- Pat Gillick, Baltimore Orioles general manager, on catching prospect Jayson Werth (Washington Post, June 17, 1997)

AS THE PHILLIES prepare to open a six-game homestand and put some distance between themselves and the .500 mark, the question again arises.

Is Jayson Werth ready to be an everyday player? And, most important, with Shane Victorino coming off the disabled list and a plethora of bodies in the outfield, are the Phillies ready to make him one?

Since a general manager named Pat Gillick made him a first-round draft pick of the Baltimore Orioles in 1997, Werth has done his best to answer his part of the equation.

When the Dodgers gave him the chance in 2004, he responded by hitting .262 with 16 home runs in 290 at-bats. When the Phillies leaned on him late last season, playing him in 52 games in August and September, he responded by batting .329 with a .438 on-base percentage, five home runs and 39 RBI.

After entering the season sharing time with Geoff Jenkins in rightfield, Werth has started 14 of the past 15 games. During that span, he has hit .279 with five home runs and 10 RBI. For the season, he is hitting .292 with a .386 on-base percentage.

"It's definitely a lot easier to play when you know you are going to be in the lineup day in and day out," said Werth, who turns 29 next month. "I think I've proven that I can play every day and that I want to play every day. I'm here to help the club any way I can. If that's being a part-time, platoon bench player or if that's playing every day, so be it . . . It's out of my control."

Control has been a rare feeling for Werth since he signed with the Orioles as a schoolboy star from Illinois. He languished for 3 1/2 seasons in Baltimore's minor league system as a catcher, then was traded to Toronto, where the Blue Jays converted him to an outfielder.

Four years later, Toronto shipped him to Los Angeles, where he finally appeared to find a home.

The son of a world-class sprinter and jumper (mom, Kim Werth) and a star receiver at Illinois State (Jeffrey Gowan), the grandson of former major leaguer Dick Schofield, Werth's athletic potential always had scouts drooling.

With the Dodgers, he got a chance to put that talent to use.

But after his solid 2004 campaign, when he was an important piece of a Dodgers team that won the National League West title, Werth ran into yet another roadblock.

In a 2005 spring-training game, he was hit on the wrist by an A.J. Burnett fastball and missed the first 44 games of the regular season. He ultimately returned to the Dodgers, but the wrist still bothered him, and he hit just .234 in 102 games while playing through constant pain.

Werth had one surgery on the wrist that November, then another one in April, causing him to spend all of 2006 on the disabled list.

When he became a free agent that offseason, the Phillies were one of the few teams willing to give him a chance.

"There was a time when I didn't even know if I was going to be able to play," Werth said.

Now, the question is, how much will he play?

Two days ago, manager Charlie Manuel acknowledged that leaving Werth in centerfield even with Victorino healthy was a possibility.

"Werth has definitely earned his right to play," Manuel said.

That could mean Victorino plays more in rightfield, where he established himself as one of the league's better fielders last season. But Werth could end up back in rightfield, where he began the season sharing time with Jenkins, a free-agent acquisition.

Victorino's arm is better suited to rightfield, but his speed is a tremendous strength in center.

"Victorino's one of the best rightfielders that I've seen in quite a while," Manuel said. "He could play in right, but I also look at him as a centerfielder. We'll just have to wait and see what happens."

Manuel acknowledged the possibility that Werth's productivity could suffer if he returned to a platoon role.

"I think he can cool off by sitting, yeah," Manuel said.

Whatever happens, the Phillies are pleased with the way Werth has played. Both Manuel and Gillick said they think the outfielder has only started to reach his potential. In fact, when asked about Werth before Sunday's series finale against the Pirates, Gillick sounded very much the same as when he drafted Werth 11 years ago.

"He can be better than he is right now," the Phillies' GM said. "I think there's more in there than right now. He's played well right now, but there's still more in there." *

For more Phillies coverage and opinion, read David Murphy's blog, High Cheese, at http://go.philly.com/highcheese