuries last year, fans should keep an eye out for how well those two move around on the field. Something else to watch for could be Ryan Howard's batting stance after moving closer to plate in the offseason.

"We'll talk about that a little bit, and in particular with Sarge [Gary Matthews] about what that could do for [Howard]," McCarthy said. "I'll ask him how that could change his approach, and how it could lead to more opposite-field hits."

While the star players are always the main focus during spring training, there will be some interesting action in the bullpen and on the mound, where young pitchers Vance Worley, Kyle Kendrick, Justin De Fratus, Michael Schwimer, Michael Stutes and Scott Mathieson will look to carve out spots for themselves.

"We'll be talking about who's coming up through the farm system and what we might see from them," McCarthy said. "I think it's an opportunity to kind of just let the fans know about some of these young kids, who they may not know much about."

The Phillies officially kicked off their spring-training schedule by shutting out Florida State, 8-0, yesterday afternoon. The team will be back in action tomorrow afternoon, taking on the Yankees at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa Bay.

Although fans will be excited to see the Phils take on the Yankees, they are probably most eager to see Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee take the mound for the first time early next week.

"On Monday, Halladay gets the ball for the first time, and then on Tuesday, Cliff Lee is scheduled to get the ball for the first time," McCarthy said. "We're getting a chance to televise that, which is exciting. Just getting a chance to see Lee in a Phillies uniform again smacks you in face and says, 'Hey, baseball season is here again.' "