Imagine you worked at a major corporation where performance was absolutely critical and competition between employees was extremely intense. Now also imagine, among all of your fellow employees with enough opportunities to qualify, you ranked 139th out of 140. The man behind you was demoted, the man directly in front of you was demoted, and the man two spots ahead of you was just flat out fired. You on the other hand, continue to wake up every morning and go about your business in the same poor, slow, and unimpressive manner. Day after day you cost the company money even while a younger, faster, and more productive worker sits on the sidelines doing meaningless tasks such as fetching your lunch or giving you an occasional break when you are tired. This seems almost impossible, right? Not quite.
If you’re a Phillies fan, the story above probably sounds like an exact replica of the situation going on at Citizens Bank Park every night. Raul Ibanez ranks 139th out of 140 outfielders with at least 150 plate appearances (not that many for this point in the season). The 140th ranked outfielder is Felix Pie, who has been relegated to the bench. The 138th ranked outfielder is Magglio Ordonez, who has also been relegated to the bench, and finally the 137th ranked outfielder is Tyler Colvin, who was just flat out shipped to the minor leagues. Standing steady in between those three is the indestructible Raul Ibanez. He continues to trot out there night in and night out as John Mayberry Jr. sits on the bench.
Let’s try to put this all in perspective, as much as we can. The Phillies have no future commitment to Ibanez, his contract is up after this season (thank god). He is ancient (39 years old). He is ranked 139th out of 140 qualifying outfielders. There are SIXTY players in the Major leagues right now with a better batting average than Raul Ibanez’ on base percentage (.282). He ranks 293rd in on base percentage, just a tick above Wilson Valdez. According to Fangraphs WAR statistic, Ibanez has cost the Phillies 1.5 wins on the season. Ibanez ranks dead last in defensive efficiency among qualifying outfielders, costing the Phillies just about 19 runs more than average defensive outfielder would. Not only is it amazing that he’s dead last, but he has cost the Phillies 7 more runs than Felix Pie has cost the Orioles, who ranks 139th on the list. Ibanez is hitting .105 in his last 10 games, .133 in August, .187 on the road, .193 in the last 30 days, and most importantly .236 on the season.
Enter John Mayberry Jr. Let me start off by saying, there is no one in the Philadelphia area with a more pessimistic view of Mayberry as a player than me, but even I recognize that this kid deserves to play in the situation that he is in. Mayberry has received limited at-bats but he still boasts a .263 batting average, .321 OBP, with 9 homeruns. Mayberry has actually been better than average defensively, saving the Phillies 0.1 runs in his limited time in the outfield. Not to mention his WAR (Wins Above Replacement) of 1.2, compared to Ibanez’ -1.5. Mayberry is younger, has more upside, could be player on this team beyond this season, is faster, throws better, gets on base more, hits for more power, and hits for a better average. Raul Ibanez has been historically bad this season and it is all in the shadows because of the mediocre 16 homerun total he has sitting on his stat sheet. In every other portion of the game of baseball, Raul Ibanez has been horrendous. Mayberry may be nothing more than a platoon bat or a AAAA player but Raul has sunk quite a ways below that point. Let the kid play and see what you have there. It’s a disservice to the pitchers that take the mound, it’s a disservice to every player in that clubhouse, it’s a disservice to the fans, and most of all it’s a disservice to John Mayberry.
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Tags: Awful, john mayberry jr., Johnny G, MLB News, Phillies, Phillies Commentary, Phillies News, Phillies Opinions, Raul Ibanez, TSP MLB News, TSP News
Congratulations looks like you set a record for most times using disservice in one sentence.
thanks, dick.
Really good article, it sums up a lot of my thoughts too. I hate when people say, “but he has 16 home runs this year!”… yeah, but his other 442 plate appearances have been atrocious. Not to mention, he hurts you significantly on the basepaths and in the field. I hope Brown comes up before September 1 to qualify for the postseason roster (Gload to DL maybe?), and then we can have healthy competition between Mayberry and Brown for LF in the playoffs. As long as it’s NO IBANEZ.
Ibanez is so bad it’s almost difficult to put into words.