Why Is Eric Bruntlett a Phillie?

by David S. Cohen on Aug 17, 2009 12:19 PM EDT

Eric Bruntlett has a really thick beard. . . . and that's about all I can say that isn't entirely negative about Eric Bruntlett this year.

It's hard to overstate how utterly worthless Bruntlett has been for the Phillies this year. Three numbers really put things in perspective:

425, 4, and -10.4

425: This is Bruntlett's rank in BA, OBP, and OPS out of 425 MLB hitters with 75 or more plate appearances. His batting average is .129. His OBP is .198. His OPS is .398. No, those aren't typos. To put .398 in perspective, ten current members of the Phillies have an individual component of OPS (SLG or OBP) higher than Brutnlett's OPS. In terms of rankings, Bruntlett is just slightly better than 420th in SLG. His .200 SLG is good for 423rd, beating out Brent Lillibridge and Greg Norton.

4: This is Bruntlett's OPS+. He's never been a stellar hitter, of course, but his OPS+ was 55 last year, which is incredible in comparison. 4? Did you know the stat could go that low for someone who earns a paycheck from a major league team?

-10.4: This is Bruntlett's VORP. This is actually good for 416th our of 425 players with 75 or more plate appearances. But, what makes Bruntlett's VORP particularly atrocious is that he posted this -10.4 VORP in only 98 plate appearances. Everyone in the majors who has posted a worse VORP has done so with many more plate appearances. Basically, Bruntlett doesn't play much, but when he does he really makes the Phillies worse. To put Bruntlett's VORP in perspective, Brad Lidge has a -11.0 VORP and we all know what he's done to hurt this team.

So why is Bruntlett a Phillie? Because he plays middle infield, so he's the only player on their active roster who can sub for Jimmy Rollins or Chase Utley. But there is no possible way that ~~Pablo Ozuna or~~ Miguel Cairo would be any worse than Bruntlett in that role. They're both righties just like Bruntlett, but they're both hitting to the tune of a .730+ OPS for the IronPigs. Neither is going to do anything special at the plate for the Phillies, but both are more worthy of filling the 25th roster spot than Bruntlett currently is. And I can't imagine there isn't someone who has cleared waivers in the past few weeks who wouldn't help this team.

I know that who gets an additional 30 plate appearances for the Phillies between now and the end of the season is not the most pressing issue of the day for the Phillies. But, right now Charlie Manuel is working with a 24 man team. Shouldn't he have 25 players at his disposal like every other manager?

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This is actually one of the more puzzling people on the team. Maybe they know something we dont’ know? Maybe he has pictures on Charlie or Montgomery?

by DeanH on Aug 17, 2009 12:36 PM EDT reply actions

Cairo

I just saw Cairo play two games at Lehigh Valley this past week and can say that there is no reason that he should not be with the Phillies. Cairo is a solid infielder who has and can play all 4 infield positions. He is a right handed bat, without much power, who hits for a very high average. Currently he is hitting second for Lehigh Valley and is batting at a near .300 clip. Additionally, Cairo also has many years of major league experience, so its not like he is an unproven commodity.

by catfish816 on Aug 17, 2009 12:43 PM EDT reply actions

Ozuna was released….

by Mookey on Aug 17, 2009 12:48 PM EDT reply actions

Well that's a pretty good reason why he shouldn't be on the team

by David S. Cohen on Aug 17, 2009 12:56 PM EDT up reply actions

It is certainly a mystery. It might simply be inertia.

by Whack8888 on Aug 17, 2009 12:59 PM EDT reply actions

This is why Eric Bruntlett is still on the team...

So blogs like ours have material every single day.

by fireericbruntlett on Aug 17, 2009 1:03 PM EDT reply actions

Cairo stinks too

IMO his AAA success is no more valid than Bruntlett’s ST numbers. He was equally terrible during his brief time with the Phillies (though it was brief).

Amaro addressed this a few weeks ago, says lack of playing time has made it impossible for Bruntlett to at least reach his normal middling level of production against LH pitchers (which he generally hits for average better than our first baseman). The numbers actually bear that out, he had better stats last year because of his injury replacement playing time, not because he was ever any good at part-time play or PHing. They should still be looking for an upgrade but unlike the useless 25th player they carried all the way through the WS last year, at least Bruntlett can field and pinch-run. This was much more of a problem with Bruntlett was still the 24th player, and a potential OF. But Francisco took care of that.

What would be more interesting would be if the Phillies would have the stones to forego a backup SS entirely and carry Mayberry or Michael Taylor in the playoffs. Should an injury happen I believe they could still retrieve Bruntlett (or Cairo).

by zambonirodeo on Aug 17, 2009 3:01 PM EDT reply actions

thing is...

Bruntlett never has and never will hit enough to merit a regular job unless somebody’s hurt. He’s a bench player. So if it happens that he’s unsuited to hit off the bench, if he can’t be useful starting one game a week, he’s not helping. At all.

In fact, he’s hurting, because he’s so bad that Manuel evidently doesn’t feel like he can ever sit Utley or Rollins despite the fact that each could use the occasional day off. I don’t like Cairo either, and I felt the same embarrassment with him that I do when seeing Bruntlett suited up for my favorite team. But Cairo is a better—well, “less awful”—career hitter than Bruntlett, with an OPS+ of 75 to Beardo’s 64. They’re both “versatile” defenders who aren’t especially skilled at any of their positions. I believe Cairo is slightly cheaper.

by dajafi on Aug 17, 2009 3:26 PM EDT up reply actions

"can field and pinch-run"

So it was last year, but isn’t it true that this year he has been making more errors, and hasn’t been stealing as many bases? Let’s see…his hitting is worse, so he is making up for it by making more errors and stealing fewer bases? Did I get that right?

by JWoody on Aug 17, 2009 3:39 PM EDT up reply actions

shot at howard?

