Going... Going... Gload to Phillies
By DAN STAMM and JANIE CAMPBELL
Updated 12:15 PM EDT, Wed, Dec 9, 2009
Phillies Add Gload to the Bench
The Phillies added some depth Wednesday when they signed Ross Gload to backup Ryan Howard at first base and play some outfield.
So basically the guy will be the Phightins new Matt Stairs – heck, he even bats lefty.
But, unlike Stairs Gload doesn’t carry the same pop. He only knocked 28 career homers in more than 1,500 plate appearances.
What Gload really adds is a nice career average (.283), a knack for pinch-hitting and a nice defensive glove (career .993 fielding percentage as a first baseman and outfielder).
The 33-year-old led the majors with 21 pinch hits last season, according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.
Gload posted a .328 on-base percentage and .408 slugging percentage over his career with the Cubs, White Sox, Rockies, Royals and Marlins.
Gload comes to Philly from Florida where -- like Stairs was in Philly -- he was quite the cult hero, according to NBC Miami sports writer Janie Campbell.
“He was a solid defensive first baseman, an unusually good pinch-hitter, and dwelt in the appropriate price range. And now, of course, the Marlins will have to face him.
Gload signed a two-year deal with Philadelphia a few hours ago, not long after Marlins VP Larry Beinfest declared Florida's intention to keep him. Beinfest's reasons were obvious: together with former Phillie Wes Helms, Gload was part of one of the best pinch-hitting tandems in baseball history -- their 38 hits tied the major league record for a duo -- and alone, he lead the league.
Yet Gload signed with Philadelphia… Perhaps his reasons are obvious: Philadelphia are the two-time defending National League champs, and the Marlins are one-stop shopping for the rest of a division looking to pick off young talent that Florida won't spend to keep.”
The actual value of the Gload should be recognized in having a guy who can give Howard a breather but can also put in a quality at bat off the bench here and there.
The exact value of the deal wasn’t immediately clear.
First Published: Dec 9, 2009 11:45 AM EDT
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