Matthews Finally Benched

On Wednesday, Angels manager Mike Scioscia announced that Gary Matthews Jr. is going to be used in a new role: benchwarmer. Scioscia said that Matthews is going to be benched more often in favor of veteran outfielder Juan Rivera. According to Angelsbaseball.com, the Halos’ skipper told reporters that Matthews is “not where he needs to be”, and that the club is “going to give Juan some looks”.

All I can say is: it’s about time.

Matthews Jr. has been a constant back hole in this lineup throughout the course of the season. When you are being paid $10 million a year and putting up a line of.236/.313/.354, there’s something wrong, and something needs to be changed. While Sarge Jr. does provide stellar defense in the outfield, his horrid offense does not merit a starting role on a serious playoff contender like the Angels.

Rivera, however, has been hot as of late. In his last four games, Rivera has hit 3 home runs, driven in 7 runs and just struck out just once. Given the fact that all of this has come with very limited and sporadic playing time, that’s fairly inpressive. Matthews, in his last 10 games of consistent playing time, has hit just .167 (5-30), including 1 RBI and 6 strikeouts, not to mention countless rally-killing double plays. Needless to say, this change was a long time coming. Another thing to keep in mind here is that Rivera is a notorious “second-half player”, meaning his stats should look very good throughout the second part of the season.

I don’t know how long this change will last, but I think it should last until the season ends, or at least until the Angels clinch the division. Rivera has been a proven power hitter and a great offensive asset to the Angels, while Matthews seems to be a one-year wonder.  Given Rivera’s ability to hit the long ball and drive in runs, this seems like the best move for the offensively-challenged Halos, who are poised to let yet another trade deadline roll by without making any moves.

Is Juan Rivera the “big bat” answer the Halos and fans are looking for? That’s doubtful. But Rivera will add more offense and a definite boost to the Angels’ starting lineup, which will look to capture another division title and make a strong run at the ever-allusive World Series trophy.

Tags: Gary Matthews Jr., Juan Rivera