Saturday John Mayberry played his first professional game positioned in center field. Yesterday he was in left field. We’ve always seen John in right field and it started to become one of those “hmmmm” moments.
When I turned my head in a different direction I heard Phillies fans mumbling about Shane Victorino. Not many details but it didn’t seem fans have been pleased with his performance so far this season. I haven’t gotten to see many games this year, (I am a DirecTV subscriber) and Comcast holds the rights to just about every game on TV.
Looking at Victorino’s stats so far in 2010:
12 Games
52 At Bats
8 Runs
12 Hits
1 Triple
3 HR
11 RBI
4 BB
1 SB
5 K
.231 Batting Average.
Ok, not great but he was hitting lower in the line up and now higher with Jimmy Rollins on the DL.
Now when we put the two together we think.. hmm. Why play Mayberry in centerfield? Werth is producing in right so he isn’t going anywhere until next year (as we all see Mayberry being groomed in case Werth jumps ship as a Free agent next year) and Ibanez is getting older in left field. Another thought it that Domenic Brown in Reading is squeezing Mayberry away from right field. Brown is going to be a force in the majors and being left handed he clearly has the advantage over Mayberry.
My personal thoughts… I think Victorino is dealing with a small injury and the Phillies are playing it as they see it. Hope it heals and if at worst, they call Mayberry up to cover if Victorino goes on the DL.
With Rollins, Blanton, Romero and Lidge all currently on rehab paths back from the DL, losing Victorino would be huge to the defending National League Champions. Phillie fans would start asking.. “Who’s next?”
I don’t have any inside info on this, just gut feeling. What are your thoughts?
noisenation.mlblogs.com 
Mayberry named I.L. Player of the Week
Thanks for the heads up!