CLEARWATER, Fla. — Baseball’s recipe for success has some different spices these days, and long before the Phillies tantalized the taste buds by sprinkling free-agent starter Jake Arietta into the mix, they were already pleased with their bullpen ingredients.
The relief corps, in fact, was considered the strength of this ballclub when the Phillies arrived in spring training a little more than six weeks ago, and not even the signing of Arietta could change that.
“With the people we have here, we can be the best in baseball,” closer Hector Neris declared early in spring training. “We have a lot of guys who can pitch anywhere from the sixth through the ninth innings.