Philadelphia Phillies: Raul Ibanez and the Miserable Phillies Offense

Phillies fans, we all know the drill—our veteran left fielder comes to the plate and the entire crowd bursts into a chorus of what sounds like boos.

Then the guys calling the game, especially if it is an out-of-town crew or a national broadcast, will explain: “Now, fans at home may think that the crowd is booing their left fielder, but really they’re saying ‘Ra-uuuuuuuuuul”

Of course, Phillies fans also know a thing or two about a new drill of sorts which has been taking place this season and that is the actual booing of Raul Ibanez, for as the Phillies offense has become downright dysfunctional, Ibanez has been one of the guys bearing the brunt of the criticism for the team’s woes.

Indeed, Ibanez has become an aging wonder of sorts, slowing down in the field and at the plate and establishing himself as a drag on the Phillies offense.

Or so you may think.

What has been lost—for the most part—on the Phillies faithful as the hometown team has endured its Second Annual May Swoon, has been the fact that, rather than serving as a poster child for the Phillies’ struggles, Ibanez has actually been a lone wolf—the only Philly hitting in this miserable month of May.

Consider:

Since May 1, the Phillies are hitting a would-be-hilarious-if-it-wasn’t-so-sad .229 with a .643 OPS. Jimmy Rollins is hitting .238, Ryan Howard is hitting .178 and even Placido Polanco, whose season average is still a robust .335, is only hitting .247 on the month. 

Meanwhile, Raul Ibanez is batting a no-really .324 with an .896 OPS (and, editor’s note: as I sit here writing this he just hit a home run in tonight’s series opener against the Cincinnati Reds).

It would appear that, for the time being anyway, we all need to cut ol’ Raul a break and when he comes to the plate we should return to saying “Ra-uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuul” instead of the increasingly more popular alternative.

Or am I?

Much like a House episode where Dr. House figures out what mystery illness his patient has with more than 20 minutes left in the episode, we all know that the story does not end here.

The full story here is that Ibanez has not simply heated up in the month of May. Ibanez has also had the extra added benefit of playing the majority of his May games—12 out of 19 to be exact—at Citizens Bank Park.

And here is where things start to look grim for the sage veteran.

For the season, Ibanez is hitting .302 with four home runs, 16 RBI and 16 runs. His on-base percentage is a quite good at .362 and his slugging percentage is an excellent .500.

These next few numbers are going to turn you all into five-year-old girls at a horror movie, peaking through your fingers as you shriek with fear:

On the road, in 2011, Ibanez is batting .145 with zero home runs, two RBI, four runs scored and 21 strikeouts in 74 plate appearances. His on-base percentage is a check-his-pulse .203, his slugging percentage is a time-machine-to-the-deadball-era .188 and his ridiculous OPS is .391.

The only good thing you can say about Ibanez’s road performance in 2011 is that he has grounded into only one double play, but in reality, this probably just proves that he simply is not hitting the ball at all.

At which point we are compelled to say, “Yikes.”

So, what’s the point of all this?

At the end of the day, Raul Ibanez is in a curious position—he is simultaneously performing better than anyone realizes, while also performing far worse than his numbers would indicate.

And to that, there is only one thing to say:

“Rauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuul!”

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