Amaro prodded, then Mayberry soared

General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. doesn't make a point of having lunch with every player on the Phillies roster during the offseason, but he knew in December he wanted to meet with John Mayberry Jr. and make sure the outfielder knew where he stood in his career.

"This was going to be an important year for John, and he was going to get some opportunities, but at some point he was going to have to start producing," Amaro said Tuesday afternoon, just before the Phillies trounced the Mets once again with Mayberry providing a tone-setting, three-run home run. "We always believed in his ability and athleticism. We just didn't know if it was ever going to come around."

Amaro met Mayberry at a restaurant in Arizona, and both lunch and the facts were placed squarely on the table. The Phillies' right-field job was vacant in the absence of Jayson Werth. The organization expected that Ben Francisco would win the job, but it also expected Mayberry to compete for it, and to become a versatile platoon or backup player at all three outfield positions, as well as first base.

The flip side of the conversation was that if 2011 wasn't going to be Mayberry's breakout season with the Phillies, then there might not be a breakout season.

"We talked a lot about John at the end of last year, and we felt it was time for us to take a look at him, time for us to see what we had and see if he could do it," manager Charlie Manuel said.

Mayberry, who will turn 28 in December, apparently took the challenge to heart. He went to spring training in the best shape of his life, hit the ball consistently in Clearwater, Fla., and made the club that went north. Aside from a June demotion while the Phillies shuffled through a number of extra pitchers, Mayberry has been on the field and he's been in the middle of a recent offensive resurgence.

"I think he's earned the right to stay in there for a little while," Manuel said after Tuesday's game.

Since July 9, when he was struggling to find playing time, Mayberry has hit .347 (26 for 75) and he's had a real power spike in August. His home run in the third inning Tuesday night was his sixth homer of the month and, at the time he hit it, exactly half of his 52 hits this season had been for extra bases.

"I think he was excited about the opportunity he had this season," Amaro said. "As an extra outfielder or bench player, you never know what kind of opportunity you're going to get until they say something to you. I thought that rather than keep him in the dark, we'd tell him he had a chance to make the club. The right-field situation was wide open and . . . there was no reason he couldn't compete for the job."

Mayberry has done more than that. He has jumbled the organization's plans, in a good way. While Francisco was a disappointment in right - essentially replaced by Hunter Pence at the nonwaiver trade deadline - Mayberry has fielded all his positions nearly flawlessly and he is the leading candidate to start the 2012 season in left field. He already is in a de facto platoon with Raul Ibanez and, depending on how long it takes Ibanez to recover from a groin strain, Mayberry already might be the starter there. On Tuesday, he handled first base in place of Ryan Howard, who was out with bursitis in his left heel.

"I thought my opportunity was better this year than in years past. I feel relaxed and comfortable at the plate, and I'm getting good pitches to hit," Mayberry said. "I've made some changes, and it's nice to see them paying off this quickly."

Mayberry is spread a little wider in the batter's box than before, a little lower in his stance, and he has worked to take some loopiness from the start of his swing. He is compact and quick when swinging the bat well, as he was Tuesday when New York starter Jon Niese tried to sneak a cutter past him with two out and two on. Instead, Mayberry turned on the ball and sent it into the left-field stands, turning a 1-0 game into a 4-0 game and signaling the start of what would become a 9-4 rout.

"He's a guy you pull for. He's a great kid and he's worked very hard to become a viable part of this team," Amaro said.

The general manager might take particular pleasure if it continues to work out for Mayberry. Acquiring him from Texas for outfielder Greg Golson on Nov. 20, 2008, was the first trade Amaro made after replacing Pat Gillick as GM. At the time, it was one stalled prospect being swapped for another, but now it might be something much more.

Amaro went to Arizona last winter to make sure John Mayberry Jr. knew what was on the line. It was his career, and it would be on the line either for bad or for good. This is still August. Not September, not October. But so far, it definitely has been for good.

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