Greg Dobbs must go!
by Scott Butler 5/4/09
No need to get heated yet, this is not what it looks like! I want Greg Dobbs to stay with the Philadelphia Phillies, but for his sake I hope he is gone.
Greg Dobbs is too good of a ballplayer to get one bat at most per night as a pinch hitter. The numbers prove it. With 550 at bats over the last two seasons, Dobbs has a .284 batting average with 34 doubles, 19 homers, and 95 RBI's. To put 550 at-bats in perspective, that is 6 less than Jimmy Rollins had last season in which he was out for a month due to injury. That would put Dobbs on pace for 104 RBIs in a typical 600 at-bat season.
Those numbers tell me that there has to be a team out there who could use his bat in their everyday lineup. Unfortunately, that team is not the Phillies. There is no position on the 2009 Phillies team in which he could split time with one of the regulars. Given the opportunity, Dobbs could show that he does belong as a starting player.
A terrific example of what can happen when a player is given a chance is the case of Jayson Werth. Here was a guy who came off a surgery and could not hit right hand pitching, and therefore split time with Geoff Jenkins. Going into 2008, he was just another guy. However, he proved his worth (yes, pun intended) when Jenkins went down with an injury, he was a legitimate force and a guy who Charlie Manuel counted on in the postseason. This season, Jenkins was released, Werth signed a nice contract and now find himself as the Phils starting left fielder.
Dobbs proved last season that he can be an everyday player when he played third base for Pedro Feliz. Hopefully that was enough for Dobbs to have enough trade appeal to give Ruben Amaro the chance to trade Dobbs for some good, young talent or in some sort of package deal.
Dobbs also appears to be a very professional ballplayer who respects the game and takes it seriously. You never hear him complaining about his lack of at-bats. As a professional, he gives his best effort each pinch hit appearance and tries to help the team as best he can. It would be a shame to keep a player like that on the bench all night.
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