Jim Thome is Indeed Expected to Play First Base

"“Thome indicated to Amaro that he believes he can play first base three to five times a month, if needed. Gload started just 11 games in 2011.”—Todd Zolecki"

There’s a slow-rising anxiety about the concept of a Jim Thome/Ross Gload first base platoon.  So much so that I certainly can’t be the only one to feel it.  Ruben Amaro isn’t… finished with this part, right?  He didn’t just sign Thome immediately because he thought he was the solution to this problem.  That’s not what’s happening here.  It can’t be.

That’s why we were talking to Michael Cuddyer, right?  The guy whose like a decade younger than Thome and has twice the hips of Gload?

Because I recognize that a first baseman isn’t required to move a whole lot, but the five games you can drain out of Thome and the probably equal amount you’ll get from Gload–assuming he doesn’t get on base early in the game and immediately needs a pinch runner–does not add up to all of the games of the month.

I know, I know.  I’m being willfully ignorant.  Obviously John Mayberry has the youth, flexibility, athleticism, and correct number of body parts to cover for Ryan Howard for a month.  And hopefully that’s all the time we’ll need to be covered.

But when people ask me what position Thome plays, I just say “Bat.”  Because that’s all I can imagine doing with any sort of effectiveness; albeit hundreds of feet of resounding effectiveness.

We’re not done talking to people about this, though, right?  We can’t be.

Right?