This column, which I hope to update regularly throughout the season, takes a look at the guys Pat Gillick has added to the Phillies this year - "Gillick's Guys." How are they doing so far?
Well, what they've done so far doesn't inspire confidence that Gillick's regime will be any different than Ed Wade's. Let's hope small sample size is the culprit (while we hold back our real doubts that much of this new talent lacks, well, talent).
Here's what the pitchers have given us:
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | K/BB |
| Tom Gordon | 5.2 | 1.59 | 1.06 | 7/3 |
| Arthur Rhodes | 4.0 | 2.25 | 1.75 | 4/3 |
| Ryan Franklin | 7.0 | 5.14 | 1.29 | 2/4 |
| Julio Santana | 5.0 | 10.80 | 1.60 | 2/3 |
And the hitters:
| Hitter | AB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Aaron Rowand | 46 | 0.326 | 0.380 | 0.500 |
| Abraham Nunez | 16 | 0.188 | 0.188 | 0.250 |
| Sal Fasano | 14 | 0.071 | 0.133 | 0.286 |
| David Dellucci | 11 | 0.091 | 0.091 | 0.182 |
| Alex Gonzalez | 8 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
It was conventional wisdom among intelligent Phillies fans that Ed Wade did a pretty good job at assembling top-notch starting talent but had lots of trouble filling in the missing pieces around the edges. OK, "lots of trouble" is generous; he sucked at it.
The above charts make me worry that Gillick has the same problem. Gordon, Rhodes, and Rowand, key parts to the 2006 Phillies, have been quite good so far. However, the complementary parts to the starters and frontline relievers have been dreadful: Nunez has lived down to his career numbers; Fasano has been bewilderingly bad at the plate and hasn't shown much in CERA to make up for it; Dellucci and Gonzalez have had limited playing time but have stunk in their few at-bats; Franklin impressed in his first few outings but then was terrible in losing one game and then almost blowing another in Atlanta; and Santana has played the part of early-2005 Tim Worrell quite well.
Championship teams have great frontline talent, but they also have a good supporting cast. Early season play indicates that Gillick has supplemented the former but so far, like his predecessor, blown the latter.