The Phillies decided to send veteran outfielder John Mayberry Jr. down to the minors in order to make room for centerfielder Shane Victorino. This will mean Wilson Valdez, Ross Gload, Michael Martinez and Ben Francisco are the options Charlie Manuel will have off of the bench.
If you’re thinking there’s not a lot of pop in that group, you’re right. One of the reasons for the Phillies decision was the fact that didn’t want to risk losing Rule 5 player, Martinez.
They will have the option of bringing Mayberry back up later in the season.
What is Amaro’s infatuation with these Rule 5 stiffs? Martinez is a useless bum. I know the next breaking ball Mayberry hits will be his first, but he has homer potential. He also is good defensively. Francisco sucks & couldn’t throw out a sumo wrestler running. Could have DL’d Gload. Does he even have a hit since he got injured. I DO NOT GET IT! Please Victorino stay healthy, because the outfielders blow!
flat out asinine decision. martinez can’t do anything, not even a good defensive outfielder. having gload on the bench just so he can “give you a good at bat” is equally stupid. if they want that just DL gload and call up Rizzotti, at least he doesn’t absolutely have to be pinch run for if he gets on base. the roster decisions this year have been horrendous all around by Amaro.
This has to be one of lamest collection of OF in all of Baseball.. Good Grief
Get Orioles on the hook and a make a Deal for CF Adam Jones
or Get the Houtson Astros on the Phone and make a deal for RF Hunter Pence
It will Cost the Phils probably Worley or Stutes, a Kendrick & D Brown….
Do It, the Phils are built to win this and next Season.. by the time D Brown becomes an accomplished player, half the Phils will have their AARP Cards and be on Social Security.. Get some pop in the line-up for now and the next 2-3 Season with a proven OF who are just hitting their primes (Jones/Pence)…
Phils lose 2-1 to the Pirates in 12 Innings..HAmels pitches another gem with nothing to show for it,,This Phils Line-up managed 6 Hits off the Pirate Pitchers tonight and believe it or not, Hamels had 2 of those hits… This Line-up is ridiculous to watch and I don’t see anyway they will contend and win a WS this this Phillie LIte Line-up that they currently have.. I don’t want to hear that they have the best record in the NL (there are 7 teams that are within 4 games games of the Phils for having the best overall record in the NL (Marlins,Braves,Cardinals,Brewers,Giants,Arizona and the Reds) so another bad week-10 game stretch and the Phils can be 4th/5th/6th pretty easily..
Paulman — shutup.
Martinez blows and should NOT be in the big leagues…dude flat out sucks!
@paulman – agree 100%.
package Worley and Brown for a stud RF… the Phillies lineup is pathetic especially against lefties… I think Pence makes the most sense…fans will fall in love with his play and forget about Werth….Utley still looks lost and Brown shows glimpses of promise but doesnt have that special something to be a big league talent.
Not to pile on Utley,
But on the game winning hit by the Pirates in th BOttom of the 12th, Utley would make that play 99 out of 100 times 2 years ago, He’s lost his lateral movement and simple cannot get to many balls in the holes like he used to ..
I wonder Why he’s even still in the game in the 12th Inning due to his knee to begin with..
I’ve stated this before, but it may be a good move for the Phils and for Utley is he went out to the OF.. He could play RF or LF and would actually extend his career by a couple years.. middle Infield is the most difficult positons to play on your legs (outsdie of Cather) and he won’t last a full season playing 2B in my opinion or he will just miss so many balls that it will be very noticeable nad hut the team
the window for the Phillies to win is now… they are an old team that needs to inject some youth… they dont have the legs they once had and their swings are late…. they need to do something sooner than later… Dominic Brown is OVERRATED and will never be a 20HR guy that he was projected to be…
and what in the world is Kendrick still pitching? he is a disgrace and is a minor league pitcher…. get him out the door also
If the Phils fail to Win the WS this year (I predicted they lose in the NL Divisional Round), this will be the biggest choke of all time in Philly Sports History.. They have the Big 4, the 2nd Highest Payroll in the MLB, and a Batting Line-up and Offense that is currently ranked 9th out of 16 teams in the NL and ranked 18th out of all of MLB)
Here’s the Top 5 Offensive Teams in the NL
#1) St Louis (Puljos has yet to get hot which he’s just starting to do)
#2) Reds (Starting Pitching has been shaky, but Bats and Bullpen are very stong and will make a strong push)
#3) Arizona (playing very well in a hitters park,but how long can they keep this up)
#4) Milwaukee (always play the Phils tough and now have a healthy Corey Hart back from early season injury to go along with Braun/Fielder/Weeks and a much improved Pitching Staff)
#5) Colorado (Cargo,Tulitwitzki,Helton and Spillbourhrs will generate lots of Offense, Closer H Street has been dominant this season and if their Starting PItcher holds up and get Jiminez on a roll, they will be tough in any series)
PItching Top 5
#1) Braves (like I stated in Spring, the best all-around Pitching Staff in the NL)
#2) Phils (Starters are being relied to go 7-8 even 9 Innings In Halladay’s case that when the Dog Days of the SUmmer come how long can the older Pitchers take with so many innings pitched thus far..Hamels/Oswlat have been terrific, Halladay has be hit around some and C Lee has been Disappointing if you ask me… Blanton/Kendrick are what they are,5 inning Piotchers which is fine when the Offense was scoring lots of Runs, but now they arean’t which means almost an automatic loss when these 2 Pitch)
#3) San Diego – (Worst Offense in the NL, wasting good Pitching)
#4) SF Giants – (With Lincecum,Cain,Sanchez and a shut down Bullpen, they will keep it close even with a suspect Offense which took a major hit losing C Buster Posey for the rest of the Season
#5) Pirates – (Young team with new attitude brought in by new Coach C Hurdle who has this team playing it’s best ball in the last 10 years..)
#6) Brewers – (Starters have pitched well, Bullpen is still a big question ??)
#7) FLorida – Johnson,Sanches,Nolasco and Phillie killer Vasquez will give the Phils fits the remainder of the Season and won’t go away.. anyone notice how G Dobbs is batting .330 after 150 At bats.. he has 46 hits and 21 RBI’s
and with young rising players like Gabby Sanches, Stanton,Morrison,Bonifacio and Couglan, this team is built for the next 5 years and I haven’t even mentioned that they have gotten very little production this year from their best overall player in H Ramirez..
8) SL Cardinals – Starters Garcia,Loshe,McClellan are all pitching well and Carpenter and Westbrook have struggled but are starting to find their groove and they had closer problems earlier in the Season but have gotten it straightened out by placing younster F Salas in the closer role who has been lights out.. (Imagine if they had SP Wainwright all Season, CArdinals Pitching Coach Dave Duncan is the best in MLB and every year he has Pitchers who step up and perform)