He doesn’t receive the recognition. He is rarely discussed by Philadelphia fans. But he’s close to becoming the starting right fielder.
No, this person is not Ben Francisco.
John Mayberry Jr. has quickly climbed the ladder this spring, and he may have played himself into the starting gig come Opening Day.
Due to his .294 average and team-high 11 RBI’s and five home runs, Mayberry has done everything imaginable to convince manager Charlie Manuel to start him.
How can you not start a guy who has more home runs and RBI’s than anybody on your team, including Ryan Howard? Or who is third on the team this spring in runs with nine?
Simply put, Mayberry, who entered the league back in 2005 after being drafted by the Texas Rangers, should not be sitting the bench on Opening Day.
He’s only 27-years old and has a body figure (6-6, 234 pounds) similar to some guy named Jayson Werth.
Mayberry has all the tools: power, speed, and fielding. 
He won’t supply the numbers that Werth did during his tenure in Philly, but compared to the likes of Ben Francisco and the injured Domonic Brown, Mayberry has the highest probability of being an impact player this season, in my opinion.
Yes, Brown will be a terrific player… down the road. Francisco, on the other hand, is a career .263 hitter, so Phillies fans know what to expect from him; he would benefit this team more coming off the bench late in games.
Mayberry has been the most impressive player in red pinstripes this spring. Give the kid a chance, and let’s see what he can do when given the opportunity to start in the big leagues.
I hear what you are saying, but Francisco is hitting .358 this spring. And you point to Francisco’s lifetime average in the bigs, but Mayberry can’t even stay in the majors. He had a stint in 2009 when he had a chance to make this team. In 59 plate appearances he struck out 23 times. He is worth a look, but not head and shoulders above Francisco at this point. If you give Francisco a full season batting 5th, he will hit 20-25 HRs and have 90 RBIs. Those are Werth’s stats from last year.
Mayberry Jr has had a great Spring so far and is the better Defensive player and has a very strong arm which you need to have playing RF.. I would like to see him starting in RF and use Francisco to play LF after the 7th Innings to replace Ibanez for defensive purposes and also to play Francisco in LF versus Left Hand Starters
I think Mayberry,Francisco and Ibanez and can all split playing time between LF/RF based on whose Pitching for their opponents…
Having all 3 players with 300-350 At Bat’s over the course of a season will keep the players fresh,loose and ready for the playoff run come next Fall
I also can see Delwyn Young making the big squad for he can play a little 2B,3B and the OF Positions..
Sounds like a good plan especially with giving Ibanez rest. Brown should start the year in the minors, so he can re-learn how to be a dominant hitter.
i agree with both of the above comments. Mayberry still has to prove that he can do something in the regular season, and i am all for giving him that opportunity based on his tools and production this spring. with that said, Francisco shouldn’t just be relegated to the bench. Ibanez shouldn’t be playing at all against lefties with the way Francisco and Mayberry have the potential to just hammer left handed pitchers. rotate all of these guys, and even spell Victorino once in a while with Mayberry playing CF. if either Mayberry or Francisco steps up and proves they can be a very good player, give that guy the majority of the starts against right handed pitchers.
One thing that is clear is that the bench is really strong this year. When I think about Bruntlett, Dobbs and Jenkins in 2008, wow. Whether it is Castillo or Barfield backing up Valdez or playing full time at 2nd, I am more than ok with that. Although Castillo won’t hit for a high average anymore, he is still a tough out. Barfield is having a nice spring. Although they don’t have Werth anymore, Mayberry and Francisco are solid options there with Brown waiting in the wings.
I remember when the discussions about who was gonna start in right after the departure of Werth were going on, that I listed Mayberry as a serious option. I was ridiculed for it. The guy has power, and he is a decent defender, he just needs to make better contact. He might have finally learned. He would be great to bat behind Howard if his contact has indeed improved. He will be that power righty that we always needed even moreso than Werth.
I think a few of us mentioned Mayberry Jr as a potential Candidate for some
RF/OF playing time. I wasn’t going to give up in him and he’s probably the best Defensive OF on the Phils Roster (outside of Victorino). I am glad to see him hitting the ball well and especially versus Right-Hand Pitching like he has this Spring.. I think playing in a Part-Time/Platoon situation, that he
can get get 300 AB’s, and bat .275 and have the potential to hit 12-15 HR’s with above 50 RBI’s which is pretty good for a 4th/Platoon players..
I would like to see Francisco,MAyberry,Ibanaz,Gload and even Delmen Young all rotate.. I think Ibanaz should play no more that 4-5 games a week
and the Victorino should be rested 1 game per week too.. This will help these Veterans stay fresher for the Playoff stretch.. Many of the everyday Phils have logged a lot of games and they are starting to get up there in age so if you have some quality players/back-ups, then let them play more oftent to keep them sharp and to keep the Regulars stronger later in the Season
Same with the IF, even if Utley was 100% healthy and ready to play, I would have VAldez play 3 games a week and rotate in at 2B,SS and 3B to help players like Utley,Rollins and Polanco rest up a bit more..
This is the one area where I fault MAnager Manuel, who likes to put his best 8 Regulars out there everyday and say lets play ball .. But I think over a course of a long season and especially with a older club, he should utilize his bench a lot more to keep them all sharp and to rest the older regulars a little more often which could play big dividends down the stretch of the season.. This Season or at least the start of it could see Manager MAnuel realy be creative with his line-ups due to all these injuries, but in the long run later this season, it could really pay-off with getting more contributions from more players which the Phils will need to have…
If anything I would think Ibanez would be off of defense all together based on Mayberry’s development. Ibanez has been a bit of a liability on defense for a while due to his lack of flexibility, the guy’s just getting old but he can still hit.