The Phillies have the fifth-youngest roster in the National League, but it was their oldest player - Joaquin Benoit - who was entrusted earlier this week to be their closer.
Benoit, who is in his 16th season and will turn 40 in July, is just the 11th Phillies pitcher age 39 or older since 1995. He might be old, relatively speaking, but the righthander is armed with a fastball that seems to be ageless.
“You can’t even tell how old he is by the way he pitches,” manager Pete Mackanin said.
Benoit is throwing harder this season than he did 10 years ago, when he was a middling reliever with Texas, bumped from the starting rotation.