According to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel confirmed that John Mayberry Jr. will likely start in left field for Game 3 of the NLDS against the Cardinals tomorrow, leaving Raul Ibanez on the bench.
This isn’t a huge surprise given that the Phillies will be facing left-hander Jaime Garcia. Mayberry batted .306/.358/.595 with eight homers and .953 OPS over 120 plate appearances against southpaws this season while the veteran Ibanez batted just .211/.232/.353 with four homers and a .585 OPS over 138 plate appearances.
Much has been made of Garcia’s success over a handful of appearances against the Phillies during his career, but more important may be his dramatic home-away splits. The 25-year-old left-hander has a 2.37 ERA in his career at Busch Stadium compared to a 4.28 ERA on the road.
