Brown likely needs surgery for hand fracture
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Brown likely needs surgery for hand fracture
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Domonic Brown fractured a bone in his right hand on the first swing of the game Saturday and he will likely require surgery that could keep him out for three to six weeks.
Needless to say, his chances at making the team out of spring training have all but evaporated.
It means Ben Francisco is the probable opening day right fielder, although general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said no one has won the job yet.
"But Ben's done very, very well for us," Amaro said.
Initial X-rays showed Brown fractured the hook of the hamate bone in his right hand, a fracture that typically requires surgery, Amaro said. Brown will go to Philadelphia for further examinations in the coming days.
"I'm sure he's disappointed," Amaro said. "I talked to him a couple of minutes ago and he didn't sound all that great. But it's part of the game."
Amaro said Brown could see hand specialist Randall Culp, who performed surgery on Chase Utley's right thumb.
It was a bittersweet moment for Brown because he finally ended the hitless streak he began the spring with. He singled up the middle against Pittsburgh lefthander Paul Maholm.
"He probably ended up getting a base hit with a broken bone in his hand," Amaro said.
In the next half inning, John Mayberry Jr. was in right field, not Brown. And then Brown emerged from the dugout with Phillies head athletic trainer Scott Sheridan. Brown jogged back to the clubhouse ahead of Sheridan, who followed.
The news they discovered hours later was grim.
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Until he proves otherwise - he in my estimation is this generations version of Jeff Stone.........great body - no hit.— Northcountry- Dom said he admires Utley but this is a bit too much!— krammar
Comment removed.- 1 hit = 1 broken hand. Gonna be a long season— Larry Byrd
- Curious, are you all family members of Dominic? I haven't seen this much support since Rosie O'Donnell got a new girdle... Whoa! Is this thing on? But seriously though....good to see that Brown won't be hacking anything to death for a few weeks.— Jeffritoe
- Problem solved. Now we need to rally around and support Ben Francisco. I think he can hit .280 and hit 20 homers. The rest of the lineup needs to step up and for God's sake cut down on all the strike outs with runners in scoring position.— gusschultz
- Problem solved. Now we need to rally around and support Ben Francisco. I think he can hit .280 and hit 20 homers. The rest of the lineup needs to step up and for God's sake cut down on all the strike outs with runners in scoring position.— gusschultz
- Problem solved. Now we need to rally around and support Ben Francisco. I think he can hit .280 and hit 20 homers. The rest of the lineup needs to step up and for God's sake cut down on all the strike outs with runners in scoring position.— gusschultz
- Domonic Brown is the most overrated Phillie since Von Hayes. I'm sorry he got hurt, but wave goodbye. You'll never see him again.— orange rhino
- I definitely don't want to be down this early in the season, but things sure are rosy right now. First, Utley has knee pain that probably is worst than they are making out to be. Hopefully he won't need any surgery. Also, our projected starting lineup isn't really hitting well so far. Finally, a top prospect who was suppose to take over right field had 1 hit and now breaks his hand. Couple this with the fact that the Braves have a pretty sick lineup this year with the addition of Freeman and Uggla. I mean Prado, McCann, Heyward (budding star),and Uggla are all-stars, while Gonzalez, McClouth, Chipper aren't bad players. The only real unknown in the lineup is Freeman and he is killing the ball so far in spring training. Yes, the Phillies have a nice rotation but the Braves aren't too shabby with Lowe, Hanson, Hudson, Jurrijens, and Minor, not to mention their bullpen is definitely better than the Phillies. Got to hope the Phillies rotation can hold teams to less than 3 runs because the Phillies offense will probably have trouble scoring runs this year.— eaglegrn21
- Anyone have an online link to watch the Phillies, Flyers, Sixers and Eagles. I just lost my last feed.— PhillyFever
- D. Brown did very well in the minors hitting sub par pitching.
Sure he has the ability but has yet to show it. Still at a young age
there is plenty of time left to mature and become a solid player.
When I first saw him swing he tries to kill every pitch or over swing.
If you ask me he has a long way to go. Let the bone heal and go back to triple A and work on become a solid player and don't try and hit every pitch out the park.........Perhaps this is something he needs to get his thinking cap on and realize he should be more of a contact hitter than a home run hitter...This so called can't miss World Series team is really starting to show flaws even before the first regular season pitch is even tossed......— merchandiser - Francisco will be fine and some team will cut an outfielder at the end of spring training. Wilson Valdez played RF in Bradenton on Friday, he got 3 hits & threw a runner out @ 3rd. Please no panic @ the disco.— gonzoinFla
Ziggy, hack? Dom Brown is the real deal. He's not ready yet but he will be the future rf for years to come.— bill19666- I'm with readjdm, this makes a few perhaps inevitable decisions easier: 1 Brown starts the season at AAA. Last time I checked, the manager there knew a few things about hitting. 2. Francisco opens the season in RF. 3. Mayberry, Young or Martinez -- two of three make the opening day squad. Young seems like a shoo-in with Utley's problems. And, (most important) 4. Amaro goes out and gets a RH hitting outfielder with some pop, who won't mind coming off the bench. The combination of Utley's ailments and now Brown's injury makes that decision a necessity. We have KK, Worley and Blanton to deal. Let's deal. We need hitting way more than pitching, at this point.
— eman
