Domonic Brown says he is looking for that "sink or swim" opportunity
Domonic Brown wants to show what he can do over a full season as a regular.
Domonic Brown says he is looking for that "sink or swim" opportunity
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Domonic Brown was mostly the Domonic Brown that you have heard over the last three years. Soft spoken, politically correct, deferential. But the former top prospect does sound like he is anxious to be judged over the course of a full major league season, which is an opportunity he has yet to receive from the Phillies.
"You know what, I've been waiting for that for a long time," Brown told reporters on Thursday morning. "When I get that opportunity, when they give me that sink or swim opportunity like they did last year at the end of the year, see what I'm capable of for four, five hundred at bats, then if I fail. . ."
He didn't really complete the thought. He didn't need to. While Brown has seen time in the majors in each of the last three seasons, he has yet to make an Opening Day roster, and he has yet to play in more than 56 games in a year. You can make all the judgments you want on his 492 major league plate appearances (he has a slash line of .236/.315/.388 with 12 home runs), but you can also argue that if the Phillies really want to put him in the best position to succeed, they need to put him in the lineup at the start of the season and tell him not to worry about looking over his shoulder.
That does not look like it is going to happen this year, at least not in his natural position of right field, where the Phillies plan on using Delmon Young, a poor defender who is not a natural right fielder and whose numbers over the last couple of years are not much more impressive than Brown's.
Not to editorialize or anything.
Brown said he did not expect the Phillies to talk to him after they signed Young, nor should they have felt the need to talk to him. He said he does not know what position he will be working out at, or what the team's plan is for him.
"I guess we'll see here shortly," he said. "Whatever I need to do to help the team, I'm willing to do."
The Phillies have often mentioned Brown's health when talking about the past three seasons. A knee injury hampered him last year. In 2011, he broke the hamate bone in his thumb, an injury that is common in baseball and cannot really be prevented.
Brown said he is healthy.
"I'm ready to go," he said.
Now, he just needs an opportunity.
"If I get four, five hundred at bats, I think I can show what I'm really capable of doing," Brown said.
Brown has one option left. If the Phillies use it this year, then starting next year they would have to expose him to waivers before sending him to the minors, which would likely mean the end of his PHillies career.
Does Brown view this as a make-or-break year?
"I don't know. We'll leave that up to Ruben," he said. "He makes the decisions. I've still got one more option. We'll see what happens."
He's gonna get his shot this year that's for sure. He better come out of the gate swing the bat and showing an improved defense. We need him now more than ever. If Brown and Ruf, finally prove themselves this year we are in for a long, fun summer. Hope he's ready because if he doesnt prove himself this year the Phillies are very likely to cut ties with him and he might never recover as a player that was once ranked a top prospect in the game.— Apollo Creed- If Brown and Ruf can win starting jobs, and D. Young is a spot player, that makes the bench much better. It would go a long way toward making this thing work this year. Phils will have added two RH bats with power to the everyday lineup. Seems like that has been missing since Burrell left.— PhillyfaninMD
- If Ruf doesn't get those 400 to 500 at bats, the Phillies wll not have a chance of competing this year. Ruf can be this year's Rookie of the Year if they give him the chance.— 1republican
- @PhillyfaninMD - Completely agree. I think the ideal situation for the Phils is that Brown and Ruf both step up into full-time outfield roles and the Phillies can ride a young, inexpensive outfield into the future. I wish the team set itself up to take that risk more easily. Sometimes young players need competition, but both Brown and Ruf have been around long enough that they know how the game works. What they really need is the organization to put some confidence in them and give them a real shot. It may not work out, but I'd rather find out that it isn't going to work out and not have the same questions going into spring training next year.— OutofTownPhillyFan
- Gotta show them you belong in the Show DBrown......you gotta hit, you gotta run, you gotta catch the ball and you gotta not get hurt so you can stay on the field. It's that simple.
On a side note: whenever a young player is trying to crack into the big leagues, he's all about "whatever I need to do to help the TEAM" and "I'll do/play wherever they tell me to help the team"......once they are established enough to get that first big arbitration payday it's "look what I did to deserve the millions I'm asking for" and then it becomes "I'm gonna do what I want to do because it got ME here". Players rarely in their later years do what's for the good of the team because it doesn't benefit them the most. Michael Young is an anomaly, in that he was willing to move all over the place for the Rangers to accommodate their plans. How many 8 x All Stars do that? You think JimMe is gonna go to Charlie if Revere is tearing up the Grapefruit league from the leadoff position and say "why don't you put me in the 5 hole and let Ben leadoff?" Doubt it.— Mark1npt - Signing Delmon Young was a big mistake. That now forces a platoon in left between Ruf and Brown. It may even force a platoon in right if Delmon stays hurt or underperforms.
