Ender Inciarte is opening some eyes this Spring Training
On December 6, the Phillies acquired a speedy, defensive, left-handed hitting outfielder. However, Ben Revere was not the only move that day. Buried in the Worley-For-Revere headlines was the Phillies' selection of Ender Inciarte in the MLB Rule 5 draft. At the time I was highly critical of the move, seeing the Phillies commit roster spots to David Herndon and Michael Martinez in recent years, something bad teams do to try to replenish some talent. But in Spring Training 2013, Inciarte is opening some eyes.
One person whose eyes Inciarte had not opened was Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. When Inciarte reported to camp, Manuel had not heard of him. Perhaps because of the Revere news Manuel was unaware the Phillies selected someone in the Rule 5 draft, Ryan Lawrence reported on Sunday. Charlie fessed up:
"The first day we practiced I showed up at quarter-after five
(in the morning)," Manuel said, "and he came in behind me and asked,
'Who do I see about getting a locker?' I said, 'What's your name?' And
he told me, and I didn't recognize his name. So I told him, 'Put your
bag down, come in and have some coffee with me.'"Then he looked like he was worried or something. Then
when I found out who he was and the equipment guys came in we hooked him
up. He told me, 'I didn't want to be late for the first practice.' He
was worried, you could tell."
Once Inciarte was in camp and Manuel saw what he could do, the report was very positive:
He has really good first-step quickness and runs direct routes to
the ball," manager Charlie Manuel said. "He looks fast running after the
ball. He gets a good jump. I'll play him and we'll see. He seems like he's at home in our camp."
Today in the Philadelphia Daily News' roster projects, the Daily News crew sees Inciarte making the Opening Day roster.
Going for Inciarte are the Rule 5 rules which would mean that Inciarte has to make the Opening Day roster or be offered back to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Darin Ruf's early inconsistent play could mean AAA for him, and Delmon Young has yet to run on anything other than an anti-gravity machine.
In the early going Inciarte is 3 for 7 (a .429 average) with three walks. Stay tuned.
