Just like with any horror movie when you think the antihero has been vanquished, they always rise back to life. And so it is with Bonifacio.
When the Marlins acquired veteran first baseman Nick Johnson from the Nationals last week, it appeared to spell the end of the Emilio Bonifacio experiment.
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However, that hasn't been the case. Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said he hopes to use Bonifacio like he used to use Alfredo Amezaga. He's kept his word. Bonifacio filled in for Ramirez at short last weekend after Ramirez took a fastball in the knee.
And tonight, he'll be in center field with Cody Ross moving to right and Jeremy Hermida to the bench. It's partly because Hermida is batting just .194 against left-handers with a feeble .282 on-base-percentage, compared to Bonifacio's .305 average and .325 OBP.
Okay, I get the part about Bonifacio being the best one to play short. I mean, given the 25-man roster, the only other person who could do it is Helms and I don't think anyone wants to see that - even Helms.
But this crap about putting him in center against left-handed pitchers is a joke. Oh sure, cherry pick the stats and you might come with a really lame reason. But when you compare Hermida's and Bonifacio's OPS stats, they aren't worlds apart. Hermida's OPS against lefties is .608. Bonifacio's is .684. Neither one is head turner, so it seems like to me that the decision should be made on defensive abilities. Sure, Hermida plays a substandard right field, but he is an outfielder by trade. Bonifacio is a second baseman by trade and far from a quality outfielder. And to make matters worse, it displaces the only good defensive outfielder the Marlins have on the 25-man roster, Cody.
This is not like when Brett Carroll was sort of platooning with Hermida. Carroll is a high quality outfielder and he posted a .908 OPS against lefties.
But trust me the running of Bonifacio out there isn't going away and Fredi said as much.
"We'll get Emilio in there somewhere. I think he's one of those guys when he's in the game something happens, something good,'' Gonzalez said.
"Something good" - that hasn't been my observation.
And the nightmare continues.