29-year old switch-hitting CF Shane Victorino tied for 18th with Tim Lincecum in the voting for the N.L. MVP Voting. He played in 156 games for the Phillies last season and he was 181 for 620 (.292 avg, .803 OPS) with 102 runs scored, 10 homers, 62 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. Victorino has now played in six years in the majors appearing in 643 games in which he is 611 for 2,151 (.284 avg, .774 OPS) with 365 runs scored, 44 homers, 224 RBIs and 109 stolen bases. Victorino is like the Energizer Bunny at the top of the lineup for the Phillies and he should continue to be a good player for at least the next few years.

30-year old righty swinging RF Jayson Werth finished 17th in the MVP Voting in the N.L. He played in 159 games for the Phillies last season and he was 153 for 571 (.268 avg, .879 OPS) with 98 runs scored, 36 homers, 99 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. Werth has now played in 619 games in his 7 years in the majors and he is 520 for 1,965 (.265 avg, .827 OPS) with 327 runs scored, 93 homers, 321 RBIs and 64 stolen bases. Werth is a late bloomer but he should be a good player for the next few years for the Phillies.

30-year old lefty swinging 2B Chase Utley finished 8th in the voting for the N.L. MVP Award. He played in 156 games for the Phillies last season and he was 161 for 571 (.282 avg, .905 OPS) with 112 runs scored, 31 homers, 93 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. Utley has now played 7 years for the Phillies appearing in 891 games in which he is 978 for 3,310 (.295 avg, .902 OPS) with 602 runs scored, 161 homers, 585 RBIs and 83 stolen bases. Utley picked his game up even higher in the post season as he is currently in his prime right now. As long as Utley is batting right in front of Ryan Howard he will continue to put up huge numbers.

30-year old lefty swinging 1B Ryan Howard finished third in the MVP voting of the N.L. behind only Albert Pujols and Hanley Ramirez. Howard played in 160 games for the Phillies last year and he was 172 for 616 (.279 avg, .931 OPS) with 105 runs scored, 45 homers, 141 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. He has now played in 732 games in his six years in Philly and he is 750 for 2,687 (.279 avg, .961 OPS) with 465 runs scored, 222 homers, 640 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. There is no reason to think that Howard won’t compete for this award every year that he stays healthy for the next at least 4-5 years as he has the most power of any hitter in all of baseball.

Charlie Manuel of the Phillies just never seems to get much respect as a manager despite his success. Manuel led the Phillies to a 93-69 (57.4%) record during the regular season in 2009. Then he led them to their second consecutive National League Pennant before falling to the Yankees in the World Series. Manuel has now compiled a 447-363 (55.2%) record in his five years with the Phillies and there is no reason to think he won’t improve that W-L% next year.