2009 FBS Bust Player: Raul Ibanez
Team: Philadelphia Phillies
Bats: Left
Position: OF
Ibanez has been a fairly consistent hitter over his career, and has barely gotten the recognition he deserved. He has often hit in the .280-.290 range with 20-30 homers and has driven in over 100 runs in three straight seasons. What? This doesn't sound like a post calling someone a bust? Oh, just wait. Regardless of this career of production, Ibanez is now going to be 37 years old in June and old age doesn't miss anyone (except for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, but that is a whole other story). He has hit 23 homers or less in five of the last six seasons, and he has been striking out more lately than earlier in his career. He is going to a great hitters park in Philadelphia, but he will now garner some attention from pitchers than he did in the baseball wasteland that is Seattle. Although he will most likely still produce, you should expect a downturn from his statistics from a year ago.
Prediction: .275 average, 20 HRs, 82 RBI, 81 runs scored
Bats: Left
Position: OF
Ibanez has been a fairly consistent hitter over his career, and has barely gotten the recognition he deserved. He has often hit in the .280-.290 range with 20-30 homers and has driven in over 100 runs in three straight seasons. What? This doesn't sound like a post calling someone a bust? Oh, just wait. Regardless of this career of production, Ibanez is now going to be 37 years old in June and old age doesn't miss anyone (except for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, but that is a whole other story). He has hit 23 homers or less in five of the last six seasons, and he has been striking out more lately than earlier in his career. He is going to a great hitters park in Philadelphia, but he will now garner some attention from pitchers than he did in the baseball wasteland that is Seattle. Although he will most likely still produce, you should expect a downturn from his statistics from a year ago.
Prediction: .275 average, 20 HRs, 82 RBI, 81 runs scored
posted by Ryan Hallam at
Friday, February 20, 2009
2 Comments:
If you look at the numbers, his homeruns have been higher when his strikeout rate is up-- it's because he's been trying to do it all for a bad team. Now he can relax and settle in as a role player which should help. Ibanez is not going to be selected early enough in most drafts to be a risk to bust out anyway.
Anonymous,
That is an interesting point, but I don't think he can be considered just a role player for the Phils. Pat Burrell was an integral part of the Phillies run to the World Series and Ibanez needs to take over his role. He is on this list because we feel that people will expect his numbers to increase because of the lineup he is in, and because of the tiny little ballpark he will call home. I just don't think that he will see any spike in numbers, like I wrote in the post, I don't see more than 20 homers, he just isn't a 30-35 HR hitter. Thanks for reading and the comment.
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