Pierre leading off
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Pierre leading off
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
TAMPA, Fla. — When Juan Pierre was summoned to Charlie Manuel's office Thursday afternoon, he had no inclination of his fate. He knew a decision was required in less than 24 hours, so this was it.
"I don't think they could have been wrong with any direction they went in," Pierre said, "because everybody was doing so well."
Manuel and general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. stood on one side of the room. Pierre sat down.
"They just said, 'You made the team,'" Pierre said. "Once I heard that, I pretty much tuned everything out. I wasn't concerned about whatever role I have. That's not important to me."
Well, one day later, Pierre is leading off for the Phillies.
The 34-year-old outfielder was fighting for a spot on the bench, but it's also possible he plays a larger role than that. Just listen to Manuel.
"When I do my lineups, there are positions there where I like Pierre," Manuel said. "We talked about it all the time, if you are playing most the time, you have to keep your job.
"Pierre has done a lot of things. He knows all about the game. He's going to stay ready. He works his butt off. He comes to the ballpark early. He wants to play."
It's unclear who Manuel could be referring to when he talks about keeping jobs, but the Phillies face questions at both first base and left field. If the team doesn't like what they've seen from Ty Wigginton, they could put John Mayberry Jr. at first base and stash Pierre in left. Or if Mayberry stumbles, Pierre could just assume his at-bats.
Manuel has promised Mayberry a decent chance, and even invoked the name Ben Francisco earlier in the week. Francisco was the starter in right last year until the end of May when that experiment was abandoned.
Whatever the case, playing time is up for grabs. Pierre played in 158 games for Chicago last year and batted 711 times. His 178 hits were 26 more than any Phillies player in 2011.
Granted, only 23 of those hits were for extra bases. Just 3.2 percent of his plate appearances resulted in an extra-base hit, the lowest for any qualifying hitter in baseball. (The second lowest was Placido Polanco at 3.6 percent.)
Also, Pierre was caught stealing 17 times in 2011, which led the majors. The Phillies, as a team, had 24 caught stealings.
The Phillies cited Pierre's ability against lefties — he's a career .305 hitter against lefties and hit .329 against them in 2011 — as another factor why he won a job.
"Whatever role they want me to be in, I'll be prepared and ready for whenever they call me," Pierre said. "That's what I can control. If I'm ready to go mentally and physically, I like my chances."
Manuel's third-to-last Grapefruit League lineup:
1. Juan Pierre 7
2. Shane Victorino 8
3. Jimmy Rollins 6
4. Jim Thome 0
5. Hunter Pence 9
6. Placido Polanco 5
7. Ty Wigginton 3
8. Carlos Ruiz 2
9. Freddy Galvis 4
Antonio Bastardo will start in a bullpen game. He'll be followed by Jonathan Papelbon, Chad Qualls, Kyle Kendrick and Julio Rodriguez, one of the team's top pitching prospects who was promoted for a day.
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If it works, I kind of like it because Victorino gives Pence nice protection this way. 1. Pierre; 2. Polanco; 3. Rollins; 4. Pence; 5. Victorino; 6. Wigginton/Mayberry; 7. Ruiz; 8. Galvis. Charlie is nicely saying Mayberry hit his way into Ben Francisco's old role -- 4th outfielder, plus he can back up at 1B -- this spring.— eman- I had a hunch well before spring training started that John Mayberry would not be in left for very long this season. I'm thinking Pierre is our left fielder for the majority of the season. And I don't really have an interest in ever see Nix out there.— NovaNation11
- Did anyone see Pierre try to play LF for CWS last season? HUGE fall off from Mayberry's defense— jchpsu06
- Yikes. Hope the pitching doesn't let us down.— phillysmith
- Same topic written on csnphilly.com, so who took who's article idea?
— rolo 9 - we look terrible. we'd be lucky to win 80 this year— PhillyFan2202
- It's interesting to note that Vegas is listing the Phillies as the favorites to win the World Series.— Penfold18
- If Polanco is healthy, he should be batting second. He's the prototypical No. 2, and it adds depth and punch to the lineup having a switch-hitter like Victorino, a notorious free-swinger, protecting Pence.
(eman, I actually wrote my post before I read yours. You know what they say about great minds).— PhightinPhil - Interesting.— alwaysphil1
- Bad decision. Look for Pierre to be cut by June 1 and they'll call-up Podsednik, the guy they should have kept. Charlie is delusional thinking he can catch lightning in a bottle with Pierre. He's 2 years past his prime.— 1republican
- Polanco shouldn't bat higher than 7th. He is a double play machine, has no power, and is a slow on the bases rally killer who doesn't get on base enough to make up for his lack of power. If they won't let Brown play because he can't field, why would they let Pierre play? His UZR was bad last year-- though not as bad as the king of bad, Ibanez.— jtj06
- PhightinPhil you might be the smartest person at a hoodie rally, but not on here.— The Philly Shadow
- Speaking of which, have you settled on a time and place for the next clambake? — PhightinPhil
- I like eman's lineup. Definitely worth trying early on.— s
- 1repub....how can he be 2 years past his prime? He had 178 hits last season, 26 more than ANY PHILLIE. I don't care if it was 178 singles, that still counts last time I looked. You're not cooked just 6 months later. The only thing I don't expect him to do is steal 60 bases for us. Everything else is gravy.— Mark1npt
