CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Heading into the final week of July last summer, the Philadelphia Phillies had two formidable options to close out games: perennial All-Star Jonathan Papelbon and rising hard-throwing right-hander Ken Giles.
But both have since been traded, Papelbon to Washington and Giles to Houston, and the Phillies opened camp in Clearwater with an open competition for the closer’s role for the first time in more than a decade.
Before there were Giles and Papelbon, there were Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge. Before that, the Phillies had Brett Myers and Tom Gordon.
With the spring training game schedule set to begin in days, first-year Philadelphia manager Pete Mackanin had an honest assessment of who could be the leading candidate for the back of his bullpen.