Comments on: Phillies Extend Victorino, Blanton

By: hk

hk — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:52:06 +0000

Last year, the Phillies team OPS was .787 vs. LHP’s (7th in MLB) and .779 vs. RHP’s (5th in MLB). That being said, I hope they bite the bullet in 2011 and re-sign Werth if the contract is at a fair price and let Dom Brown be the heir apparent in LF beginning in 2012.

The extra year (unnecessarily) given to Ibanez may be the culprit in Werth leaving, similar to the extra year (unnecessarily) given to Moyer potentially being the reason for the Lee trade.

By: Bill Baer

Bill Baer — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:19:00 +0000

Even Ryan Howard can hit lefties. It's a misconception that he can't, although his production against them has been in steady decline since 2006. To quote Matt Swartz: Ryan Howard hits lefties about as well as the average first baseman hits same handed pitching, and better than the average player hits same handed pitching. However, he will mash your righties.

By: Aaron H

Aaron H — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:09:03 +0000

Doc-I think one of the biggest misconceptions about the Phillies is that they’re a “lefty heavy” lineup so lefthanders can set them down pretty easily. As it turns out, most of their lefties actually hit LHP better. Check out their 2009 stats:
Chase Utley vs. RHP: .279/.387/.489
Chase Utley vs. LHP: .288/.417/.545

Raul Ibanez vs. RHP: .265/.342/.517
Raul Ibanez vs. LHP: .285/.359/.639

And look at their switch-hitting CF:
Shane Victorino vs. RHP: .283/.347/.440
Shane Victoriono vs. LHP: .314/.385/.459

So yes, we’ll miss Jayson Werth’s production, especially against LHP. But I wouldn’t be too concerned since our best lefties (Ryan Howard excluded, of course) actually hit LHP pretty well.

By: doc

doc — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 02:09:15 +0000

The problem with turning RF over to Brown is that he is yet another lefty in the lineup. Carlson Rubin or Placidly Polanco will be the best righties in the lineup.

By: Aaron H

Aaron H — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:14:31 +0000

I think he’d be a decent option if there was no one affordable left on the market. He’s barely above a replacement level player (about 0.5 WAR, and his career slash line of .263/.330/.446 isn’t that great for a corner outfielder), so I think the Phils wouldn’t be able to make up Werthwhile’s production from that spot in the lineup. Still, it’s better to drop $1mil on Francisco with his numbers than $66 mil on Jason Bay.

By: sanfran

sanfran — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:27:22 +0000

I keep hearing Domonic Brown’s name mentioned, but what about Ben Francisco to replace Werth next year? He’s a righty and he’s cheap, and I believe he is still under team control going into next season. Obviously he isn’t bringing the same kind of power Jay Dubs can but he’s more big league ready than DB. Hell he was starting for the Indians in 2009.