Apr 30, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Indians catcher Carlos Santana (left) watches Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Delmon Young (3) after he was hit by a pitch in the fifth inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Sooner or later, somebody was going to get jammed.

It makes sense it was the guy who throws his body around like a goose flying into a jet engine.

Ben Revere has jammed his finger on a base last night, taking him out of the lineup tonight, putting John Mayberry in his place, and sliding – you guessed it – Delmon Young into right field for his defensive debut.  In a way, it’s a relief to have Revere’s inept bat out of the lineup for an evening, but he’s not going to work his way out of his funk if he’s on the bench.  Then again, what if - what if this is him normally.

EVERYBODY RUN.

Young, a guy who has been referred to as “not at all a good defensive outfielder oh god oh god,” will have a stigma to shake off, the stigma being that he makes people say that thing I just said.

Also, I always feel like I need to mention his heinous personal shortcomings, just so it never sounds like I’m proud to have him here.

Meanwhile, Revere’s injury isn’t taking him off any lists and put on other lists, so he’ll probably be available for pinch hitting duty, if Charlie Manuel is feeling particularly trollsome.  That won’t happen, though.  The next time we see Ben Revere, he’ll probably be pinch running for Delmon Young.

Charlie Manuel now has the honor of working out an outfield from four different options, ranging from all power-no defense to all-defense-no power to pinch hitting folk legend to John Mayberry, and we get to enjoy watching him make the wrong decision; not that there is a “right” one when you are managing baseball’s worst outfield.

Apr 30, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Delmon Young (3) is hit by a pitch in the fifth inning against Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

His appearance as the DH in an American League ballpark seemed a natural first step if we’re, like, really going to do this.  And apparently we are, Delmon’s crappiness as a human being and fielder aside, for $750,000.

He socked a home run in his first at-bat, got hit by a pitch in another; he singled and popped out to round off the evening.  But what we didn’t see – what lurked under the guise of that 14-2 feelings-decimating performance – was what they had planned for Delmon Young today.

Charlie said he did plan on playing Young in RF today. But he got hit by pitch in throwing elbow yesterday. That changed the plan

— Ryan Lawrence (@ryanlawrence21) May 1, 2013

It’s no surprise.  This has been the plan all along, after all.  Delmon Young will be the Phillies’ starting right fielder at some point this year.

But to know we were so close to the plan being green lit, and seeing him out there, and watching him track fly balls and throw the ball and run after the ball, just seems so humbling, you know?  We’re all on this earth for only so l0ng, and something about Delmon Young’s defensive prowess makes me think deeply about human mortality.

Enjoy Laynce Nix while you can.

Except he’s not going to pinch hit tonight so his skills are useless.

@tbohblog Preparing my Delmon Young Is Awesome And I Knew It All Along post for tomorrow as we speak.

— John Stolnis (@FelskeFiles) May 1, 2013

…and if nothing else, I am a man of my word.

Almost no one was looking forward to Delmon Young making his debut for the Phillies last night in Cleveland. Virtually nobody wants this guy on the team, what with his being really bad at playing baseball and everything.

Then, Young goes and hits a solo home run in his first at-bat as a Phillie, and also adds a double for good measure, in three at bats.

This is absolutely going to destroy my narrative. So, I’m forced to come up with a new one.

Delmon Young is awesome. So get on board the Delmon train, because it’s leaving the station and there’s limited seating on board.

Let’s face it. We NEED Delmon Young, y’all. He’s THAT important.

Apr 30, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Delmon Young (3) hits a home run in the second inning against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Delmon Young helps people feel better when they’re sick.

Delmon Young makes flowers grow faster.

Delmon Young turns water into… slightly colder water.

Delmon Young would knit everyone a really nice sweater if he had the time.

Delmon Young helps old people cross the street.

Delmon Young can make rainbows out of used car batteries and a wet sponge.

Delmon Young has a beautiful singing voice.

But most important of all, Delmon Young destroys baseballs and makes you want to be his friend. THAT is the TRUE value of Delmon Young.

Now sure, you may have read dozens and dozens of tweets from me (@FelskeFiles) in the past where I may have come across as slightly negative towards Delmon Young, and you may have read multiple blog posts where I seemed less than enthusiastic about Delmon Young playing on the Phillies.

I can assure you, you misread all of it.

I’ve known all along Young was going to be awesome, that he would be the missing piece to what was ailing the Phils’ offense. Anything you read to the contrary was just your lying eyes playing tricks on you.

I have swum against the narrative tide that tried to convince you Delmon Young was a terrible human being, terrible defender, terrible baseball player and waste of space. I’ve seen the hidden beauty all along.

It hasn’t been easy.

So, thank you Delmon Young for proving me right.

I’ll accept all apologies in either tweet or email form.