Friday, August 19, 2011

2009 Topps Update #UH72 John Mayberry, Jr.

Phillies 4, Diamondbacks 1
Game 122 - Thursday Night, August 18th in Philadelphia

One Sentence Summary:  After a rain delay of over two hours, the Phillies held off the D-Backs to win the game and the series.

What It Means:  The Phils improved to 80-42 with the win and they maintained an 8 1/2 game lead in the division.

What Went Right:  John Mayberry, Jr. continued to impress at the plate, hitting a key two-run home run in the third.  Wilson Valdez and Raul Ibanez added RBI-doubles.

Vance Worley was forced from the game following three innings of work because of the rain, but the bullpen managed to negate the Diamondbacks' offense.  Especially impressive was David Herndon's three shutout innings in which he struck out four.

Featured Card:  I'm quickly running out of Mayberry's cards to feature on the blog, which is a testament to just how surprising of a year the guy is having.  Mayberry made the opening day roster as the fourth outfielder and after a brief detour in June back to Lehigh Valley, he's starting to find his name in Charlie Manuel's line-up more frequently.  With 179 at-bats so far this year, he's hitting .263 with 10 home runs and 34 RBIs.  He's also played great defensively and he's a threat on the base paths.

With center and right field locked up next year by Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence, it's going to be interesting to see if Domonic Brown is handed the left fielder's job in 2012, or if Mayberry continues to earn himself more serious consideration as an every day player.

No comments: