I don't believe its been discussed here [maybe I didn't see it] but about a week ago the Phils made a decision with Jan Hernandez that seems in the early returns to have been a good one. Hernandez, an erstwhile 3rd baseman, was moved to right field and he has been hitting well ever since.
Its worth recalling that we were almost unanimously excited when the Phils drafted Hernandez in the 3rd round a few years ago and his lack of offensive and defensive improvement have been disappointing, almost to the point where he has become ab afterthought when discussing Phillie minor league prospects.
Hernandez has always had two strengths, a power bat and a very strong arm. Perhaps the move to RF will allow him to relax a bit and help his offensive game. Early returns seem to indicate it might.
Of course, with every potential good there is a bad and this probably is bad news for Jose Pujols, who was playing RF in Clearwater and has now disappeared completely from the lineup. My guess is that he is hurt but someone on another site suggested they may be moving him to pitcher, much like they did with Aaron Brown.
I will say that Pujols and Encarnacion have been huge disappointments in the Latin department and given the conservative nature of the Phillies anyhow, would enhance the belief that one of the reasons they don't go hogwild is spending sprees internationally is because they see the money spent with almost no return on their investment in Pujols and Encarnacion.
I don't agree with this but it certainly would make sense.
