It’s mailbag time!

You asked, we answered

When in times like these, the people have questions. The masses gather with queries, begging to have their minds enlightened.

I wonder if this is what those in power felt like during the Enlightenment….

Anyway, on to the questions. As always, thanks to those that submitted questions even if I got to them belatedly.

One of the benefits of building a sizeable lead in the division right now is that it gives the team time.

Time to make a decision about what role someone like Seranthony Dominguez or Gregory Soto might play in the bullpen when games start getting a little more stressful.

Time to allow Trea Turner to be totally and completely healed before he even begins to consider a comeback.

It also buys them time to figure out if Johan Rojas is the answer right now in center field. If you asked the question, the answer is pretty clear.

While he isn’t flailing away at the plate as he did during the team’s run at the NLCS last year, nor is he showing marked improvement either. Impacting the baseball isn’t something he will ever excel in, but his numbers all rank near the bottom of the league. His defense, the reason the team can afford to let him play, is not what it was last year, at least according to MLB Savant. It’s not a detriment to the team, but they were probably counting on him to be better than he has been.

If the team is able to pull of a deal for someone who can man either center or left field, it wouldn’t surprise me if they send him to Lehigh Valley to continue to get regular playing time.

Might they even consider dealing in a trade for another center fielder, say someone like Luis Robert, as part of the trade package in return for Luis Robert? I wouldn’t put it past them, but I think the still see him as a long term piece with the team.

Unfortunately, things aren’t always that simple.

Cristian Pache is kind of the odd man out on the roster. He isn’t trusted enough to take time away from Johan Rojas in center field, despite his defensive prowess, nor is he hitting well enough to platoon with Brandon Marsh in left field. In fact, he struggles to even beat out Whit Merrifield as the strong side of that platoon. It makes his position on the roster one worth questioning.

With Trea Turner out a bit longer now that he has had a setback in his injury recovery, the question of what to do with Pache can be delayed a little longer. There is no reason to simply give a way for nothing return right now and nothing is pretty much what the team could expect back were they to trade Pache. It’s more likely he becomes one of the roster cuts should the team make a deal around the trade deadline.

We kind of went over this in the previous question, but let’s talk about the other elephant in the room.

What should the team do with Whit Merrifield?

Watching him of late, I am reminded of my children and birthday parties. Whenever there is a gathering of small children, there must be activities, lest they run buckwild over the property. The most popular birthday activity is a piñata. Every child loves to hit something with a stick and every kid loves candy. It’s the perfect combination of risk and reward. No kid wants to be the first one up to take their turn; everyone wants to be the hero and be the one who opens up the piñata.

Merrifield reminds me of that first kid to hit the piñata – there isn’t any damage done.

Merrifield’s average exit velocity is 82.0 miles per hour. He doesn’t have enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title, but if we lower the number of batted ball events (BBE) to 50 to be able to include Merrifield, that average exit velocity would rank him 341st our of 342 hitters.

Circling back to the question above, the real question shouldn’t be Clemens over Pache. The question should be Clemens over Merrifield. If that were the case, the answer is clearly to keep Clemens. He’s been better at the plate, plays the same positions as Merrifield and has had at least some success in the field.

The team needs to make the right decision here.