Phillies Hope for More Offense by Confusing Teenager

As one of those Phillies prospects you actually hear about, Jonathan Singleton has a lot on his plate, and not just when he hijacks the buffet line on Sunday mornings.  He’s our top position nugget, but the trick is nailing down what position the 19-year-old is going to play.

He started at first base, where his path to the Majors was stonewalled by Ryan Howard.  So they shoved him into left, where he was “pressing” and his production started to slip.  Now, he’s back at home next to the right field foul line, where Phillies management will assume he won’t even remember he left.

*Claps hands together to express sense of finality on the matter.*

So that’s that.

*Sits down, reads newspaper.*

In the short term, this will probably help Jonathan’s hitting, and I say that with almost zero knowledge of the situation.  He was drafted in 2009, so all of these changes have occurred and then recurred in the course of the less than two years.  Which means the kid is much more passionate and accommodating about anything than I was at 19.

In the long term, though, who knows what they plan do to about his career within the Phillies organization now that he’s forever cemented back into the first base role?  Are they saying he’s officially trade bait?  Are they hoping he’s willing wait out Ryan Howard’s contract?  Did they just put a base in left center field and tell him it was first base?

"“LaMar stressed that the Phillies could re-visit the outfield experiment down the road as Singleton rises through the system. In fact, Singleton may still play occasionally in left field this season.”–Jim Salisbury, CSNPhilly"

Look, if you guys don’t want to make a big screaming deal out of this, I don’t know why you released the information.

Of course, the Clearwater Threshers may have more to worry about than who is playing what position, given the list of  atrocities that can occur in a given nine-inning period.

"“A player could be severely injured. A bystander could fall, trip or become overwhelmed by heat stroke.  More likely, a fan will be injured.  Bare hands and foul balls don’t always mesh well.”–Lee Diekemper, “Fish Tales”"