Platoon role a possibility for Brown
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Platoon role a possibility for Brown
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
In today's paper, we took a look at one piece of work that hitting coach Greg Gross has performed with Domonic Brown this offseason. I didn't delve much into the actual competition for right field, mostly because we'll have plenty of time over the next couple months to cover that.
One of the more interesting questions is whether the Phillies would be open to platooning Brown with someone like the right-hand hitting Ben Francisco.
Last year, the Phillies faced a right-handed starter in 114 games and a left-handed starter in 48 games. Jayson Werth, who started 131 games in right field and 19 in center, logged 453 plate appearances against right-handed pitchers. In 2008, Werth and the left-handed hitting Geoff Jenkins both logged at least 320 plate appearances while sharing time.
So even if Brown played mostly against right-handed pitching, he would still be in position to log 400-plus plate appearances. And there would still be an opportunity to get Ben Francisco a healthy number of at-bats, especially if he gives Raul Ibanez an occasional rest in left.
When I talked to Ruben Amaro Jr. yesterday, he didn't rule out a platoon role for Brown.
"I guess it depends on what's best for the club and what's best for him," he said. "Charlie's worked guys into that situation before."
In Manuel's first year as a hitting coach with Cleveland, a 23-year-old Jim Thome started the season playing primarily against right-handed starters at third base (he didn't move to first base until his fourth full season in the majors).
Last June, I wrote a story about the Phillies' plan for handling Brown. This was a couple weeks before his call-up to Triple-A, and a month-and-a-half before his call-up to the majors.
Phillies assistant general manager Benny Looper, a veteran personnel man, shared his philosophy on how to handle a top prospect.
"I know when you have a very good prospect like that, and you make that decision, you stick with it," Looper said. "You put them out there every day, even if they are hitting .100."
To back up his point, Looper pointed to the White Sox and their experience with Robin Ventura. In September 1989, Ventura hit .178 in 16 games, then began the 1990 season hitting .196 with a .512 OPS and three home runs in his first 50 games. Chicago stuck with Ventura. He hit .275 with a meager .666 OPS in the final four months of the year, and then finally took off the following season.
The White Sox, however, finished seventh in 1990.
The Phillies are expected to contend for the World Series.
Should make for an interesting spring.
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173-0— drumminge6- Werth was a platoon player also when the Phillies first started utilizing him. It's not exactly a bad thing.— MVKrum
- If Brown is in the Majors he needs to be in the line-up everyday...work Francisco in 1 day a week for Brown against a front of the line LH starter early on and have Francisco play twice a week for Ibanez to preserve as much of what he has left in his near 40 year old body for the duration of the season. The platoon should be used to get Brown as much exposure as possible so he can grow as a player while getting ibanez 110 to 120 starts before the postseason. Uncle Mumbles needs to utilize his bench and worry about the health of his line-up more than the overall win total...the staff is good enough that none of our regulars should see more than 140-145 games and we should still be able to win the diviion and be rested for the postseason.— tkohl
- Great point about the # of games that a lefty would typically start against the Phils. People seem to have the notion that somehow its a 50-50 thing. They still need right-handed hitting but it's not the be all and end all. The Red Sox also have a lefty-heavy lineup. That being said, the hitting in general is questionable to me, lefty or not. If Utley, Victorino, and Rollins don't pick it up it won't matter what side they hit from or who's pitching against them.— Sewellmatt
- Charlie needs to give the kid a shot against lefties- he hit over .300 in the minors against lefties- cant hide him forever — psychockey
Bottom line is if he hits consistently he plays consistently— shawnmac- This is a microcosm of the ills of our society. Nobody has any patience anymore. Not long ago, Brown was considered a can't miss prospect. Then he's called up, not used much, struggles in winter ball in a foreign country when he apparently wasn't feeling well and now he's highly suspect. Wow, let the kid develop without putting too much pressure on him! Let's not forget the rocket he hit into the upper deck in right field at the Bank... a really good presage.— r white
How about (just throwing it out there) an Ibanez&Blanton (plus some cash) to Texas for Young. I don't know there pitching situation but it would be a lot easier to get at-bats for Brown with two right handed corner outfielders.— KINGOFZED- Not a bad idea. How bout using him and Francisco to give Ibanez and Victorino a rest so they have it for the playoffs. Ibanez was spent last year for the playoffs and cant 't risk Victorino getting hurt- too good in outfield— psychockey
- Here's an idea: Give Francisco plenty of chances in center during spring training. It's a tough position, with liners coming straight at you, but let him learn. Then, enter the season with essentially four shifting outfielders: Francisco moving around; Brown in right against RHPs, Victorino playing almost every day and Ibanez a regular but not quite everyday guy, with Francisco moving there on occasion. Throw Gload out there once in awhile for a spot start. Valdez can spot start in LF and Mayberry has options left. If there are major flaws, we make a move by the July trading deadline. We'll still be in the hunt then. Trust me.
— eman - There's no use discussing it at this point. Let's see how he plays this spring and go from there. I would lean heavily against having him start the season in the minors though. The only way that should happen would be if he has a terrible spring.— p-diddy
- Plattoning a can't-miss prospect is not a good idea. Yes, the Phillies will face most RH pitching than LH pitching, but eventually Brown needs to face lefties. So, he'll be better served playing everyday in AAA. You are also forgetting the Phillies LH heavy lineup and other managers have a different plan against the Phillies, specially in the late innings. Now by inserting Brown as semi-regular replacing Werth, that will become a bigger problem.— EL Zorro
- TO the people suggesting that Fransisco can play CF, have you ever seen him play LF. He is a nightmare defensively and looks slow most of the time in the CORNER positions, so dont think for a second this can play Center. When you have 4 CY Young candidate starters, you need to play solid defense behind them. Thats why they brought in Martinez in RULE 5 and Delwyn Young. I really think Brown should take over LF when Ibanez leaves because its the easiest postion. Now, he does have a cannon for an arm, so he should be a RF but his talent is really raw and he needs time to get adjusted to MLB.The PHils need need a legit RF in between and Franciso is not the answer. Did anyone watch his postseason at bats against the Giants. Twice he stuckout with a man or second or third with no outs. Thats just dumb baseball and a team with hopes of a championship cannot suffer that kind of bonehead play. Especaily, when they are already loaded with boneheads, ie Victorino(Mr shallow Pop Fly and terrible pitch selection)Rollins(swing at the first pitch) and Howard(look at strikes and swing at slow, breaking balls in dirt or 10ft off plate). This team will need to learn to manufacture runs, I know its against Charlie's DNA to play smart baseball, but with their current pitching staff any runs scored will be crucial. They dont need the 5-run homerun anymore, 3 runs should be good enough and that means maximizing situations where u have a guy on 3rd with no outs. They need to move runners and not hit into so many killer inning ending dp's. They need to be more aggressive on base paths and more intelligent in their at bats. Seems easy enough but I am confident Charlie and Co will find a way to complicate this season.— Over_Exposed
- Expect the Phils to see even more southpaws this year, which to me means more bench time for Brown. Personally I'd put him with the Iron Pigs so he can play everyday to start and let it play out from there.— DPL
