2019 Phillies in review: Sean Rodriguez

The numbers

.223/.348/.375, 4 HR, 12 RBI, 1 SB, 0.3 fWAR

The good

His salary was so low it was like he wasn’t even on the roster…

The bad

It’s truly a miracle this guy somehow hit .223 this season. He was so bad it was almost offensive to the sport of baseball. From July 30 to August 25 he collected—get ready for this—ONE hit. Just for funsies, let’s take a look at his hits broken up by month.

April: 15 PA, 3 hits (Okay, that’s not too bad, especially with only 15 plate appearances- .200)

May: 20 PA, 5 hits (Not great, but not terrible- .250)

June: 31 PA, 3 hits (Yikes- .097)

July: 10 PA, 5 hits (He spent half of July on the IL and had one three-hit game—his only multi-hit game the entire season after May—so take that .500 average with a grain of salt)

August: 30 PA, 3 hits (Yeah, he sucks- .100)

September: 33 PA, 6 hits (.182. Wow six hits in one month! How amazing! Pinch hitter of the year right here!)

And I know you’re all saying “But he was only a pinch hitter! He wasn’t a starter! He didn’t have that many plate appearances! He didn’t get to hit with any regularity!” But like… are you really going to defend a guy who got a grand total of 25 hits in 139 plate appearances this season? Compared to 41 strikeouts? Because I’m not. Every baseball fan knows that being a pinch hitter isn’t an easy job, but it was still LITERALLY HIS JOB to do it. The bottom line is, he was terrible and a complete waste of the $555k the Phillies paid him this year.

Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention his “entitled” comments in August. If you’re reading this, Sean, let me give you a word of advice: Don’t try to “call out” your own fans for being harsh when you’re batting .100 in the month of August in the midst of a playoff race. Especially in Philly. Suck it up, buttercup. You’re a professional athlete who gets paid to play a game for a living. Either find a way to succeed at your job or deal with the criticisms when you fail. You’re lucky to have played in front of a fan base that is as passionate as Philadelphia is and you’re lucky we weren’t even harder on you. If I failed at my job as often and as miserably as you fail at yours, I’d be fired before I could even say the word “entitled.”

The future

Best of luck to the fans wherever Sean Rodriguez ends up. For your sake, I hope someday he figures out how to get more than a couple hits a month.