Leading off March 5th: Domonic Brown's growing process continues...
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Leading off March 5th: Domonic Brown's growing process continues...
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
I'm wearing my Charlie Manuel body-language-reading glasses right now, but I'm pretty sure I'm correct in saying that few things draw the veteran manager's ire like errors committed in spring training games. Look at Manuel's background and you'll understand why. As a player, he was never a guy who showed up to spring training knowing that he had a job. And when you are trying to win a job, you need to do all of the little things. So when a utility man with one year of big league experience commits two errors, Manuel notices. When a left fielder trying to erase doubts about his defensive ability allows a routine fly ball to pop out of his glove, Manuel notices.
All that being said, Manuel knows that it is a long spring, and if Michael Martinez and Domonic Brown perform flawlessly for the rest of March, the mistakes they made on a sunny, blustery day in Tampa will be forgotten.
Martinez is the heavy favorite to enter 2012 as the Phillies' utility man, a role he seemed to cement after Wilson Valdez was traded to the Reds. The two errors he made while playing second base yesterday will not erase the body of work he created for himself during last year's regular season. Are the Phillies in trouble if Chase Utley misses time? Absolutely. But that was the case even before yesterday's game. Manuel has always been complimentary of Martinez's defensive ability. It's the offensive side of things where the Phillies will feel the pain in the event of an Utley absence.
Brown is another story.
He's the most interesting man in the camp, at least from my perspective. In the first two Grapefruit League games of the season, we have been reminded why you don't give up on a player just because he has a bad couple of months at Triple-A after a stinging demotion from the major leagues. Yesterday, Brown went 2-for-4 with a triple, which followed a Grapefruit League debut in which he went 1-for-2. The 24-year-old prospect has not struck out in six at-bats, and has shown a good eye at the plate against a variety of pitches. The Phillies seem determined to enter the season with John Mayberry Jr. and Laynce Nix in left field, but a strong spring could put Brown in position for a first-half call-up if the position turns into a glaring offensive liability. Personally, I think that any developing Brown still has left to do will only come by way of regular playing time at the major league level. Defensively, he needs to play in major league outfielders with major league pitchers on the mound and major league hitters at the plate to develop the feel for fielding the position. He needs to play in games that matter to reinforce the importance of putting the ball away when he has it in his glove. He needs to attempt to steal bases against big league pitchers and big league catchers to learn how to beat a throw from home and sell a steal to an umpire. Yesterday, Brown got what looked to be a good jump only to be thrown out at second base on a close call that might have gone in his favor with a better slide (he might very well have been safe as it was).
From the Phillies' point of view, jobs are not things that can be given away on a team that is expected to win a sixth straight division title. It is difficult to resign ones self to dealing with growing pains when the line-up already faces significant questions in the absence of Ryan Howard. The ideal situation for a Brown call-up would be a healthy division lead with an offense affords the kid the opportunity to blend into the bottom half of the order.
Right now, Brown appears to be competing for a place at the top of the queue should that situation develop. He will have plenty more chances to erase yesterday's fielding hiccup.
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Today's coverage from Clearwater. . .
-One of the cool things about covering baseball is that you get to watch plot lines develop before your very eyes. Last week, Matt Gelb spotted Freddy Galvis working with Sam Perlozzo on fielding ground balls at third base and second base. It turned into an interesting story on the short stop's desire to expand his versatility beyond his natural position, which will be filled by Jimmy Rollins for at least the next three years.
-Speaking of plot lines developing, I still remember talking to some Phillies folks shortly after the club acquired Roy Halladay for pitcher Kyle Drabek, outfielder Michael Taylor and catcher Travis D'Arnaud. At the time, Drabek drew most of the attention as the center piece of the trade. But the Phillies knew that, given their expanding payroll and the other talent they had in the minor leagues, the right-hander was expendable. The guy they really hated to part with was D'Arnaud, who at the time was 20 years old and had the potential to develop into a marquee bat at a premium position. Last year, he took a big step toward fulfilling that potential, hitting .311/.371/.542 with 21 home runs at Double-A New Hampshire. Now, heading into his 23-year-old season, D'Arnaud is ranked by Baseball America as the No. 17 prospect in the game. The Phillies would do the deal again if it was the only way to acquire Halladay. At the same time, they realize that his presence would go a long way toward quelling concerns about the lack of young talent in their minor league system. Bob Brookover has more.
-Imagine if the Phillies win 102 games again. Imagine if they enter the postseason as the top seed again. Imagine if they play the Cardinals in the first round again. Now, imagine if they have to face Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright at Busch Stadium before playing a single home game. That could happen this year. And Roy Halladay isn't thrilled about it, writes Phil Sheridan.
-Zach Berman takes a look at Cole Hamels and Jonathan Papelbon, who made their spring debuts on Saturday.
-Tuffy Gosewisch is a guy who might be familiar to Phillies fans. He's been in spring training since 2008, but has yet to spend a season above Double-A. It is easy to forget that a player's desire to reach the major leagues does not diminish even as he nears 30 years old. Roy Halladay says he wants to see Gosewisch get a break at some point. In fact, everybody seems to feel the same way. The break might not come this year, but plenty of people think that Gosewisch has the defensive skill set to play in the majors at some point. Here's the story on one of the oft-overlooked players in the Phillies organization.
