Philadelphia Phillies: Jim Thome’s Return Doing More Harm Than Good

The Jim Thome experiment isn’t going the way the Phillies had hoped.

In a perfect world, a 41-year-old designated hitter, who played first base once upon a time, could field his old position one or twice a week.  In between, he could pinch hit in big spots, and mash right handers like big Matt Stairs used to do.

Then again, in a perfect world, Ryan Howard’s Achilles tendon would be intact, and power from the left side would be far less pressing an issue in the early part of the season.

But baseball is a world of imperfections.  And as Howard begins his rehab assignment in Single-A Clearwater, the Phillies have a difficult choice to make with the man he replaced way back in 2005.

Thome left Saturday’s game with tightness in his lower back — an injury about which there is no update as of this writing.  It was the fourth game he had started at first base this season, and while his ability on defense may have been a welcome surprise thus far, the durability questions cannot come as a shock.

After all, it’s the end of April, and Thome has already played more games at first than he had in any season since he left the Phils for the American League six years ago. 

From this point forward, it would be optimistic to think the five-time All-Star could play in the field at all, and Philadelphia fans may be content if he can fill the “bat off the bench” role as well as Stairs did in his days in red.

Pinch hitting, though, isn’t a flip of a switch.  You have to have the ability to come in cold, take a few practice swings, and be immediately mentally prepared to hit.  It’s a skill that some have, and others don’t.  Ross Gload had it, as did Stairs.  Thome, as great as he has been for 21-plus seasons, just isn’t a pinch hitter.

In his career as a starter, Thome has hit .278, slugged .558, and homered about once every 13 at-bats.

As a pinch hitter, he has hit .219, slugged .383, and hit a home run every 42 at-bats, or exactly as frequently as Julio Lugo homered in 2000.  That doesn’t sound like the slugger off the bench we are looking for.

(In case you’re curious, Stairs hit .355, slugged .581, and homered every 15.5 at-bats as a sub in 2008.) 

So this begs the question — If he can’t start at first, and he isn’t a good pinch hitter, what in the world do you do with him? 

Well, in the short term, it has to be considered that the Phillies play nine straight games in American League parks in the middle of June.  Even if The Big Piece is back and slugging by that time, there is no reason to believe Thome couldn’t DH those games with Howard playing first.

Between now and then, sending the owner of 604 career homers to the disabled list makes sense, or even to Lehigh Valley to work on coming off the bench to hit. It is not as if the team would suffer without the fan favorite, or his .111 batting average through 21 plate appearances.

After that, the issue becomes more interesting.  Would they release him?  It bears considering — he is occupying a valuable roster spot that could be claimed by any number of more capable contributors, especially Howard or Chase Utley when they return. 

One thing is for sure — it isn’t 2005 anymore, and as much as well all loved the big guy, he isn’t the player he used to be.  Sentimentalism cannot get in the way of winning baseball games.  I know that, you know that, Charlie Manuel knows that, and Thome knows that.

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