Philadelphia Phillies: Is It Now Mayberry Time in Left Field for the Phillies?

I’m not sure if there is a Raul Ibanez bobblehead night coming up anytime soon at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, but if there is, the Phillies might want to consider cancelling that event.

The Phillies have the second-best record in Major League Baseball at 18-9, and their vaunted starting pitching has been as advertised, with their top four of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels posting a combined record of 12-5 with a 2.99 ERA.

Despite the absence of slugging second baseman Chase Utley, the offense has not been as anemic as feared. Ryan Howard certainly did his part, with six homers and a league-leading 28 runs batted in, and Placido Polanco is third in the National League with a .385 average.

Their biggest issue right now is in left field, where Ibanez is currently mired in a terrible 0-for-34 slump, and his batting average has dipped to .156, about 70 points under his playing weight.

Recently, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel has given reserve outfielder John Mayberry at-bats against left-handed pitchers in four of the last five opportunities, and has indicated that Mayberry will continue to receive more at-bats. However, with Ibanez’s current slump, shouldn’t Mayberry be getting ALL the at-bats?

Mayberry has done well with the opportunities presented to him, currently hitting .313 on the season with a .874 OPS.

As it stands right now, Ibanez has the ninth-worst slump in the major leagues over the last 20 seasons among regular position players, and stands just 12 at-bats away from the worst slump in history, suffered by Bill Bergen of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1909.

That is an anchor on the lineup that the Phillies must let go of before it sinks the lineup.

While there are those in baseball that are big believers in letting veterans work out of their slumps, this is certainly NOT one of those cases. At 38 years of age, Ibanez saw his power numbers shrink across the board last season, and with his current slide there appears to be no upside whatsoever in continuing to pencil his name into the lineup.

So, that begs the question: What should the Phillies do about left field?

One of the bigger schools of thought among writers, experts, fans and fantasy baseball freaks is to immediately start the Domonic Brown era in Philadelphia, and move Ben Francisco to left field.

By all accounts, Brown would have had an excellent shot at doing that at the start of the 2011 season, but Brown broke his hamate bone, landing him on the DL. Today, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. made the decision to activate Brown from the disabled list, and then assigned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

With Ibanez currently locked in his horrific slump, the move was a bit of a surprise. Amaro Jr. could have elected to keep Brown on the DL and allow him to continue his rehab, with the possibility of activation from the DL straight to the Phillies within the next two weeks. But Amaro Jr. was not of that school of thought.

“I’m not going to bring Domonic Brown just to bring Domonic Brown,” Amaro Jr. told Bob Putnam of Philly.com. “We’re going to bring Domonic Brown when he’s ready to play in the big leagues and contribute here.”

Um, Ruben, do you mean contribute more than Ibanez is now?

Another school of thought is to have John Mayberry playing in left field full-time.

As mentioned earlier, Mayberry has done quite well with the opportunities presented to him, hitting .313 on the young season—albeit against mainly left-handed pitchers.

However, can he REALLY hit as badly as .156 against right-handed pitchers? With no specific timetable set for Utley’s return, there is no need to keep putting a position player out on the field and sacrificing an automatic out every time up.

The pitching staff has been terrific, but even they need a pickup from time to time. Having Ibanez in the lineup is a rally-killer that isn’t necessary.

By all accounts, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel is a players’ manager, with a tendency to give players the benefit of the doubt. However, how much rope do you want to continue giving Ibanez? With his 39th birthday coming up in June, Ibanez is not going to be finding a power source anytime soon. That ship has sailed.

The Phillies are off to a great start, they’re pitching well, and their offense hasn’t yet sunk the team. If there was ever a time to make a move, that time is now.

For continuing coverage of Major League Baseball, follow Doug on Twitter @Sports_A_Holic.

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