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.
I was ok with his offence because I know that will come along. What is frightening is that he looks like Darrel Strawberry when he runs in the field, but his decision making leaves him with Pat Burrel-like results.— KINGOFZED- This comment has been deleted.— dragoon6
- "Two, and most importantly, he needs to shorten that long, looping swing of his, which is tailor made for striking out and popping up. You can't get away with that swing in the bigs. Major league pitchers are too good. If Brown doesn't do this, I don't see how he'll ever live up to his hype. — RightSaidJeff"
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And yet, he didn't pop out a lot last year. And he struck out 16.7% of the time, which was less than Mayberry (18.6%) and Ibanez (18.4%), and slighly more than Pence (16.1%).
— schmenkman - Ken Griffey Jr. had a long looping swing and last I checked he turned out ok. — oldfriar
- Another dope who thinks it's clever to use "last time I checked" in their trite response. — jman
- Bradco, not enough fiber this morning? Get rid of a dynamic player like Pence. Not a chance !!Use some of that comcast cash to sign him &Cole to 3 or 4 year deals and put Galvis on 3rd next season.— 43 phils
- Brown hits like Ricky Jordan, plays the field like Lonnie Smith and is as coordinated as Manute Bol. But there's still time for him to get it together. I hope it works out because the Phillies could use younger, cheaper talent who have an upside.— AvoidSundanceVacations
- Jttripper - I'll tell you how I feel about Sheffield: HE CHEATED!!!— dwp66
- Dom is goin nowhere but the minors till he gets rid of that agent— SyddBarrett
- Has Boras declared him to be a "special player" yet? — jman
- Making the team and sitting on the bench is the worst thing that could happen. With a good year at triple A at the plate and improvement in the field, he should be ready to help the team in August, and then, hopefully take off from there.— altoonaaslan
- Making the team and sitting on the bench is the worst thing that could happen. With a good year at triple A at the plate and improvement in the field, he should be ready to help the team in August, and then, hopefully take off from there.— altoonaaslan
Comment removed.- If he doesn't make the team in the Spring then it's time to include him in a trade for a right handed hitter during the season, it's be awesome if it was a 3rd baseman - even a rental. Dom's had more chances than most with his hype and he could just be a player who can't make the jump to the majors, the B Ball history books are loaded with guys with insane minor league numbers that can't play in the majors— dunnkirk
