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Following another ugly 8-2 defeat at the hands of the Atlanta Braves, the Marlins have optioned outfielder Bryan Petersen and lefty reliever Dan Jennings. The Marlins will reinstate outfielder Austin Kearns and likely bring up another reliever, possibly lefty Michael Dunn.
RT @MarlinsMedia: #Marlins option Bryan Petersen to NOLA; Austin Kearns to be reinstated from DL
— Juan C. Rodriguez (@JCRMarlinsbeat) June 8, 2012
Petersen was hitting just .212/.305/.250 (.255 wOBA) on the season, so his struggles at the plate likely influenced the move. Austin Kearns was hitting .375/.444/.646 (.470 wOBA) before going on the DL with a hamstring issue, so it was understandable that the Marlins would return him to regular play in favor of an outfielder.
Unfortunately, it is clear to most Marlins fans that they demoted the wrong outfielder.
Petersen may have struggled in 60 PA, but those struggles do not compare to fellow outfielder Chris Coghlan's.
| Player, 2012 | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryan Petersen | .212 | .305 | .250 | .255 |
| Chris Coghlan | .163 | .216 | .213 | .178 |
If you wanted to make judgments about how players have played based off one season of play, this competition is not even close. Petersen has been miles ahead of Coghlan's performance thus far, and yet Petersen was demoted. Even if we compare the two players based on the time frame of Coghlan's return, Petersen still trumps him.
| Player, Since May 20 | PA | AVG | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryan Petersen | 47 | .220 | .304 | .268 |
| Chris Coghlan | 53 | .196 | .264 | .261 |
Don't get me wrong, neither player is hitting well. But even in this tiniest of samples, Petersen has outperformed Coghlan. And there is the additional fact that Petersen is a better defender in all outfield positions compared to Coghlan. Petersen is an outfielder by trade, while Coghlan is a converted outfielder who has never been better than average in the corners and has been awful in center field.
So why did the Marlins demote Petersen over the clearly worse Coghlan? The move makes no sense, except that the organization continues to favor Coghlan because of his now-distant Rookie of the Year season. At this point, the franchise is hanging on to a pipe dream.
Well, we here at Fish Stripes will continue to support @PeteyPipes presence in the majors because of his performance. I received an email from Petey's mom saying how much she appreciates the support I have shown for her son on the site, and we will continue to support him since he belongs in the majors over Chris Coghlan. We here at Fish Stripes support you Petey!