Darin Ruf, Domonic Brown enjoy fine first day
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Darin Ruf, Domonic Brown enjoy fine first day
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
CLEARWATER, Fla. — If every day this spring is like Friday, Charlie Manuel will have no worries about his outfield.
Darin Ruf doubled in each of his first two at-bats during the intrasquad game. Domonic Brown singled and doubled his two times up.
"Ruf and Brown had a good day, didn't they?" Manuel said. "They had two good at-bats. We'll see. They'll play [Saturday]."
And so begins the ferentic competition for outfield jobs. With Delmon Young (ankle) sidelined, both Ruf and Brown will play often. Ruf will bat fifth in Saturday's Grapefruit League opener with Brown hitting sixth.
EXTRA BASES. Chase Utley struck out swinging and walked in his two plate appearances Friday. He also helped turn two double plays at second base. He will bat third for Manuel on Saturday. ... The only regular not starting Saturday is Jimmy Rollins. Ryan Howard will play both Saturday and Sunday, Manuel said. ... The Phillies released infielder Andres Blanco, who suffered a shoulder injury during winter ball. They then re-signed him to a minor-league deal but without an invitation to major-league camp.
My next mailbag question was to ask how Brown and Ruf looked. I saw that each of them had doubles and, obviously, pretty good days at the dish. But what about the field? Did they look like the full and/or healthy offseason paid off for both of them? One of them? Neither?
That's it, I'm forking over the money for the MLB.TV premium package. I can't be behind the ball like this for the next few weeks.
Is it just me or did this offseason seem much longer than usual?— Phan Analysis- With only two AB's I doubt if anything could be proved one way or the other. Not enough chances.— andivalspoppop
- Charlie's seen enough. Brown is being sent down.— s
- One good day in the field does not make a team, nor a season.
Nothing to write or talk about here.— 24sDad - brown must play every day this season. make the job his to lose. its the only way to test a young prospect and he's never been given a fair chance.— Ryan
- I guess what there is to go on got talked about here. But you're right, maybe Matt could have talked about the empty seats in the stands.— Claudio Vernight
- What good is a competition if it's not ferentic? (Although frenetic ones are OK, I suppose.)— Dave Clemens
- It means nothing BUT competition can be a very good thing. Not only between Ruf and Brown, but Mayberry has to compete because Ruf and M. Young can play first. Revere is 24 years old and, health willing, probably can play 155 games in center. Laynce nix and his $3.5 million a year deal may seem like a lock, but what about when D. Young can play -- and he starts in right if Ruf is the everyday left fielder? Brown can be the left-handed hitter off the bench.
I read the Washington Post Nats' stuff online and they're all but strutting into the playoffs. They brag about how 23 or 24 of their 25 spots are sewn up. Good? Not so sure about that.— therealeman - Nix is only making 1.5 million or so....and is actually the highest paid OF. That being said, I hope he's the odd man out. Hasn't shown me a thing. At least Ruf and Brown have nice upside. I'm still really excited about Brown, he just needs to stay healthy and he could be a huge breakout player. Two years ago he entered as the #4 ranked prospect in MLB. Still young enough to reach the potential in my opinion.... — cdedrick05
- Give Brown a chance. He has been mismanaged from the beginning, and was also held back by injury. With the history here, you wouldn't want him playing somewhere else as a All Star in 2 or 3 years.— jerseyshorefan
- Love spring training, guy with Confucious hat in the second row reading poetry.— gubbers97
- no way D Young starts in RF if Brown and Ruf are playing well...he is a very low cost acquisition who could even be moved in June if the others have panned out and established themselves in the first 6-8 weeks. ( Call it a best case scenario since who really wants to root for DYoung as a Phillie anyway!!)— TheLon
- Man am I ready for some baseball. What people don't seem to get is we are having Yankee type problems. Yankee's always have old teams and stars past their prime. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. The best part though is that unlike most of the 80's, 90's, and half the 00's we have hope.— KINGOFZED
- From the Phillies perspective, who cares about the Nats. Focus on your own stuff and let the chips fall is the best approach. The Phils have more health and depth this year at this point of the seasonal process, which bodes well. Howard, Halladay, and Utley are healthy from all reports. You know these guys are chomping at the bit. They are all ultra competitive and highly talented players. Howard needs to master the mental side of the game more, take some more walks to try and force pitchers to throw him more strikes. He tries too hard at times, making himself susceptible to the frisbees thrown his way, a vast majority of them balls. I don't think they are going to be a "strong" defensive team this year, but will make up for that with improved pitching and offensive production across the board. Hopefully, Manuel will use his depth effectively to give rest to his aging core. I am getting very excited for the season. Lets get behind this team and put Negadelphia to rest for awhile folks. We've had a bad run of luck with our sports stars since the 08 wonderment (e.g. Bynum, Howard, Utley, Pronger, Halladay). A healthy Phillies and Chip Kelly to the rescue to water down the toxic brew of frustration that has been well represented on philly.com fan comments.— Barry Gibb
- Should be an interesting spring. Sharing the spotlight with Ruf should help Brown.— Grazman
