Camp sights: Papelbon says Phillies 'in it to win it'

Note: Paste BN Sports' Paul White, via car, causeway, plane and rail, will reach every major league camp this spring.

Follow his exploits on Twitter -- @PBJWhite - as he makes his way through the Cactus and Grapefruit leagues before he imparts all you didn't know about every team right here.​

TODAY: Philadelphia Phillies

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CLEARWATER, Fla. – Jonathan Papelbon clearly is different from Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee.

The animated Phillies closer has been accused of being different from a lot of people for a lot of reasons but, for now, let's start with spring magnetism.

Hall of Fame baseball writer Paul Hagen took it upon himself to monitor the scout appeal of the Philliles' apparently most tradable commodities at the beginning of exhibition games.

When Lee made his first start, before the recurring arm issues that now threaten his career, 17 scouts were behind home plate. That's a number you can find out if you know the right people in the office that leaves the tickets scouts can request.

When Hamels got a start, the count ramped up to 24, a particularly impressive number considering he can block trades to about two-third of the teams in the majors.

Papelbon was next with a scheduled relief appearance and, well, it was just another day at the box office. No groundswell of guys with radar guns and various combinations of headwear and sunscreen.

That's an interesting development considering the volatile nature of closers and that Papelbon could be a cost-effective investment, relatively speaking, for clubs willing to dip into high-end talent.

He's a 34-year-old who's averaged 64 appearances a season for nine years – and never fewer than 59. Over the past three seasons, only nine pitchers have at least 100 saves and, among them, only Atlanta's Craig Kimbrel has a better walk-strikeout ratio than Papelbon.

Efficient and consistent.

His contract calls for $13 million this year plus vesting option at the same price for 2016 if he finishes 48 games this season, a number he's topped each of those nine years.

Remove Lee from the discussion because of the injury but a Hamels trade partner is looking at four seasons at a total of $90 million plus a $6 million buyout to avoid a $20 million option for 2019.

Either you get a good pitcher for a long time or the operative description becomes "on the hook for …"

Hamels already has told Paste BN Sports this spring that he's quite open to a trade, regardless of contract clauses. It might cost a team on his blocked list the $20 million option year to sway him – if simply being a contender isn't enough.

Papelbon's trade limitations are nearly as extensive as Hamels' but, outwardly at least, he's not looking for a way out.

"I feel like we're going to contend," he says. "There's no doubt about that. It feels different because I feel like we have a pretty good vibe going," he says. "It's the best vibe I've seen since I've been here. It's exciting, little bit of a different feel, just the overall feel, the attitude, camaraderie, all that."

But management doesn't seem to feel that way.

"I find that odd," Papelbon says. "I don't think there's anybody in this clubhouse among the veterans who doesn't think we're going to contend. I don't think it's a total rebuild where they're letting everybody go. I still think we're in it to win it. We're going to see what happens until it's dictated otherwise."

He just might be one of the guys who helps dictate that.

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PAPELBON ON FASTER FASTBALL: 'HUH, INTERESTING'

The Papelbon experience is a varied and unpredictable one, whether it's Irish dancing on the field after a World Series victory, a crotch-grabbing gesture to unappreciative Phillies fans or the nonchalant claim his dog chewed the ball from the final out of the 2007 World Series.

On the day of his first spring appearance, Papelbon didn't wear the same color-combination cap as his teammates. He just wasn't aware of it.

After that game, his assessment was pure Pap.

Asked if he was aware his 93 mph velocity:

"Huh, interesting."

Is that a good thing so early in the spring?

"My quote is huh, interesting. That's H-U-H."

Could he expound?

"Can't, just huh, interesting."

His arm must have felt loose.

"My body felt great."

Did he place any significance in debuting against Toronto, a team that might be in the market for a closer?

"Huh, interesting."

Any other thoughts on that?

"No. I have nothing for ya. I could expound if I had something to expound on."

Well, was he even aware the Blue Jays might need a closer?

"No, I'm not. Wait, can I take that back, recant? Huh, interesting."

It usually is.

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PHILLIES TURN TO RUF FOR POWER

It's only getting rougher for the Phillies, a team that can no longer use one of its greatest advantages.

