WERTH THE SWITCHERINO?
27 games into the season and we have our first Phillies controversy of the season. Thankfully for us it’s a good one. With Shane Victorino hitting the DL two weeks ago, it forced Charlie Manuel to put Jayson Werth in centerfield. An easy move considering Werth was platooning with Geoff Jenkins in right field before that. During Victorino’s absence, Werth has been hitting .289, with 5 HRs and 13 RBIs in 16 games. Pretty solid. Before going on the DL, Victorino had managed to collect 4 hits in 38 at-bats during the first 12 games, then hit .330 in his final five games.
It’s not fair to bash Shane Victorino because he is gives you a lot of positives. No one expects him to hit the way he was at the beginning of the year (are you listening Ryan Howard you shit head?), and looking at his brief career in the majors, you’d expect him to get back to his .285 average. He’s a switch hitter, he offers you speed and a superior arm in the outfield and on the bases. He can bunt for hits, he can hit for power on occasion (12 HRs last season), and he doesn’t strike out often (13%).
It’s also not fair to leave a player in Jayson Werth on the bench for half of the season when he may be as good, if not better, than Shane Victorino. Werth is different in the sense that you aren’t entirely sure what you’re getting. He broke his wrist in 2005 and never fully recovered from this injury for almost two full years. This may explain why he ate balls at the beginning of 2007 with the Phillies, spawning hundreds of thousands of Philadelphians to call him Jayson Werthless. How original. What most people don’t know is that Jayson Werth was a first round pick at the age of 17 by the Orioles. His senior year in high school he hit .652 with 15 HRs in just 31 games. His mom was an Olympic track athlete and his dad was a star wide receiver for the Illinois State football team. His grandfather and great uncle were also both major league infielders. They even said on the radio that Werth is faster than Shane Victorino when they compete during team sprints.
So what does all of this mean? It means two things: It means Jayson Werth may not have reached his full potential and could be better than any of us believe he is. He could end up being (gulp), a very good player. It also means Charlie Manuel has a fairly difficult decision on his hands. The question is not whether to replace Vicorino with Werth, but whether to make Werth your every day centerfielder and put Victorino back in right field to platoon with Jenkins. Who is worth more to you on an every day basis? Victorino, who will give you .285, 12 HRs, 50 RBIs, 128 hits, 37 walks, and 37 stolen bases, plus a handful of outfield assists….or is Werth more to you knowing he may finally be healthy and ready to live up to his 2008 projection of .289, 36 HRs, 93 RBIs, 157 hits, 71 walks, and 14 stolen bases ( this stolen base projection is far too low)?
I think the answer is blatantly clear Charlie. In fact, it’s so fucking obvious that you’ll certainly make the wrong decision.
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