Anybody who plays baseball knows the importance of comfort and rhythm at the plate. You gain momentum and confidence with more at bats. When you only play every other day or are in a platoon situation, you can't get any sense of rhythm at the point and you put your players at a natural disadvantage. Plus, your hitters are consistantly worried out "Hey if I don't perform today, I'm going to lose my job". You are not putting your hitters in a position to succeed and they play tense. The only semi-successfully platoon situation was with Werth/Jenkins in 2008. Even then, it took Manuel FAR too long to committ fully to Werth who significantly outplayed Jenkins for a significant period of time.
I feel like this committment to platoon situations made the Phillies waste 3 years on questioning the potential of Mayberry and now they have wasted 3 years on Dom Brown too. If they would have just committed to them and gave them a full season to prove their merit, this team wouldn't have so many outfield questions coming into 2013.— bdd5014 - Signing Delmon Young was a big mistake. That now forces a platoon in left between Ruf and Brown. It may even force a platoon in right if Delmon stays hurt or underperforms.Anybody who plays baseball knows the importance of comfort and rhythm at the plate. You gain momentum and confidence with more at bats. When you only play every other day or are in a platoon situation, you can't get any sense of rhythm at the point and you put your players at a natural disadvantage. Plus, your hitters are consistantly worried out "Hey if I don't perform today, I'm going to lose my job". You are not putting your hitters in a position to succeed and they play tense. The only semi-successfully platoon situation was with Werth/Jenkins in 2008. Even then, it took Manuel FAR too long to committ fully to Werth who significantly outplayed Jenkins for a significant period of time. I feel like this committment to platoon situations made the Phillies waste 3 years on questioning the potential of Mayberry and now they have wasted 3 years on Dom Brown too. If they would have just committed to them and gave them a full season to prove their merit, this team wouldn't have so many outfield questions coming into 2013. (HTML deleted)— bdd5014
- I agree. I put a lot of these thoughts out there when Young was signed. The other potential problem is unless they carry only 11 pitchers or waive or trade a guy like Nix, either Ruf or Galvis will have to go to AAA. Delmon Young is really one guaranteed contract too many. Better if they had managed their farm so they could end up like the bullpen, where you have some flexible open spots for guys with options. That's another side effect of waffling on Brown and Mayberry for three years. Brown has less than 500 PA's in three years. To see what he really has that should be what you took a look at in one year. — s
- bdd makes good points but I would suggest that we have to be prepared for the inevitable injuries that seemingly happen too often anymore. Either someone will play themselves into every day play or being an injury replacement will allow it to happen.— terrycindyian
- There is a difference between a platoon situation and having bench depth. Don't confuse the two. I understand your point but your general mentality has been the Phillies mentality for the last 4-5 years.... and it quite frankly hasn't worked. I would have liked to see the Phillies learn from their past mistakes and commit to Ruf in left and Brown in right for the 2013 season. — bdd5014
- Wrong (with all due respect). There is a legitimate chance that either Ruff or Brown will blow it this year and we don't want another year with Mayberry. Young gives the Phillies protection against such a scenario. Ruff and Brown will have to be big boys and deal with a platoon. May the better man win (like Werth did in '08). — Vituperator
- It took too long to start mixing in young players. The outfield could really sink or take off this year. If they can avoid slumping at the same time and the Phils commit to Ruf and Brown it could be a successful situation. Dom has potential, I can't figure out from watching him bat if his 10% walk rate is from good patience or uncertainty since he seems to move in the box on every pitch.
If they had been able to start integrating one guy at a time, a failure would have been easier to rectify. They tried in 2011, the RF job was Dom's to lose and he got hurt and they ended up eventually trading for Pence. Last year they tried that strange concoction of 1B/LF/3B type players and we all know how that turned out.
The emergence of Ruf may have saved some money on an outfielder if he can play well, but they brought in Delmon Young in case they need an establish player (unfortunately not an established defender) to cover for one of these young guys.
— dab282 - nice guy but it was reported that he couldn't find his way out of the K-Mart— stoky
- Brown's defense HAS improved, I hope the outfield ends up being Ruf, Revere, and Brown despite the Young signing.— cloudkitt
- "But the former top prospect does sound like he is anxious to be judged over the course of a full major league season, which is an opportunity he has yet to receive from the Phillies." Don't you need to stay healthy to play a full season? This story sounds like the Phils just didn't play him. While they would be justified in doing that, it's not the case.— maurysline
