Over the next 28 days Philly Pressbox (https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com) (@phillypressbox) will be doing a review and analysis of each Phillies player, Manager Charlie Manuel and the coaching staff leading up to Opening Day 2012. On Day 24 we preview, Juan Pierre.
Juan Pierre – The 34 year old Pierre was signed during the off season as a free agent after being released by the Chicago White Sox. Pierre has been a full time outfielder and leadoff hitter his entire career. In his 12 major league seasons Pierre has tallied more than 600 at bats 8 times, most recently in 2010 and 2011. He has also posted 200+ hits in a season 3 times. He led the league in hits 2 of those seasons. Juan has also led the league in triples once and stolen bases 3 times. All while posting a career .296 batting average over 1752 games. From 2003 – 2007 Pierre played in all 162 games in each of those seasons. Back to stolen bases, Juan has 554 in his career. He has stolen over 60 in a season 3 times, 50 or more in 2 other seasons and 40 or more in 4 other seasons. Obviously, Pierre has been a terror on the base paths! To put Pierre’s base running accomplishments in perspective, Jimmy Rollins has stolen 373 in bases in his career.
Pierre is a former 13th round draft choice of the Colorado Rockies in the 1998 amateur draft. He debuted in the big leagues in August of 2000 at the age of 22. He played for 3 seasons in Colorado, 3 seasons in Florida, which were his best, 1 season with the Cubs, 3 seasons with the Dodgers and 2 with the White Sox before joining the Phillies.
Pierre was in a Spring Training battle with another non-roster invitee Scott Podsednik. Both had outstanding camps, however, for now Pierre is in and Podsednik is out. Pods could make the club on the final cut down but it doesn’t appear that way right now.
Personal Analysis:
We’re really excited that the Phils have acquired Pierre and that he has made the team. Pierre can be a full time player, if necessary. He can start in the outfield if John Mayberry moves to 1st base, needs a rest or doesn’t produce. He can hit at the top of the lineup, get on base and steal bases. Frankly, he’s a better leadoff hitter than Jimmy Rollins in regards to being a pure leadoff man. He gives Manager Charlie Manuel a lot of options in the outfield and flexibility in his lineup especially being a left handed hitter. We look for Pierre to hit .290 and steal 20-25 bases depending on how many at bats he gets. Obviously, the return and Chase Utley and Ryan Howard will determine how the lineup sets up; however, we look for Pierre to get a lot of work. If he can continue to produce as he has in the last two seasons, .275, 179 hits and 68 stolen bases in 2010 and .279, 175 hits and 27 stolen bases in 2011, he will be a big boost for the Phils. If Pierre has a weakness in his running game, he has led the league in being caught stealing 7 times as well. With the base running comes the risk of getting thrown out. The coaching staff will have to pick and choose good times for Pierre to swipe a base to cut down on the times he is caught.
Tomorrow we will preview Laynce Nix.
The series: Day 1, Charlie Manuel. Day 2, The Coaching Staff. Day 3, Roy Halladay. Day 4, Cliff Lee. Day 5, Cole Hamels. Day 6, Vance Worley. Day 7, Joe Blanton. Day 8, Carlos “Chooch” Ruiz. Day 9, Ryan Howard. Day 10, Chase Utley. Day 11, Jimmy Rollins. Day 12, Placido Polanco. Day 13, John Mayberry, Jr. Day 14, Shane Victorino. Day 15, Hunter Pence. Day 16, Brian Schneider. Day 17, Jim Thome. Day 18, Kyle Kendrick. Day 19, Antonio Bastardo. Day 20, Ty Wigginton. Day 21, Chad Qualls. Day 22, Freddy Galvis. Day 23, David Herndon.
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