Laynce Nix: Where Does the Philadelphia Phillies Outfielder Fit Into the Team’s Plans for the Future?
The Philadelphia Phillies haven’t made much of an attempt to replace Raul Ibanez in left field, so it seems likely the team will be going with a platoon of Laynce Nix and John Mayberry, Jr in 2012.
That actually should work better than having Ibanez, especially considering Ibanez hit just .245/.289/.419 in 2011. He did hit 20 home runs and drive in 84 runs, but he rated as the worst defensive player in the National League, according to Fan Graphs, and cost his team 1.3 wins that a replacement Triple-A level player would have been worth.
The left-handed Nix hit .250/.299/.451 with 16 home runs and 44 RBI in 351 plate appearances last season, and performed notably better against righties (.781 OPS) than lefties (.411 OPS). John Mayberry, Jr. hit .273/.341/.513 with 15 home runs and 49 RBI in 296 plate appearances in 2011, meaning Nix and Mayberry hit a combined 31 home runs with 93 RBI in 647 plate appearances.
The Phillies would gladly take that production for about $1.6 million combined ($1.1M for Nix, $450K for Mayberry). In all, Nix’s contract with the Phillies is worth $2.5M over two years. Nix is primarily a corner outfielder, although he played 47 innings at first base in 2011 and still can fill in at center field when needed.
Nix isn’t the long-term answer at left field in any way. Ideally, John Mayberry, Jr. develops into the power hitter he was down the stretch for the team last year, although that’s unlikely considering he struggled immensely early on when he started full-time. The Phillies also have Domonic Brown in the waiting, and although the team said he will spend 2012 in Triple-A, they hope he can be ready by 2013 to be the full-time starter.
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