Could Domonic Brown bat fifth for Phillies?
Domonic Brown smacked another home run Tuesday, his sixth of the spring. That tied him for the major-league lead in spring games. Could he hit fifth for Charlie Manuel?
Could Domonic Brown bat fifth for Phillies?
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Domonic Brown will be in Charlie Manuel's opening-day lineup, this much is for sure. The 25-year-old outfielder has morphed his unfulfilled promise into this spring's surprise in the span of 71 Grapefruit League plate appearances. That, at least, is the prevailing narrative.
He smacked another home run Tuesday, his sixth of the spring. That tied him for the major-league lead in spring games. His slugging percentage is an obscene .714, which puts him near the top of baseball.
Twenty-two exhibition games hardly make a career. Nonetheless, Brown has displayed incredible power. That could earn him a prominent spot in Manuel's lineup. He hit fifth Tuesday, and Manuel likes the idea of that becoming a regular assignment.
"He can hit there," the manager said.
Manuel said he has an opening-day lineup in his mind but would not reveal it. Against righthanded starters, it's possible he slots Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Brown together in the heart of his order. It is more complicated against lefties, depending on who bats second.
"We're not going to line up all of those lefthanded hitters because when the season starts, we'll see better lefthanded pitching," Manuel said. "They're going to save those lefthanded pitchers for us. I don't think we can afford to hang four or five lefties in a row."
Manuel gushed when describing Brown's fourth-inning at-bat against Yankees righty Adam Warren. The pitch immediately before the homer was a fastball. Brown swung late and fouled it off. Warren countered with an inside and low slider. Brown crushed it.
Before, when Brown was not balanced and routinely late, that does not happen.
"He would leak out and push the ball to left field," Manuel said. "Now he's driving the ball. He's having a big spring."
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
I like the idea of Brown at the fifth spot because it would be fairly easy to slot Mayberry in the same spot against a tough lefty without sacrificing much since Mayberry mashes lefties and having him rotate with Brown there doesn't disrupt the rest of the lineup.
That said, I wouldn't want Mayberry taking too many ABs from Brown, especially not while D. Young is still out.— OutofTownPhillyFan- First, let's all remember Brown had a great Spring Training in the past and sputtered during the regular season.
Second, he's left handed therefore should NOT bat 5th until a proven commodity as no pitcher will respect him enough to fear pitching to Howard. Howard's best years are those where a power right handed hitter who is patient at the plate backed him up.
Once DY gets back into playing shape, bat him 5th and have Brown bat after that.— Professor1982 - Brown may not be a superstar, but if he can go hit 20-25 bombs and get on base at a .375 clip he's more than adequate.— maximusud
- No he can't. No he won't. His swing is still too long and his bat is still too slow. He didn't fix his flaws. It's spring training. Pitchers aren't worried about getting him out. They are working on their stuff. He has had good springs before and failed in April. Why do the same things get repeated and everyone expects different outcomes? — justacarpenter
Hats off to Domonic Brown for having a fine spring and giving a glimpse of the star player he can one day be. Now....about that agent of his.....- D. Brown has been the best story of the spring. Just hope that he brings it north with him— blaqjaq
- I like Outoftowns idea with Mayberry spelling Brown against lefties. If/when Ruf makes the team he could spell Howard against those same lefties. Howard could pinch hit late in those games; he’s shown an ability as a ph.— terrycindyian
- Ideally, a righty slugger would bat behind Howard at #5. But, of course, there is nobody who meets that ideal to play 149 games. Mayberry does have that power vs. lefties. So the idea of him hitting at #5 consistently would not wash...but Brown has to be in the lineup every day if he carries his spring north.
Having Brown at # 6 vs. lefties might work with Mayberry 5th. Still, I suggest that if Brown continues to hit lefties, I would KEEP him at #5. I'd give him a shot at that before moving him to #6.— artfulme - @terry...you want Brown and Howard out of your lineup...and replace them with Mayberry and Ruf? Ruf needs serious work in the minors for LF...and needs to get his head right, learn to be an assassin like Brown has been this spring. I want Brown in that lineup everyday based on what I've seen. My only concern is, the at bat after he hit the HR, he faced a bullpen lefty with legit stuff. he struck out because he guessed offspeed when it was a fastball. Okay, he's not Barry Bonds, but I worry about his long swing and people jamming him inside. He's not like Howard who can hit shots the opposite way...but man the kid has power when he turns on it, I just hope he can do it against the very good players as well.— AHash
- Also, from what I've seen, Brown's eye is ridiculous. He's very disciplined at the plate. He is able to see balls and strikes better than Pat the Bat. I just hope he stays healthy. Finally, Delmon Young said he'd be playing in the AL with the DH right now. Why not get him some at bats as a DH during the spring? They showed him sprinting to warm up...he doesn't look in any shape to be playing RF. I'm worried about him defensively.
Keep Betancourt and Inciarte on the roster. Send Ruf and Galvis down to work on their hitting and fielding. (ruf).— AHash - Finally, Dear Charles Manuel....If you're gonna have Rollins leadoff, please break up lefty lefty at 3-4. Rollins, Utley, M. Young, Howard, D. Young, Brown, Revere, Ruiz, Pitcher should be your lineup this season. You lose nothing by switching Utley and Young.— AHash
- Brown's swing USED to be long; I saw that and mentioned it---on posts. Apparently they must've heard me (Ha! Ha!)and Joyner (new lefty hitting coach) worked with him on it. Watching Brown now you'd be able to detect a swifter, shorter path to the ball, with much more power coming from his left side and the wrists quicker.
All that wouldn't mean much if he wasn't meeting the ball well, but he is.
He looks like now like the exciting player of the dreams of the past 3 seasons. A LARGE difference maker!— artfulme - No way in heck should Utley bat 3rd. He has marginal power at this stage in his career and outside go one season, he has never really hit or average.(no surprise the year he hit .320 he also had about 40 extra base hits. He should hit 2 nd or 6th.— UncleStosh
- Utley in the 2hole would be perfect but Charlie will never do it because he thinks its 2006. You have to break all of those lefties up...— FightinPhil
- I don't know what league you watch Max, but if Brown hits 23 HR with a gaudy .375 obp( top 10 in the league most years.) then he would be a superstar. Go look at the names that achieved those numbers and tell me who isn't a perennial all-star making 16-20 mil a year. As a comparison, he would be Matt Holliday with those numbers.— UncleStosh
