5th Spot Showcase: Raul Ibanez

Rauuuuuuuuul is in the final year of his contract with the Phillies. He has had an interesting 2 years in Philly including an All-Star 2009 season in which he hit .272 with 34 HR and 93 RBI's. With an always solid batting average and ability to hit for power, could Ibanez possibly bat 5th for the Phils?

Pros: Ibanez is a .284 career hitter and he has hit 20 plus HR in 6 of 10 seasons in which he's played 100 games or more. And in 8 of those 10 seasons, Ibanez hit 80 plus RBI's. Statistically, Ibanez clearly has what it takes to bat 5th and protect Ryan Howard. One thing Ibanez has over a lot of the guys on this team is experience. Ibanez will be heading into his 16th year in the big leagues this season and the Phillies know they can count on him to stay calm in the 5 hole.

Cons: Unfortunately there are a lot of negatives to putting Ibanez in the 5th spot the first of which is the fact that he is a left handed batter. If he were to bat 5th it could potentially be 3 even 4 lefties in a row depending on who the Phils decide to put in the 6th spot. And although last year was a very strong year for Ibanez in which he hit .275 with 83 RBI's, his HR numbers dropped drastically from 34 in '09 to just 16 last year. 16 HR's is decent, but Ibanez would have to get that number back up to at least 20 if he wants to bat 5th. Also is age a factor with Ibanez? After all this is his 16th season and he will turn 39 in June.

I think Ibanez is the most qualified hitter on this team to hit 5th, but with Utley's injury not getting any better I think the Phils are going to look to bat him in the 3 hole. Ibanez will hopefully do a solid job in Utley's absence and it will be interesting to see how they shuffle the line up when he returns. Where ever the Phils decide to put Raul, if he can have another year like 2009, it will really help this team that has so many question marks heading into opening day.