Matt Stairs has had a heck of a career in the major leagues. Nineteen seasons — many as no more than a role player, a bat off the bench — and he’s still at it at the age of 43. Never an All-Star but always a solid contributor to a contending club.
And a luxury item on the Nationals’ roster.
Hey, I understand why the Nats wanted Stairs. His track record for coming up with a key pinch hit late in a close game is legendary. He was a big part of that 2008 World Series championship team in Philadelphia, and his 100 career pinch hits put him in elite company. But on a team that just lost 93 games, his presence this year actually limits Jim Riggleman’s options at times.
Stairs can play the field, but he’s limited in what he can do with anything other than a batting glove on his hand. He played 80 innings in the outfield and another 8 2/3 at first base for San Diego last year and so far this year had logged eight innings at first base. In the National League, however, a player that one-dimensional can rarely be part of a double-switch.
Many of you can recall a day not that long ago when teams routinely carried a player like Stairs. Names like Jerry Lynch, Smoky Burgess, Elmer Valo, Dave Philley and Manny Mota routinely dotted rosters in both leagues. In those days, however, teams had nine- or 10-man pitching staffs, and bench strength was much deeper. Giving a spot to a guy who hit once a day was an acceptable practice.
I remember when the Senators brought in Elmer Valo in 1960. He was 39 and had been in the majors since 1940. A line-drive hitting lefty swinger, his line that year tells you exactly how he was used by the Senators: 76 games, 85 plate appearances. He hit .281 off the bench and played exactly 20 innings in the field.
Stairs was hitting .056 through Thursday with just a single pinch hit. He has walked six times, so his on-base percentage is nearly .300, but it’s the overall lack of run production that has many fans wondering how long the club will wait before making a roster move.
Roger Bernadina was optioned to Syracuse at the end of spring training so he could play every day. It appeared at the end of March that the everyday outfield would be Michael Morse, Rick Ankiel and Jayson Werth, but Morse hasn’t found his stroke at the plate, Ankiel got hurt (and wasn’t hitting much either) and Bernadina was recalled.
Whether Roger is a “real” center fielder isn’t that important at the moment. He can hit, he can run and he can catch the ball. There may not be an everyday job for him today, but there should be enough playing time to keep him sharp.
I don’t think Matt Stairs’ career is over, but I don’t believe his future is in a Washington uniform.
Examiner columnist Phil Wood is a baseball historian and contributor to MASN’s “Nats Xtra.” Contact him at [email protected].
