Brown leaves winter ball
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Brown leaves winter ball
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
After Domonic Brown sat on the bench for much of August and September, the Phillies sent their top prospect and possible starting rightfielder to the Dominican Republic this winter to make up for some lost playing time.
Nine games into his stint with Escogido, Brown is returning home.
The team's website said Saturday that Brown traveled back to the United States after hitting just .069 (2 for 29) in those nine games.
Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Saturday night that Brown was feeling tired and sluggish and the Phillies decided to pull him from the Dominican League.
Brown began hitting third in Escogido's order but was soon dropped to seventh, then eighth and then completely out of the lineup.
This, of course, will set off alarms through the Phillies' fan base. But a shaky winter notwithstanding, Brown still has a great shot of being the one to primarily replace Jayson Werth, should the outfielder sign elsewhere as expected. The last few months just haven't gone according to plan for the Phillies and their top prospect.
A good spring training can change all of that.
Earlier in the week, Amaro downplayed Brown's struggles in the Dominican. It was, he said, a small sample size. (And he's right in that respect.)
Comment removed.
Kid Hits adversity and Quits!— Kevinmac
"All the glitters is not gold!"— dogman5
Ruh-roh!— scribbles- Revive with Vivarin!— Cranapple
- guess he was walking to first instead of running just like in the majors...wake up brown, try hustling instead of being lazy like jstroll...incredible, AAA lifer in the making because he is lazy— tooltime
- I'm still not convinced about Brown. It may take a while for him to figure it out, if he ever does.— Phillies2008WSChamps
Couldn't hit the 50yo's throwing 85 mph fastballs. Uh oh.- I didn't expect Brown to tear up the big leagues after his call-up, but I was disappointed when he often looked totally overmatched at the plate. This kid could be great someday but right now he is leaning closer to being a bust. Possibly another Lastings Milledge.— Desslok of Gamilon
- typical fair weather fans getting all upset over winter ball...id like to see any one of you try and go hit anywhere after sitting for so long...seeing live pitching compared to a batting cage are two completely different things...tooltime your handle says all i need to know...how do you know he is being lazy? have you seen him play in winter ball?...stop with the stupid posts and wait till the season gets here— PhillySports23
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Yeah that's it "fans". Trash the kid without having a clue what you're talking about. "Lazy" "A bust" he "Quits". I hope you frauds have the stones to own up to your ignorance when he lights the league up. Although I doubt you're even capable of contrition. Of course losers like tooltime (how appropriate a name) probably can't spell the word let alone know the meaning of it.— JLH 
not trying to judge but Rubin says he's tired and sluggish. whats that about? i hope he can get his act together, were gonna need him soon. go Phil's- So, he stunk during the regular season, flunked out of winter ball, and you're saying "a good spring training can change all that." Which trend line would lead you to say he will have a good spring? It's more likely that this kid is Jeff Stone.— apreziosi
- Lot of negative speculation based on 29 ab. Article lacks worth.— Beck
- The guy is what? 22 years old? Some players (umm....Utley, Howard, WERTH) simply don't "get it" until their mid 20's.
Assuming that this guy was the next Jayson Heyward was a serious mistake by the front office, and some of my more ignorant fellow Phillie fans.— Steveo31
