Below are three different stat lines:
.268/.343/.479 16 HR 84 R 63 RBI 26 SB
.259/.327/.410 18 HR 84 R 69 RBI 34 SB
.255/.329/.444 22 HR 91 R 77 RBI 29 SB
Can you guess which line was Shane Victorino’s? The middle one. The top one belongs to Andres Torres and the bottom line to Drew Stubbs. However, if you asked the majority of people who they’d want on their team, many would answer Victorino.If he wasn’t Hawaiian and in a big market would Shane Victorino be a household name among baseball fans?
In 2010, Shane was kind of a man without a home. Over the course of the season, he hit in every spot in the lineup except for cleanup and 8th. The one spot where he seemed to put his best numbers together was in the leadoff spot while Jimmy Rollins was out or moved down.
In the leadoff spot, Victorino went .276/.345/.810 in 82 games. Perhaps, some of Victorino’s struggles can be attributed to the fact he couldn’t get comfortable in the lineup. That being said, he did set a new career-high in home runs.
My big gripe with Victorino this season was the fact claims to be a switch-hitter. However his struggles against right-handed pitchers this year were brutal.
Shane’s numbers against RH: .235/.306/.692 12 HR 47 RBI 38 BB 58K in 422 at bats
Shane’s numbers against LH: .321/.381/.921 6 HR 22 RBI 15 BB 21K in 165 at bats.
Those differences are staggering. As good as Shane was against lefties, he was that bad against righties. Now I don’t think he should be a platoon guy, but at the same time, I wonder if Phillies coaches ever considered batting Shane exclusively from the right side just to check things out and see the results for a short period of time.
Victorino added another Gold Glove to his closest last week. As there are with many Gold Glove choices, this one came with a little scrutiny. Victorino is known around baseball for having a great glove, but once again I wonder if he wasn’t a known-name from the island of Hawaii would that be the case. Vic’s UZR/150 came in at a respectable 3.3. Not bad, but good for only 14th among qualified NL outfielders. A quick search on the list, and you would see the aforementioned Torres was tops in the NL at a whopping 24.8
When all was said and done Victorino put together a solid year, down from his 2008 and 2009 campaign, but solid nonetheless. However, I would not be surprised if Ruben Amaro Jr. attempts to move him this offseason.
NICK’S GRADE: 6.2/10
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