Ben Revere Will Be An Offensive Threat For Philadelphia Phillies in 2014

Ben Revere

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

In 2012, the Philadelphia Phillies traded Vance Worley and Trevor May to the Minnesota Twins for speedy center fielder Ben Revere. Revere only played 88 games in his first full season with the Phillies due to a fractured foot. He was successful despite getting hurt, yet Revere was never able to hit his stride and become the dangerous leadoff threat the Phillies expected.

Barring injury, a full season from Revere should provide the Phillies with one of the fastest baseball players in MLB.

Offensively, Revere gives the Phillies the option to use his speed to start the game at leadoff, or at the eighth spot in the lineup where the pitcher could bunt him over. Revere has the speed to score from second base on a single, and batting him eighth gives the Phillies a chance to balance out their lineup and make it hard for pitchers to exploit the back end of the lineup.

At 25-years-old, Revere is still growing accustomed to pitching in the majors. As players enter their late 20s, they generally start to see their offensive numbers increase. Revere is about to enter that stage of his career and should see an increase in his production.  In his career, Revere has shown a great ability to balance his production and hit both right-handed and left-handed pitching effectively.

If Revere can become an offensive catalyst for the Phillies in 2014, he will ease the pressure on the rest of the lineup.

Jake Edinger is a Philadelphia Phillies writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @jake_edinger,  add him to your circle on Google, or connect with him on Linkedin.

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