The Zo Zone

I had somebody e-mail me recently about the Phillies bench and how badly they could use Jeff Conine or David Dellucci.

The Phillies traded Conine (aka Niner) in the off-season because they acquired Jayson Werth, and as a personal favor to Conine, who wouldn't play nearly as much as he had last season, they traded him to the Cincinnati Reds. Dellucci was miserable in Philadelphia and wanted an opportunity to play regularly, so he signed with the Cleveland Indians. He wasn't coming back.

Conine is hitting .259 (15 for 58) with two home runs and 13 RBIs for the Reds. He has a .297 on-base percentage. Dellucci is hitting .250 (20 for 80) with one homer and three RBIs for the Indians. He has a .310 on-base percentage. How does that compare to the Phillies' fourth and fifth outfielders? Werth is hitting .273 (9 for 33) with three RBIs and a .385 on-base percentage. Michael Bourn, the team's fifth outfielder, is hitting .278 (5 for 18) with one RBI, but has been a contributed as a late-inning replacement for Pat Burrell. Bourn also has a .381 on-base percentage. Conine has knocked in 13 runs, but also has more at-bats than Werth and Bourn combined.

One of my criticisms of Charlie Manuel is that he could play his bench players more. He often says that it's hard to play his bench players when the team is losing. But then when the team is winning he says it's hard to take his starters out because they need to keep winning (or it's late in the season). I understand that. But Greg Dobbs, who is hitting .200 (7 for 35) with one homer and nine RBIs, could have maybe had an extra start or two. Werth could have picked up a couple more starts in left field with Burrell struggling. And sometimes I wonder if Manuel ever will give Bourn a start?

Maybe I'm wrong, but looking at the numbers I don't think the absence of Conine or Delllucci has aboslutely killed this team, although I certainly am not saying the Phillies couldn't use Conine's bat off the bench. They could. They absolutely could. But nobody knows how Manuel would have used Conine here. My guess is that he would have about the same at-bats as Werth. And as any pinch-hitter will tell you, it's terribly difficult to be productive in that role without regular work.

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After looking up the numbers for Conine and Dellucci, I thought I would see how some other Phillies from last season's team are doing:

- Randy Wolf, Dodgers: 3-3, 4.61 ERA in seven starts
- Mike Lieberthal, Dodgers: .222 (4 for 18) and one RBI with a .222 OBP.
- Rick White, Astros: 1-0, 1.54 ERA in eight appearances. He's on the DL.
- Bobby Abreu, Yankees: .250 (34 for 136) with one homer and 18 RBIs. He has a .325 OBP.
- Ryan Franklin, Cardinals: 1-0, 1.20 ERA in 14 appearances.

Uh, where was that production from Franklin last season?