Ibanez Finally Delivers At The Plate

Raul Ibanez had been stuck in what could be the worst slump of his career. Going into the Tuesday’s game against the Nationals, the veteran outfielder had been hitless in his last 35 at-bats, a streak that put him in the top 10 longest hitless streaks in the history of baseball. Ibanez finally ended his drought at the plate, going 2-4 with two doubles and an RBI in Tuesday’s game.

Ibanez hit a ground rule double in the 4th inning, and knocked in a run in the 7th inning with another double. Ibanez was fortunate on his second double, the ball stayed up in the air long enough to be caught, but Washington outfielders Jerry Hairston and Mike Morse were both in bad positions. Neither outfielder got a good look at the ball, and it dropped right between the two of them.

But right now, Ibanez will take whatever hits he can get.

It was the first hits for Ibanez since April 18th, when he went 1-5 against the Brewers. After starting the first six games of the season hitting .304 with one homerun and six RBI’s, Ibanez has seen his average plummet to .154, and has only driven in five runs in the last 22 games. The Phillies have begun to lose faith in Ibanez, and have recently been starting John Mayberry Jr. in left field against left handed starters.

Now that Ibanez has gotten the 0-35 monkey off of his back, he needs to build on the successful night he had on Tuesday. The Phillies are still depending on him to be a reliable bat in the lineup. Mayberry hasn’t proven that he can be anything more than a 4th outfielder, and a right-handed bat off of the bench, and top prospect Domonic Brown hasn’t proven that he can consistently succeed at the major league level.

Even if Mayberry or Brown eventually prove that they are better options, Ibanez is owed almost $12,000,000 for the rest of this season, too much money for the Phillies to just eat his salary. Ibanez is going to be here for the rest of the season, regardless of how he performs. The Phillies can’t afford to carry any dead weight on the team if they want to be serious contenders at the end of the season. Ibanez needs to be able to contribute to the team in some way.

Ibanez has been a very streaky player during his time in Philadelphia, going through periods that he tears the cover off of the ball, and periods that he is an automatic out. Because of his inconsistent hot-and-cold play, it’s hard for the Phillies to tell if he is just going through one of his cold spells, or if age has finally caught up the 39 year old outfielder.

Ibanez has been the subject of a lot of criticism in recent weeks, and rightfully so. Now that he has finally had a productive night at the plate, maybe he can begin to consistently contribute to the offense again.