Game 16: Mayberry gets first start
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Game 16: Mayberry gets first start
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
Finally, John Mayberry Jr. will start.
In the season's first 15 games, Mayberry has 10 plate appearances with four pinch-hits. Charlie Manuel has said he wants to get his bench players some at-bats and Mayberry is the last one to earn a start.
He'll play in right field and bat sixth, giving Ben Francisco a night off against lefthander Randy Wolf. Francisco is 2 for his last 18 and has gone 32 plate appearances without an extra-base hit.
Charlie Manuel strongly hinted that Mayberry will also play Wednesday. The Brewers will throw another lefthander in Chris Narveson, meaning it could be time for a day off for Raul Ibanez.
Manuel said he stuck Mayberry in right field on Tuesday because Ibanez is 5 for 14 with three doubles and a home run against Wolf in his career.
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J.C. Romero says he expects to be ready to return to action once his disabled list stint is over. He said doctors performed an MRI and diagnosed him with a mild strain of the right calf.
Romero is eligible to come off May 4.
Mike Zagurski was the pitcher chosen to replace him not just because he's a lefty, Manuel said.
"Reports were he was throwing good," Manuel said. "His velocity on his fastball is up. They recommended him. Also being a lefty helped too."
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Roy Oswalt is good to go for his Thursday start. Rich Dubee reported no problems a day after Oswalt's bullpen session.
The matchups in San Diego are as follows:
Thursday: Roy Oswalt vs. RHP Mat Latos (0-2, 5.84)
Friday: Cole Hamels vs. LHP Clayton Richard (1-0, 4.50)
Saturday: Joe Blanton vs. RHP Tim Stauffer (0-1, 3.27)
Sunday: Roy Halladay vs. RHP Dustin Moseley (0-3, 1.83)
The Phillies will miss Aaron Harang, who has been the Padres' best starter in the season's first few weeks.
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Tuesday's lineup:
1. Shane Victorino 8
2. Placido Polanco 5
3. Jimmy Rollins 6
4. Ryan Howard 3
5. Raul Ibanez 7
6. John Mayberry Jr. 9
7. Carlos Ruiz 2
8. Wilson Valdez 4
9. Roy Halladay 1
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
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Ibanez starts because he makes too much money to come off the bench.— F. Harry Stowe- Good for John. But Mike Z callup instead of bopping Kyle down to Lehigh and bringing up Stutes and Mike disappoints me. I just do not think Kyle brings anything to the team.— Koons
- Prediction for tonight....Doc pitches a shutout into the 11th inning when his arm falls off, Brewers score off our bullpen and Phils lose 1-0.— n62
- Okay Charlie, I'm fine w/ shuffling the deck. But "against lefthander Randy Wolf" ... DON'T YOU WANT to move some righthanded hitter, Ruiz, or Mayberry, or Ben... right after Howard in the lineup?. How bout giving Raul this night off?... Another Charlie-head-scratcher moment....
- I think the biggest question should be how long charlie keeps rollins batting third because he is not producing— jmcohn
- It's pretty scary when a manager of an MLB team doesn't understand the concept of sample sizes (re: Ibanez vs. Wolf).— jeffmacnow1234
- raul cannot hit lefties and he ll go hitless with some strikeouts— hardball
- I cannot think of a major leaguer with a worse right arm in the history of baseball than Raul Ibanez... Jim Abbott was a close second.— madecaro
- Ibanez must have something on Cholly.— RAS
- I'll be rooting for the kid. I feel like Mayberry is playing for his Phillies career here. If he does well, Cholly will get him more playing time. If he goes 0 for 4, he might not play again until June, or even worse get sent down when Dom Brown comes back.— Ry824Guy
- Anyone other than me believe the Phils have a significant bullpen problem? Particularly when they seem to be scoring about 4 per game? I hope Zagurski works out, because Denise Baez, Romero, Herndon and Kendrick stink!!— Konstanty
I've tried to be patient with Ibanez, but I'm getting pretty tired of flailing strikeouts and weak ground balls to second. Sure, try Mayberry in left. Try Joe Savery. Anybody whose swing doesn't look tired and slow, like Ra-u-u-u-l's.- @BJG83 - First, 14 ABs is a very small sample size - I seriously doubt you should start a player, who is currently .233/.292/.317 and 38 years old, because he is batting .300+ in 14 ABs, just like you wouldn't start Francisco because of his .333 BA versus Wolf. Second, baseball isn't rocket science, and I seriously doubt Charlie integrates advanced statistics into his analysis. So using statistics to argue why Charlie Manuel is the manager, instead of me, is vacuous.— Chewey
- Honestly, the financial argument for keeping Ibanez in the lineup doesn't make a lot of sense to me because he's in the last year of his contract (I'd understand if Ibanez had 2-3 years left on the deal). It's time for the Phillies to just move on. Additionally, if Contreras continues to pitch well, I'd move on with Lidge too.— Chewey
- Charlie is such a hitting guru that his team can't get the ball out of the infield.— Joe Lis lives
