Skip to main content

Time For Fontenot?

By
At Triple-A Lehigh Valley, Mike Fontenot, who was signed by the Phillies last month as a free agent after being released by San Francisco late in spring training, has been performing quite well to the tune of a .308 batting average with 5 doubles and 6 RBI in a dozen games.  Meanwhile, the Philadelphia offense has struggled considerably, as they tallied the 3rd lowest OPS in the National League entering action on Monday.

Change is needed and the team clearly realizes it. Manager Charlie Manuel has used 25 different lineups in 30 games this season.  None have clicked particularly well.

Fontenot, 31, is a career .263 hitter in six big league seasons.  The lefty hitting former 1st round draft pick of the Orioles (2001) had the most successful season of his career in 2009 with the Cubs, when he mashed 9 homeruns and drove in 43 runs in 135 games.

On the defensive side, Fontenot has played 286 games at 2nd base, 50 games at shortstop and 77 games at 3rd base in the Majors.  The Louisiana State product also has a .976 fielding percentage in his career.

Additionally, Fontenot's .738 career OPS in the big leagues stands out as being plenty reliable from a backup infielder that would be filling in until All-Star Chase Utley makes a return from a knee ailment.

What could really force the Phillies' hand to make such a move may be the output of another player.  After his 0-for-4 effort in Monday night's series opener against the New York Mets, Phils rookie second baseman Freddy Galvis lowered his batting average on the season to .189 while his OPS dropped to .504 through 30 games.

One bonus with potentially swapping Galvis and Fontenot on the rosters would be that the 22-year-old Galvis could return to the International League where he proved he could compete last year and gain a boost in confidence.

Utility infielder Pete Orr along with his very respectable .276 batting average and a .714 OPS this season, would not likely be on the chopping block, if the Phillies were itching to promote Fontenot. 

So, while many folks witness the repeated failures of the varied lineups and wonder what changes the Phillies can make to improve the offense...the beginning to a remedy could be as simple as making a switch at second base, using some organizational depth.  Is it time for such a change?  The answer could be Fonte-YES.

__________________________________________

Photo- Chris Post, Lehigh Valley Live

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE.
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Certanly can't hurt !
May 8, 2012 at 11:58 AM
OBC said…
Yeah...enough is enough. Batting under .200 is not going to keep any player in the bigs.

Let Freddy improve...bring up the guy who has done it before.
May 8, 2012 at 2:13 PM
Jay Floyd said…
Orr starting for Phils tonight. Galvis just clearly isn't the best option for playing time right now.
May 8, 2012 at 5:07 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sunday School: Phillies History Lesson 71

By
Gene Kelly was the radio voice of the Philadelphia Phillies from 1950- 1959. Born in Brooklyn NY, Kelly pitched in the minor leagues after graduating from Marshall College in 1941. He would soon experience arm trouble, which ended his playing days. Kelly managed to continue a career in sports by turning to radio. When legendary announcer By Saam, who pulled double duty beginning in 1939 calling both Phillies and Athletics games, moved over to the A's side exclusively, Gene Kelly was the man who would fill the void and took over as the Phillies play-by-play man. The Phillies began broadcasting their games over the air in 1936, but until the 1950's, the broadcasters only attended home games and did not travel with the team. All road games were recreated, on the air, by the announcers who read a Western Union teletype account of the games from the studio in Philadelphia. During the decade of the 50's, Kelly was partnered with several different broadcasters, including Claude Ha...
5 comments
Read more

Jealous Ones Envy

By
Joe Blanton continues to excel and prove his worth in the Phillies pitching rotation. In his latest outing on Sunday, Blanton threw 8 strong innings, striking out 6, while walking just 1 and surrendering 2 earned runs, improving his record to 7-4. This season in July, Joe is 3-0 over four starts with 22 K's, 5 walks and a 1.21 ERA. Over his last 6 starts, Joe's ERA is 1.94. As a member of the Phillies, Blanton has a 3.84 ERA after the all star break with a 5-0 record. The Phillies are 20-12 (.625 winning percentage) in games that Blanton has started, since being acquired last July. Combined this season against other National League playoff contenders St. Louis, Chicago and Los Angeles, Blanton has a combined 1.67 ERA in 4 starts with a 2-0 record. Blanton is on such a sizzling run that the Bowling Green Hot Rods, a Tampa Bay Rays farm team, will host a Joe Blanton bobble head give away tomorrow. Bowling Green will host Joe's mother, father and sister for the event, as Joe...
7 comments
Read more

Heroes- Fight of the Century

By
VS. It's a big day for your boy, Jay Ballz . No work, X-Men Origins: Wolverine premieres, our Phillies face the Metropolitans for the first time this season and tailgating for BOTH doesn't sound all that absurd to me. Anyway, I surveyed some qualified phans and got several opinions on how exactly a fight might go down if the mutant hero Wolverine faced off against Phillies hero Matt Stairs. Well known blogger, Chris, of I've Made a Huge Tiny Mistake , kept it real and said the following- "Wolverine has adamantium ( indestructible metal substance) claws, so that's a great advantage. Stairs' Wonder Bat is neutralized there. See, the problem becomes Wolverine's ability to recover (he has a regenerative power) faster. Stairs is merely human. Sure, he has a goatee, and goatees are great, but they're great for saving sauce, not for defeating mutants. I think Wolverine takes it in a fight to the death in about 15 minutes because Stairs simply doesn'...
7 comments
Read more