Brown: 'I'm coming to win a job'
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Brown: 'I'm coming to win a job'
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Domonic Brown lives here now. He wanted a winter away from baseball to regain his confidence, but Brown still found himself at the Phillies' complex often.
He worked with Steve Henderson, the Phillies' minor-league outfield instructor. He struck a relationship with Gary Sheffield, who played 22 seasons and hit 509 home runs. He shaved most of his head and now proudly sports a faux-hawk.
Brown is 24. He was untouchable in trades for Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay. His path to the majors as the franchise's top prospect was not as planned.
There is still plenty of time.
"I'm not at peace if I start at triple A," Brown said Tuesday morning. "I'm coming to win a job. I'm fighting to win a job here. If I start at triple A, I start at triple A."
A winter of anonymity has resulted in a restoration of that confidence so tested in 2011. Brown endured a hitless spring until he fractured the hamate bone in his right hand. He was promoted, demoted and then booed in triple A when he dropped fly balls and looked generally disinterested.
"I had to wake up," Brown said. "You just can't turn the switch off an on like that. You just can't do it in this game. You have to stay upbeat every day."
Brown is a definitive long shot to make the Phillies out of camp, but if he blows the decision-makers away, they will have to at least think about him.
"Spring is a good time to dream a little bit," Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "It's important for Domonic to show us what he's got."
Brown is thinking the same way. He heard Amaro's statements all winter that Brown would be best served spending another season at triple A.
That's nothing new, he said.
"I've been hearing that stuff for two or three years now," Brown said. "It don't really matter. I believe if you play hard and do things the right way, great things are going to happen for you. If you think great, you're going to be great. We'll see what happens."
So Brown sought others to help him regain his path. Sheffield, one of the finest hitters in the steroid era, was one. They met this winter at Sheffield's hitting facility in the Tampa, Fla., area. They've talked a lot of hitting.
"He opened his arms to me," Brown said. "We've been close ever since."
Hunter Pence was a workout partner recently in Clearwater. Jason Heyward, a friend of Brown's, experienced failure in his second major-league season with the Braves. They talked, too.
What was the consensus?
"There's going to be struggles, man," Brown said. "It's how you deal with it."
The Phillies are eagerly awaiting to see how Brown deals with it.
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
Brown had a higher OPS last year than Ibanez. We must be careful not to confuse a lack of realizing his potential yet with a lack of quality generally.— Bobby G- Brown is only 24. If his talent comes to surface and Utley regains some of form Phills can change from decent hitting team to a good one. With many Phills figuring to have no more than 2-3 years at top level emergence of his talent important to teams continued success.— Don w
- Don w, with Brown as he was, and Utley as he was last year, once Utley returned they were the highest-scoring team in the league.
I like Brown's attitude.— schmenkman - Brown could bea big surprise this spring if he comesin and tears the covering off the ball. But most likely he will beat triple - A getting his AB Which he needs if he isn't astarter for the big club. I still am onewho believesa full year in the minors at Tripple - A will give Brown the AB he needs to stay on the ball and come late August he should be up with the PHILLIES getting some playing time— srcdaddy1216
- "Sheffield, one of the finest hitters in the steroid era......" Wow, had to bring steroids into it, huh? Tell us how you REALLY feel about Sheffield!!
— jttripper - Why don't baseball writers have the guts to call it what it is? It's not the steroid era, it's the Selig era. And soon they'll vote that guy into the HOF while keeping real Hall of Famers out, sad.
— 51phils 
Comment removed.- OhOkay, at 24 both Utley and Howard spent most of the year in the minors, i.e. they were minor leaguers according to your definition. Did they eventually have some OK years?— schmenkman
- I can't wait for this guy to prove the skeptics wrong and become a fixture in the middle of the order. I truly expect great things from Dom in the near future.— The Pack Leader
- I hope you don't have to be anywhere soon. — jman
- It's all about production, whether you're 24 or 34; talk is cheap! Produce or don't produce is the challenge every professional athlete faces each day; some embrace that challenge, others pay it lip service. We'll see.— JBinPA
- JBinPA, absolutely.
And at age 23 last year, Brown already hit as well as the average major league left fielder:
Avg MLB LF: .256/.320/.409 (.729 OPS, overall hitting stat wOBA at .320)
Dom Brown : .245/.333/.391 (.724 OPS, wOBA at .322)
We expect more than average, but for age 23 as a hitter he was right where he should be, and he should from there.
Defense is what he needs to improve on most, and he's athletic enough that there's no reason why he shouldn't at least be passable, in the long and rich Phillies tradition of Luzinski, Burrell, and Ibanez.
— schmenkman - The only thing is, he hasn't shown he can PLAY leftfield..To boot, average will not get it done for the 2012 Phillies. — bearsfriend
- What's with guys who can supposedly play right field but not left field? Left is where they put the stiffs (Burrell, Luzinski, George Foster, etc) who can't run or throw. If you can't play there, how is it they can play RF? — jman
- He's the worst fielder in baseball. Every ball hit to him was an adventurer. His only hope is to make it as a DH somewhere.— farley
