Michael Martinez is on a Major League Roster (Fireable Offense #725)

I don't blame Michael Martinez for making the final out in yesterday's game. He shouldn't be on the roster (Ruben Amaro Jr.), and he should never get an AB (Charlie Manuel). The result when these two preposterous scenarios happen?

 

Martinez, in the bottom of the 9th with runners on 1st & 2nd and 2 outs, doesn't deliver. Again, I don't blame him for this. How can you blame a career .188 hitter for not getting a hit?

So, how did we get to this moment in time?

First, for Martinez to be in this situation, he must be on the team, an honor most organizations make players earn.

In 2011, Mini-Mart played in 88 games (more than half), getting 234 plate appearances (sizable) and hit .196 (not good).  That performance obviously earned him a spot on the 2012 roster.

In 2012, Mini-Mart played in 45 games, getting 122 plate appearances, and hit .174 (that's somehow .022 worse than 2011). Conventional wisdom would say that .196 and .174 over two seasons in which the sample size is plenty high enough is a showing that would prevent a player from ever playing major league baseball again.

But, here we are. Mini-Mart is on the roster as chosen by GM Ruben Amaro Jr., which is enough of a reason for him to be fired. By having Martinez on the team, Ruben puts his manager in a tough spot - clearly not something we want to do to this manager.

Let's set the scene: it's the top of the 8th. The Phillies are down 4-2. Ryan Howard draws a leadoff walk, and Charlie Manuel pinch runs for Howard with Martinez. This is an obvious mistake - Howard's run is not the tying or go-ahead run (it's not that his run is meaningless - it's just not paramount to get that run across), and simple math tells you that it's likely Howard's spot would come up in a key situation. If of the next 8 batters, 5 or fewer make outs, Howard's up.

Sure enough, Howard's spot in the lineup does come back around with 2 outs, runners on 1st & 2nd, in the bottom of the 9th. The ultimate clutch situation in which you'd want your "best hitter" to be at the plate. Instead, he's out of the game, and Martinez is the goat.

It's costly errors like these that happen several times a week and turn the Phillies from a fringe contender to a 100% non-playoff team. And I haven't even mentioned the Mayberry insertion (he could've pinch hit for Martinez) or the Kendrick pick-off (could've been Martinez running, the only thing he isn't awful at), which were equally-horrendous managerial decisions.

Their jobs aren't easy, but these mistakes, especially Ruben's, are beyond comprehension. This isn't a '19 year-old gets black-out drunk' mistake. This is a 'we should jump off this third-story roof into that baby pool' mistake. This is a 'Michael Martinez is on a Major League roster' mistake.

Episode 12 - "Bron Bron Goes Wah Wah"

Episode 11 - "Ryan Howard Used to be Joey Votto..."

Episode 10 "Testing 1 2 3"

TAF Podcast - May 5, 2013

What should be done with Ben Revere?

A .204 average is not going to cut it in the Majors.  Maybe if you play for the Astros, Marlins, or the Mets.  Something needs to be done - a decision needs to be made - we just can't have Revere siting on the bench.  I see 4 possible options: 1) Continue to start him in CF and hope he fixes his issues.  Of course, Revere is a life time .275+ (including minor stats) hitter and maybe he just needs time to work it out. 2) Trade him.  Move on and cut your losses. 3) Send him to AAA and have him work out his problems down there where he can’t hurt the MLB team. 4) Have him become a bench player and get spots starts in CF and be a PH/PR off the bench.  I will address each option individually.

The fourth option of having him become a bench player hurts him as a developing player.  It is the same argument I gave you for Freddy Galvis.  Both of these guys need to be getting 4 at-bats a night and playing the field.  Having Revere on the bench would hamper his growth as a player.  Baseball is a game of routine.

I think trading him is a terrible idea.  His trade value could not be lower at this time.  Many fans are upset with the trade in hindsight, but neither Worley nor Mays is doing anything for the Twins. Worley is 0-4 with an ERA of 7.22 in 6 starts this season.  The verdict is still out of Mays since he is a prospect, but please name a ‘prospect’ the Phillies have traded away that turned into anything recently. Trading Revere at this point will give you zero value.

That leaves us with the two options of having Revere play every day in CF.  Now the choice is between AAA and MLB. If we send Revere to AAA, John Mayberry Jr. becomes your starting CF.  While I think Mayberry is an above-average defensive CF, his hitting leaves a lot to be desired.  Some may argue this move would weaken the overall speed of the club, yet Revere has only stolen 6 bases in 8 attempts.  The Phillies in general, to my dismay, are not a running team and that is a philosophical decision from good old Charlie.  The team as a whole only has 14 stolen bases this year.

I feel with the expected addition of offensive fire power coming from D. Young and C. Ruiz that Ben Revere can be sent down to AAA to work out his issues.  The team still has a minor league option on him and should use it.  Hopefully he is only down in AAA for a month or so and can be back in the Majors to help this team win.  The Phillies are not good enough to hide him in the lineup until he works out his issues.  They need to win games and unfortunately they are hard to come by.  They are 8-2 vs. the Marlins/Mets and 5-14 vs. everyone else.  We cannot afford to waste anymore AB’s on Ben Revere.

Live Podcast - May 2, 2013