Jim Thome's future in question
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Jim Thome's future in question
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
Jim Thome will rejoin the Phillies sometime this week and should spend the majority of the upcoming road trip as the team's designated hitter. But beyond that, his future is murky.
Amaro said Thome is not doing work at first base during his rehab for a bad back.
"It's too much discomfort for him," Amaro said, "so he's pretty much just hitting."
Amaro said Thome will attempt to strictly be a pinch-hitter once the luxury of the designated hitter disappears. How will that work?
"I don't know," Amaro said. "That's a good question. We'll find out."
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
Comments (21)
Great guy, great player but the end is here most likely. Amaro has more Ed Wade in him than Pat Gillick. Not good for the future.— gordon7
Stick a fork in him. He should be embarrassed to cash the check every month.- Yes he should be, but Utley is really the one who should be embarrassed to cash the check, considering that his is 15 times as big as Thome's and he's getting paid for contributing the exact same thing...which is NOTHING. — SteveS11
- I've said it before - the further they get away from Pat Gillick, the further they get away from teh World Series.— Bobphxville
- Tonight I was thinking "The more games they play, the further they get from the World Series." This team has no come-back or clutch ability at all it seems. We need an injection of Howard or Utley. Even at less than 100% of their former selves they might inject something positive into this lineup. I was wondering what Lee was really thinking of his teammates tonight. He may go all year without a win at this rate. Hard to believe Harry. — s
- He can always fill Matt Stairs old role as long as he's healthy enough to hit. Last night he was healthy enough to go 3-4 with 2 doubles. Phils have plenty of dead weight on the roster, no point in embarrassing Gentleman Jim by releasing him before the season is out.— drbob1
- The difference is Stairs had good PH numbers. Thome does not. One argument going into the season was that he had very few plate appearances as a PH and he might get better at it. As nice a guy as Thome is, I think that experiment ends after he has a role as pure DH. I don't know that this team can afford to carry a bat-only PH in the NL, particularly one who isn't hitting. I mean, the guy's hitting .111 ... this is going nowhere positive. Maybe he proves me wrong with a chance to DH. — s
- Was there ever really a doubt that it would come to this? After the Interleague games are over, the Phillies will find a gracious way for Thome to announce his retirement.— SteveS11
- It was a dumb idea to have him play the field. I don't know what Amaro was thinking. I hope Jim comes back so he can have a positive end and the Phillies can avoid further embarassment.— AvoidSundanceVacations
- Thome should move into the hitting coach role.— frankenslade
- I really like Thome, a real classy individual. But the Phils need to bemuch better and I'm afraid JT isn't the solution. THe idea that Charlie shot down, of using Utley as the DFH made a lot of sense to me. Get him sharper at the plate without making him field...keeps Galvis at 2nd too.— akh
- Look, this looks like a lost season and having Thome DH for a spell and then retire is fine by me. Great guy, HOF career and he's by no means the worst of our problems this year. If Nix was playing, we wouldn't even be thinking about Thome.— eman
- It's def Amaro's fault, def more like wade. I mean, he's responsible for utleys balking knees and surely had something to do with howard's Achilles injury. Get rid of him and the rings will come. Sometimes I just can't believe some of the geniuses who comment here. They are getting old at key positions! Face it! But as long as Cole lee Roy and even worely play a high level they will be in it. The org has proven they will spend what it takes to win and keep butts in the seats. Stop whining, their 3 best players not named Cole ar on the dl and theyre a weekend series from the top of the division!— sore richard
FYI Pat Gillick is currently employed by the Phillies as the senior advisor to the President/General Manager. So when you criticize Amaro, you might actually be criticizing Gillick.— zubzub- Thome’s future is in question... Really? The guy is like 100. What did you expect.— GJK3161
View comments: 1
|
2
About this blog
The Phillies Zone is the place for up-to-the-minute Phillies coverage from the Inquirer.
Matt Gelb
Inquirer Staff Writer
Bob Brookover
Inquirer Baseball Columnist
Search this blog:
Classifieds:
Site Services:
Partners:
Powered By:
