He’s not on the proverbial hot seat, the one where you can lose your job. No, Jenkins is on a personal hot seat. He has homered twice since Wednesday, one coming Sunday to tie the game with the Marlins, as the Phils went on to win and retake first place.

Jenkins was signed by the Phillies on December 20th and has been a blessing to this already potent lineup since he made his Phillies debut on March 31st versus Washington in the Phils home opener.

Jenkins now has his average up to .285 with 5 home runs, 7 doubles and 16 RBIs. Jenkins struggled at the plate to start the season, but honestly, which Phillie besides Chase Utley didn’t struggle in April?

With Utley hitting the way he is, Pedro Feliz picking it up offensively, and now Jenkins throwing his name into the mix, this lineup from top to bottom is the most menacing lineup to face in the National League.

Not only is Jenkins a strong defensive right fielder and a menace when in the starting lineup, now he has made a name for himself as a pinch hitter. His two-run pinch homer yesterday versus the Marlins was only the second of his career. He now sits at 217 on his career, 26 of which have tied the game.

With Cincinnati visiting town for four games you can bet that Jenkins will be in the lineup for the majority of them, or will see more pinch hitting opportunities because the Reds are the team he has homered off of the most in his career. He has 29 versus the Reds, of which he faced plenty of times throughout his career since he played in the Central with the Brewers for the first 10 years of his career.

Let’s not look at Jenkins as just another bat in this Phillies potent lineup, which has scored 70 runs in its last 7 games (yes, an average of 10 runs per game), but let’s also look at him as an outfielder.

Jenkins doesn’t have the best arm on the team, that goes to Pat Burrell and then Shane Victorino, but Jenkins gets the job done. He keeps the majority of balls hit to him in front of him, he takes excellent routes to the baseball and gets the ball back into the infield in a hurry. Jenkins currently has four outfield assists this season to go along with his 70 putouts.

Even though the Phillies brass brought Jenkins in to hit the cover off the ball they must be pleased with his performance in right field and as a locker room leader as well. This series versus the Reds should be a fun one for Jenkins.