“against LH pitchers (which he generally hits for average better than our first baseman)”? really? come on. howard only gets dogged for his “inability” to hit LHP because of his ridiculous ability to hit against RHP. scroll through my old articles and find the one titled “‘The Ryan Howard Can’t Hit Lefties’ Myth”. what it will tell you is that howard over the course of his career (the only valid comparison for using split stats) hits lefties as well as the average starting first baseman hits same-handed pitchers (in terms of OPS, a far more valid metric than batting average, unless you’d rather david eckstein than ryan howard too). it’s just a fact. every homerun ryan howard smashes off of the javier vazquez’s of the world just serves to deepen his split, and make his pujolsian OPS vs RHP so big that his corner-position-quality OPS vs LHP isn’t good enough. howard at his worst hits lefties better than eric bruntlett.

by Matt Swartz on Aug 17, 2009 4:41 PM EDT up reply actions

He's the Royals Tony Pena Jr. of the Phils with that OPS+......

unfortunately I doubt Bruntlett can hit 90 on the gun with a fastball so we could turn him into a pitcher to replace Brad Lidge. It’s a shame because of the the good spring and decent showing last year that he had.

by wrg885 on Aug 17, 2009 4:29 PM EDT reply actions

bruntlett's numbers biased up

he has 50 PA against LHP who he has a .575 OPS against and 48 PA against RHP who he has a .206 OPS against. if he wasn’t being used extra against LHP— against whom he has an extraordinarily higher OPS for his career as well (.560 vs .729)— his OPS would probably be even lower than that.

i really like bruntlett. he’s a stanford graduate (and econ major!) who seems intelligent though soft-spoken, he seems like he wants to win and is a team player, and played excellently in his small role in the world series. he has an awesome beard as noted above, and the fact that he shaved it down recently only serves to taunt us with the fact that if he doesn’t get released, we can watch it grow back bigger than ever. but he’s just not a ballplayer anymore. he had a low peak and he’s aged. it’s a shame, because it would be nice to have a middle infielder who could hit from a .729 OPS against lefties, but that’s not bruntlett anymore.

by Matt Swartz on Aug 17, 2009 4:35 PM EDT reply actions

He also has a double against a backup shortstop.

For Who? My teammates.

For What? To Win.

How Much? Where do I sign?

by jonk on Aug 18, 2009 4:26 PM EDT up reply actions

bruntlett vs. howard

that was meant to be a joke, mostly, and I understand it’s not a valid sample size (and also that BA isn’t OPS), but if Bruntlett was having a normal year for him this season he could certainly top Howard’s .196 BA against lefties. Would I actually play Bruntlett over Howard? Obviously not, the SLG differential alone would make that stupid.

David makes a good point about Charlie being unwilling to rest the middle infielders but I’m not sure it’s really true that he would actually play them less if he had someone better (and Cairo is still not that someone). If anything old loyal Charlie always seems happy to give Eric work.

And even though Bruntlett makes a pittance, with the Phillies payroll what it is, plus the money they have in Eaton, Jenkins, Thome and Taschner, it wouldn’t shock me if they aren’t interested in spending the extra $1 million (cost to eat Bruntlett plus cost of replacement making minimum), let alone spend more (or give up assets) with a waiver trade to address such a minor thing.

I’ll still take him over Taguchi who couldn’t do the job he was supposed to be able to do at all, Bruntlett’s main purpose remains utility, even as he fails miserably at his secondary purpose. But maybe I’m just sentimental about his incredible clutch hit in Game 3 of the WS (that’s also a joke). Hey, all he really has to do is go 2 for 10 in the postseason instead of 1 for 10 (but I doubt he even gets to 10)

by zambonirodeo on Aug 17, 2009 5:07 PM EDT reply actions

Sentimentality is an issue with this organization, and it’s not ALWAYS bad, but it is a blind spot. And I’m not just talking about Jamie Moyer. I’m not the only person who wonders why they even return Dallas Green’s phone calls.

by Wet Luzinski on Aug 17, 2009 5:36 PM EDT reply actions

call up The Donald!

by vfb on Aug 17, 2009 6:32 PM EDT reply actions

LOL

by NowWhat? on Aug 17, 2009 9:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Wow I wonder if Brunlett ever reads this stuff. He would know he was hated.

I wasn't even a year old but I stayed up to be outside the Vet with my Dad and Mom when the Phillies won the World Series 1980.

by Christopher A on Aug 17, 2009 9:40 PM EDT reply actions

It's about him as a baseball player, not as a person

by David S. Cohen on Aug 18, 2009 9:11 AM EDT up reply actions

I almost wrote something along similar lines this morning. I feel kind of badly for Eric Bruntlett the person – I can’t imagine these stats are any mystery to him. Hate is a pretty strong word, too. I would just prefer if he wasn’t on our roster anymore or, alternatively, got a hell of a lot better.

by Steve J on Aug 18, 2009 10:27 AM EDT up reply actions