Opposing pitchers still mutter about the dimensions of Philadelphia's home ballpark, distances so hitter friendly that fences were moved back two years after the 2004 opening.

But a decade later, who's scared? Anybody?

The Phillies are coming off their lowest season home run total since 1997, last year's 125 a full 99 fewer than the high point than when they bludgeoning their way to division titles.

And last year's team home run leader, Marlon Byrd, is gone. So is Jimmy Rollins, third on the team.

Not that keeping the 37-year-old Byrd would have been good for a franchise that's finally admitted it's time to rebuild an aging roster backed up by a thin farm system.

But the power situation might only get worse.

Nobody on the Phillies' 40-man roster has a home run this spring. The only two have been hit by non-roster invitees Xavier Paul and Andres Blanco, both over 30 and destined to be Iron Pigs (the Phillies' Class AAA Lehigh Valley team in Allentown, Pa.).

Ryan Howard has a track record, but one that's rapidly being eclipsed by declining production – 23 homers last year and a .223 batting average. And he's a major factor in whether the Phillies will find out if there actually is another power source right there, well, more often than not on the bench.

Simplify the equation: Forget about whether or not Howard ever again hits for an acceptable (for $25 million this year and next) batting average.

Just take the fly balls Phillies actually do hit in a park where everything seems to have a chance to clear the wall. Over the past three seasons, nobody who's played 100 or more games for the Phillies has gotten their fly balls over the wall more frequently than Darin Ruf.

That's part-time first baseman Ruf, who started learning the outfield in the minors because Howard was supposed to be a franchise cornerstone at first. Ruf, who appeared to make himself a factor with a 38-homer breakout at Class AA Reading (Pa.) in 2012, then his 14 in 251 at-bats as a Phillies part-timer in 2013.

Next closest to Ruf's 19.6% homer-per-fly ball rate is Hunter Pence, who's another footnote to what ails the Phillies.

Pence came and left in a 367-day period in 2011-12 at a net loss to the system – the Phillies gave up Jon Singleton, Domingo Santana, Josh Zeid and Jarred Cosart to get Pence. Singelton and Santana are still very much in the Houston building process and the Astros turned Cosart into outfielder Jake Marisnick and top third base prospect Colin Moran in a trade with the Marlins. All the Phillies have to show is backup catcher Tommy Joseph and Class AAA pitcher Seth Rosin for sending Pence to the Giants.

There's Ruf, maybe nothing more than a platoon player (that's the label the 28-year-old carries, at least), something the Phillies have never quite figured out for certain on the field.

For the record, the right-handed Ruf has hit .253 in the majors against lefties, .250 against right-handers. His slugging percentages are .486 against lefties, .454 against righties.

It's true that Ruf hit more than 100 points higher against lefties in the big year at Reading in 2012, but the number at the lower end of that gap was .285.

Knee and wrist problems coast him a big chunk of last season but roster issues further clouded the question that remains unanswered.

"The situations he's been in the last couple of years here, not being able to have a string of at-bats, it's hard to really get a gauge still," manager Ryne Sandberg said of Ruf last summer.
Not surprisingly, the Phillies couldn't dump Howard's salary at the trade deadline while Sandberg said Ruf would get a larger share of first base time. It didn't happen, for reasons never clear: Was there still hope that Howard would return to All-Star form? Or was it the against-greater-odds hope someone would trade for the first baseman?

For Ruf, the situation is obvious, the speculation off limits.

"We got rid of a couple of guys but I'm not approaching it any different," he says of this spring's camp with possibly more outfield time available even if he can't make inroads on Howard's playing time. "I don't know if I've gone out and earned it the last two years. Last year was tough with the injuries. You play yourself into the opportunities."

And Ruf isn't even buying the power source as his ticket to anything resembling a regular job.

"Power around the league is down," he says. "You have to play to score runs, whether it's moving guys here and there, or getting them on and getting them in. I think that's the thing that has kept me around in the minors as long as I was down there until the power naturally came for me. Ultimately, it clicked for me that one year and it elevated my career a little bit."

The secret?

"I couldn't tell you," Ruf says. "I honestly have no idea what clicked. It just happened."

The Phillies could use some of that.

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