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Year in Review: The Other Bench Guys

The Phillies dealt with many injuries throughout this season.  At my best count, the Phils sent 15 players to the disabled list.  They sent Jimmy Rollins twice, and five of their other seven starters also saw time nursing injuries.

The Phillies also had two starting pitchers, their closer, four relief pitchers and two bench players go on the DL at one time or another.  April and June were the most injury stricken months seeing five players go on the DL.  October was the only month without a player being placed on the DL.

With all the injuries it opened the door for players from the system to come up and gain some valuable Major League experience.  Players like Domonic Brown and Wilson Valdez were called up and were mainstays throughout the summer and into the playoffs.  Now, Brown would have been a September call up anyways but because he was added so early it allowed him to be on the postseason roster.

Valdez, who was not on the opening day roster, played so well filling in for Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Placido Polanco that the Phillies released Juan Castro in July.  Up to that point, Castro was only hitting .198 in 136 plate appearances.  Valdez even earned a spot start in the NLDS against Cincinnati.

Some of the other guys that saw some playing time but did not make the postseason roster were Cody Ransom, Paul Hoover, Dane Sardinha, John Mayberry and Brian Bocock.  This guys were used sparingly throughout the season when needed.  Sardinha and Ransom each had nine starts while Hoover saw his name six times in the starting lineup.  Mayberry started one game in the outfield and Bocock was mixed in here and there.

For the amount of time played, I think these guys performed admirably.  In 12 at bats, Mayberry only had four hits but two of them were home runs.  A small sample size, yes, but spread out through a full major league season and he could put up some good numbers.  For his career he has 16 big league hits with six for home runs.

Throwing out Bocock’s numbers (.000 across the board), these bench guys hit .217 with seven home runs and 21 RBIs.  Not exactly starter-like numbers but they worked for what the Phillies needed.  Even though all of them had seen time in the big leagues before the season I think you have to take in consideration they did start this season in the minors, aside from Castro.

I think Ruben Amaro made some good choices calling up the guys he did at the times he did.  With so many injuries, a lot of people didn’t even expect the Phillies to make the playoffs.

KIERAN’S GRADE: 6/10

NICK’S GRADE: 2.5/10 I guess I did not watch the same bench guys that my colleague Kieran did. In a season where the Phillies were riddled with injuries, it is hard to remember these guys coming through in big spots when needed. Aside from a few random Ransom homers, I was pretty disappointed in the bench and think they were part of the reason the Phillies struggled early in the season.

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