I could just write about Ryan Howard here and it would be a pretty efficient way to sum up the Phillies season.  He had a year for the ages.  Okay, so he struck out a whole lot, but when you have scary production like this, you can strike out as much as you damn well please.  The man broke Phillie records…Mike Schmidt records.  Had a near 1.100 OPS, and an unreal 149 RBI.  And for those of you so quick to bring up the home bandbox argument, his jacks were equally distributed between home and away parks. His OPS was actually higher on the road, not to mention how surreal his second half was.  Video game numbers like this are flat out astounding.  In the second half of the 2006 season, Ryan Howard hit .355 with a 1.260 OPS and hit 30 homeruns in just 265 AB with a 77/84 BB/K ratio. That is not something that a normal second year player is supposed to do by the way.

Other than the Howard story, Chase Utley has quietly put together some very solid seasons, on his way to becoming the best second baseman in the major leagues.  His strikeout rate is still pretty high, but he’s walking enough to keep his OBA in the .370’s, which is more than enough with the big guy running the show.  He’s increased his rate statistics each of the last three seasons, including a big jump in power production, and solid SB totals.  He seems eerily comparable to David Wright of the Mets, although they play different positions, and Utley has a good four years on Mr. Wright. 

Aaron Rowand continued to struggle, posting 1st and 2nd half OPS' under .760 and hitting just .248 with RISP. If not for his defensive capabilities, he'd be a dead-spot in this lineup for sure.

The Phillies led with power pitchers in the front, (Brett Myers and Cole Hamels compiled K/9 of 8.6 and 9.9 respectively), but of course they had trouble keeping the ball in the park (so does everyone else in that park though). While his control was still very good, Jon Lieber has become too hittable, and no longer strikes out enough batters to make up for that. At 38, closer, Tom Gordon showed that he could still get it done, saving 34 games while posting a 3.34 ERA and striking out more than ten batters per nine innings.

The Phillies made some pretty big deals over the winter, adding Adam Eaton and Freddy Garcia to a very thin rotation while parting with Gavin Floyd and Jeff Conine. Unfortunately they ultimately lost out on Alfonso Soriano to the suddenly Yankee-esque Chicago Cubs.
 

Tim McClaskey and Zach Segovia posted some pretty nice K/BB ratios down in Double-A Reading, not to mention super-prospect Scott Mathieson. But Mathieson's not as ready for the majors as most are projecting him for.  Another full season in the minors would not hurt his long-term value.