The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

There's a lot of reasons to hate today. Either you were alone last night or are now hung over from Valentine's Day celebrations. And everyone's cold -- mind-numbingly cold.

But today is a glorious day, the real signifier that spring is around the corner: today, pitchers and catchers report to spring training. If you can't head out to Clearwater yourself (and with all those cancelled flights yesterday, did anyone get anywhere?), check out coverage here, here and here.

Here's Phillyist's cheat sheet on what to look for this season:

The Phillies are good this year
Yeah, yeah, yeah, people have said that in the past. But there are far fewer holes in the lineup and rotation. In fact, the Phillies have one extra starting pitcher. One of those could be used as a trading chip for help in the bullpen, which the Phils need. But having too many pitchers isn't such a bad problem to have.

Pat Burrell
He's been a thorn in this organization's side, but, in this Phillyists' opinion, the Phils didn't have much of a choice when it came to Burrell. The price for outfielders this offseason was outrageous, and the Phils couldn't get anyone better for less money. Pat the Flat shocked us all by getting engaged this winter, so maybe one lady in his life will ground him. That, or Dallas Green's off-season verbal lashing, which is quoted here, will do the trick. Our favorite: "It's neat to have money, it's neat to have good looks, and it's neat to have broads all over you. But there comes a time in every player's life when he needs to get his act together." We were encouraged to see that he showed up at camp early this year. Keep your fingers crossed.

Ryan Howard
He's awesome -- no doubt about it. But we wouldn't recommend getting too hyper about him not having a new contract. This winter, the Phillies needed to take care of Chase Utley, which they did. Utley has more service time, and carries this team on his shoulder. The Phillies will take care of Howard. Besides, his deal with Topps should keep him well fed for the time being.

Brett Myers
He allegedly beat up his wife last season, and the Phillies handled the situation terribly. Has he really changed? He dropped a lot of pounds in the off season, which he needed to do. But is a better physique a signal of only outside change or something more? Stay tuned.

The Month of April
Two years in a row, the Phillies have been terrible in April, and it's proven a hole that they could not dig out of. With new bench coaches and a focus on fundamentals, can they get rid of their April jinx?

Should be an interesting season. And, let's face it, with the Eagles out of it, the Flyers beyond repair, Barbaro dead and the Sixers in need of a lot more than new uniforms to draw a crowd, the Phils are our last hope.

Image via Flickr user Jeffrey Was Here.