Should Phillies keep struggling Victorino?

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Shane Victorino has heard people talkingwhispering at times and shouting at othersabout the way hes played. He knows some Phillies fans are frustrated. He understands. Hes cool with it. Because hes frustrated, too.Its a natural thing, Victorino said. Im a fan. I sit at home and watch other teams during the off-season, whether it be basketball or football or whatever. When your team isnt doing well, like I said, Im an athlete. I catch myself getting frustrated sometimes like come on, make that shot or make that play or whatever. Thats a natural thing to do as a fan. Thats what fans do. I put myself in that category all the time. If you think youre frustrated, just think about the person whos actually making that play or at the plate or making that pitch. Im 10 times more frustrated.It has not been an awful year for Victorinobut it hasnt been his best year, either. He went 1 for 4 in the Phillies' 4-1 loss to the Rockies on Thursday. This season, hes hitting .252 with eight home runs and 33 RBIs. He entered the final game against Colorado with a .320 on-base percentage and a .401 slugging percentage. The batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage are his worst since becoming a full-time starter for the Phillies back in 2006. And in 71 games this year, he already has more than half as many strikeouts (34) as he did all of last year (63).Do I want to get off to the great start? Obviously. Do I want to hit .300? Absolutely. But Im not," said Victorino, who heard a smattering of boos on Thursday when he popped up with the tying run on third base to end the eighth inning. "I cant let those things get to me. I have to go out there and do my job, whether it be making a defensive play or stealing a base or going first to third or doing those aspects. Offensively, you want to have great years. You want to go out there and be the best player in the game and you want to be a great hitter. But sometimes you just have these off years and you struggle. Its a matter of staying focused and taking it one at-bat at a time and keep plugging along.The natural question is whether Victorino will keep plugging away in South Philadelphia or some other enclave next season. He is 31 now and will turn 32 before next season.
According to BaseballReference.com, he is making 9.5 million this season in the final year of a three-year deal that reportedly paid him 22 million total. He will also be a free agent at the end of the season.Some people look at his age and his contract and the dip in his production, and then they look at some of the other players the Phillies might like to sign to extensionsCole Hamels, Hunter Pence and Carlos Ruiz among themand they figure Victorino is expendable. The media and the fans have talked quite a bit this year about the possibility that Victorino could be dangled as trade bait at the deadline, or even that the Phillies might let him walk when the year is over to free up money for other purposes. That could happen. But should it?While he isnt hitting as well as he has in previous years, Victorino is coming off arguably his best season as a Phillie. In 2011, he hit .279 with 17 home runs and 61 RBIs. He also had a .355 on-base percentage and a .491 slugging percentage (good for third and second on the team last year respectively).On a team that hasnt been nearly as good defensively this season as it has been in the past (the Phillies are 13th in the majors in fielding percentage and 16th in errors this year; in 2011 they had the second-fewest errors in baseball and they were tied for the best fielding percentage), Victorino remains an outstanding centerfielder. The two-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner is first in the National League in Range Factor (putoutsassistsgames played) and he hasnt made an error all season. In fact, he hasnt made an error since 2010.Victorino also has speed that can be beneficiallike when he kept the game alive on Wednesday by legging out a single with two outs in the ninth inning of a game the Phillies came from behind to win in walk-off fashion. He legged out another single in his first at-bat on Thursday when he hit a ball down the third base line. Jordan Pachecho made an excellent play on the ball, but Victorino beat the throw by inches.Victorino already knows what his detractors will saythat he sometimes makes mental errors on the basepaths or at the plate. Those things, he said, bother him just as much as they bother his critics.If its a mental mistake, yeah, its more frustrating, Victorino said. But, yeah, were human. We make physical mistakes. Were going to miss ground balls. Were going to make a bad throw. I think sometimes it gets amplified because were not winning. Things get amplified 10 times when youre not winning. If were winning and someone makes a bad throw, no one is going to remember. No one is going to talk about it. But obviously if it leads to a loss, yeah, thats going to be a little different.Victorino said hes noticed a renewed energy at Citizens Bank Park since the Phillies began the current homestand. He said hes always liked that about Philadelphiahow much people care and how they let you know what theyre thinking. Its what the Phillies are thinking about his future thats harder to figure.E-mail John Gonzalez at jgonzalez@comcastsportsnet.com.

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