A word on Mayberry
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A word on Mayberry
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
CLEARWATER, Fla. — The volume of questions about John Mayberry Jr. has expanded in recent days. The majority sound something like this: "Should we worry?"
If it's spring stats that make you worry, then absolutely not.
Yes, Mayberry is tied for the team lead in Grapefruit League at-bats with 68 and he is currently toting a .191/.247/.250 slash line. He's 13 for 68 and four of those hits are doubles. He has no home runs and has struck out 10 times with five walks.
It hasn't been pretty; few times has Mayberry squared up the ball.
But how soon we forget Ben Francisco. Certainly you'll remember Francisco began 2011 as the Phillies starting right fielder. He came to camp with purpose and it showed. He batted .361/.439/.667 in 72 Grapefruit League at-bats. Eleven of his 26 hits were for extra bases, including a team-leading five home runs.
By the end of May, of course, Francisco was on the bench. From April 1 to May 20, Francisco hit .221/.331/.368 in 136 at-bats. On May 21, Domonic Brown was recalled from triple-A Lehigh Valley to assume the majority of playing time. Later, Hunter Pence filled right field.
This is a roundabout way of stating the irrelevancy of spring stats. Sure, they sometimes are a tool for teams to make roster decisions. But, mostly, a spring won't make or break a player.
Now, back to that question: Should you worry? There should be trepidation. Even if Mayberry was hitting .600 with seven home runs this spring, there would still be pause. The Phillies have no clue what to expect from Mayberry. His second half in 2011 was a revelation, but hardly a coronation. Before spring training started, we examined why it was impossible to be sold on Mayberry as an everyday player. None of that changes with a good or bad spring.
And it's this writer's opinion that Mayberry is the most important offensive piece in a new Phillies reality that excludes Ryan Howard and Chase Utley.
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
Dom Brown needs develop into a big league outfielder ASAP. I don't mean a gold glover, but an outfielder like Pat Burrell. Always posistioned right, makes all the routine plays, good accurate arm, doesn't HURT you at all. Dom Brown would have the next best stick in this lineup following Pence.— FetchDixon- I can't really disagree with anything said on here today, other than spitt, which is about all his comment is worth.— Mark1npt
- I can't really disagree with anything said on here today, other than spitt, which is about all his comment is worth.— Mark1npt
- I can't really disagree with anything said on here today, other than spitt, which is about all his comment is worth.— Mark1npt
- he'll have to make adjustments to the adjustments the pitchers have already made..the main point is we saw he could hit big league pitching,albeit for half a season anyway...another point to bear in mind is making sure he doesn't press or think he has to carry the load offensively... i'm sure cholly has,or will sit him down and remind him of this...it will be up to jm jr. to absorb this advice and just do his job...hopefully he will respond once the season starts...— jabac
- Yadda, yadda, yadda, just sayin'...— DJ
- Dull, that's right -- they SHOULDN'T put a lot of weight on Spring Training stats. Pitchers are facing lots of AAA hitters, while working on mechanics, and most importantly, in fairly small samples. Same goes for position players (facing AAA pitchers, fiddling with swings, small samples). And did I mention, small samples?
— schmenkman - I have conerns about EVERY player on the 25 man roster. Rollins, will he bounce back or continue decline, Victornio has one year left on his contract, Polanco, can he stay healthy, Pense can he match last year's production, Mayberry (just stated), Ruiz can he stay healthy for 130 starts, Utley/Howard (beaten like a rented mule all Spring never know when they show up). Bullpen is in flux, Worly/Blanton looked terrible in their respective last starts. Pierre gets his answer Friday, meaning guts/glory Podsednik goes to AAA. Other than that, all is good on this roster. Guess Uncle Cholly will need to be the Houdini for 2012— drhoffman
- I agree with Matt's assessment of the importance of Mayberry, but that's only because they sent Brown down. Brown has much more upside and is more likely to be an anchor of the line up this year. Mayberry is fishing for too many breaking balls and if he is viewed as a key cog in the Phillies' offense, that's all he will see.— jtj10
- It is a concern because Mayberry is young and young guys should be fighting to make the team and trying to get better.— AvoidSundanceVacations
- I think Mayberry will be ok. Maybe not a Werth-type revelation but a solid player. I just hope RAJ has a move or two up his sleeve.— PhillySubsMac
- "It is a concern because Mayberry is young and young guys should be fighting to make the team and trying to get better. — AvoidSundanceVacations"
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Well, he's 8 months younger than Pence, but aside from that, you seem to imply that if only he tried harder, he'd be doing better. Is that really what you mean?— schmenkman - domonic brown would give you way more production than mayberry. there is absolutely no reason why you should send down brown and keep up mayberry. I'd keep mayberry as a bench player and have brown play every day in left.— Ryan
- I usually would not put a lot of stock into Spring training numbers and I am not saying I would here either. I do worry a little bit though that now that Mayberry has been anointed the starter, he may be pressing a bit. I do not want to draw a parallel to Francisco, but he was given the job to lose in RF last year and he never found his stroke the entire year. Hopefully, this does not happen to JMJ, but we really only have a small sample size to go on. A good second half does not guarantee any success the following year.— Back up the Bus for Gload and Bowker
- Plenty of people have hit like Babe Ruth in Spring Training and then done jack once the season started. Why is everything in Philly always headlined with worry, concern, etc. about the slightest thing? People need to get a freaking grip.— JimG