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You don't develop players in the Majors, unless you are the Pirates (Andrew McCutchen) or Royals (Alex Gordon, Alex Avila) of the world. While a player can learn on the job at the ML level, it can also set that player back or it may take them longer to develop. If they play in a tough place like New York and Philadelphia, it could be a disaster. Some never become the players they were projected to be. See Jeff Stone, Ricky Ledee (Yankees), Fernando Martinez and Lasting Milledge (Mets and Nats). Not to mention Brandon Wood (Angels), and two that were similar to Brown, Jeremy Hermida (Florida) and Corey Paterson (Cubs). Some of those guys were rushed and some couldn't play in a big market. I think Dom could and should learn more at the minor league level rather than being exposed with a team contending for a championship under a microscope of 40,000 screaming fans.— EL Zorro- I am beginning to worry that the Domonic Brown experiment might be over.— birds748
- Something's not right between that kid's ears. True, Charlie is notorious for favoring his veterans, but he'll give the younger guys a shot if he sees something he likes (Stutes, Bastardo, Mayberry). Charlie doesn't seem to see anything he likes in Brown. A trade feels imminent.— jklinger
- Oops, I meant Billy Butler, instead of Avila.— EL Zorro
- Brown will never be a defensive stud but way too much offensive potential to give up on him. If they can hide him in left and he's adequate, lots of teams do the same thing if a guy can hit, including the Phillies with Burrell, Luzinski and plenty of others.
guy fir They can bury him b— Z-Force - Brown will never be a defensive stud but way too much offensive potential to give up on him. If they can hide him in left and he's adequate, lots of teams do the same thing if a guy can hit, including the Phillies with Burrell, Luzinski and plenty of others. guy fir They can bury him b (HTML deleted)— Z-Force
- Put Dom Brown in LF and Mayberry at 1B. Both these guys need to get on the field with consistency early in the season to have any success. Once Mayberry shook off the rust from the bench, he was on fire. Brown just had a Jason Heyward type of season.— Clt Philly Fan
- This just in: even as a scatter-brained 24 year old , Dom Brown's athleticism makes him a better defensive left fielder than the Phillies have had in over 10 years. Raul and Burrell did some great things for this team, but my one legged dead grandma could out run them. Play Maybery at 1st till Howard is healthy, and give the kid an extended chance in left. Then if Brown and Maybery are both hitting well when Howard's healthy, you've got a great platoon in left. Or is everyone else just yearning for the Lance Nix era to begin?— JettMartinez
- "He needs to play in games that matter to reinforce the importance of putting the ball away when he has it in his glove" ... This is something every kid learns when he's 8 years old, not when you're 24 trying to make a big league roster. He dropped several fly balls last year too. I'm sorry but that's just inexcusable. Squeezing a baseball that falls into a large leather mitt is as easy as breathing
- You people are dreaming....D Brown is a loser and will always be one!— Lynnwood
- Burrell had a .978 FP for his career. That included a pretty good .991 in '08. He also had decent FP in 2004 and 2006. And he had an accurate throwing arm. At the end he had a lot of foot problems. Remember, he was drafted as an 3B and played some 1B also. Raul didn't have much range either or couldn't throw my grandmother out but he also made the routine plays and some nice plays from time to time. He had a solid .986 FP. In the other hand, Domo's FP so far in the big leagues is .955, which you could say is a small sample, but he didn't do much better in the minors (.958) either.— EL Zorro
- Brown's a poor outfielder. You can't use fielding % as a solid barometer because it is based on chances. For example, if a ball flies over Ibanez's head, untouched..or let's say, Nelson Cruz's head in the bottom of the 9th of Game 6 in the WS, it is not an error because the glove did not touch the ball. Horrible play, but no error, thus not effecting the fielding %. — mwcnabb
- Phils so lucky to have such a "brilliant" g.m. like cluless rube who retains "sure thing" Brown while discarding such "long shots" like D'arnaud and Gose... man has such an eye of talent that he's brought in such terrific additons for bench and bullpen like Gload, Bowker, Schneider, Baez, and now Willis, Qualls and Nix... all Amaro has done is destroy Phils future while winning as many championships as the AStros becuase despite overpaying for a few "stars" he has no idea how to buid a 25-man roster— warbiscuit
- Anyone who told you to be yourself couldn't have given you worse advice. — DogBiscuitthedope
- If Chase Utley had 2 errors yesterday would we be having this discussion? If Jimmy Rollins made 2 errors would we be having this discussion? No, we would not. Give Domonic Brown a chance to improve and stop grading him after every at bat and every play. He hasn't been given a fiar chance to show what he can do. Last time I checked none of the current "regulars" are perfect at bat or in the field. i believe we watched Ryan Howard struggle defensively at first base and he's still here. We've seen Rollins be a lousy lead off hitter and he's still here and got a huge contract. Go Domonic Brown.— rolenfan
