Philadelphia Phillies: Why is Michael Martinez still on the Phillies Roster?

Today the Phillies optioned John Mayberry Jr. to Lehigh Valley and decided to keep the 5′ 9” 145 lb., I guess you can call him utility man. 

I understand why the Phillies optioned John Mayberry Jr. because he will see little to no time with the call up of Domonic Brown and the return of Shave Victorino. The only thing I question is why better players are in AAA while all Michael Martinez does is sit the bench and struggles when he does get a chance.

The answers is Michael Martinez is without a doubt the worst player to be on the Phillies team since Charlie Manuel took over and will never be a Major League caliber player.

Even if he is a Rule 5 draft pick, why in the world would you keep a guy on a Major League roster when he will NEVER, I repeat NEVER, start for the Philadelphia Phillies. He wouldn’t even start in AAA or AA for that matter.

His number are unbelievably terrible and he plays almost worse defense. In 29 games he has one double, zero triples, zero home runs, three RBI, a .184 AVG and .212 OBP.  Is that a joke?  And who saw him try to play center field, when he broke in for the ball and it ended up 20 feet over his head. Come on Charlie, let’s be serious.

Some say he has speed and can pinch run, but currently Martinez does not have a single stolen base. Also, Charlie Manuel has only used him to pinch run in a handful of places—definitely not enough to keep him on the roster.

Martinez will also be turning 29 in September, he is not getting faster, stronger or better at this point in his career and is a total waste of a roster spot.

The fact is that Michael Martinez does not have the skill set to be a Major League player, he does not even have the skills to be a quality utility man. In this age of baseball, utility infielders are a dime a dozen, Martinez being more like a penny.

An argument is that we need another infielder to spell Chase Utley and I agree wholeheartedly.  That need can be filled with one of two infielders currently in the AAA system.  Josh Barfield .274 BA, 4 HR, 24 RBI.309 OBP and Ronnie Belliard .253 BA, 2 HR, 21 RBI, .314 OBP are all 10 times the player Martinez is and can actually help this team win games.

Charlie Manuel needs to stop wasting a very important roster spot and release Michael Martinez now and bring up Josh Barfield. Even if the Phillies were to put him on waivers, who would want a player like Martinez at this point in the season? The answer is no one.

On the upside, Shane Victorino is back and the Philadelphia Phillies will have their preseason line up together for the first time all season.

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