Domonic Brown heats up
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Domonic Brown heats up
Matt Gelb
As the Phillies stumbled Tuesday to another listless defeat that dropped them under .500 again, something was happening 70 miles north. Domonic Brown smashed two home runs and a double, threw a runner out from left field, and made a diving catch.
And that was only in the first four innings of triple-A Lehigh Valley's rout of the Gwinnett Braves.
Brown's bat is heating up; he's hitting .415 (17 for 41) in his last 10 games with four home runs and 13 runs scored. The 24-year-old's batting average had dipped to .231, but this streak has bumped it to .282. Fifteen months ago, he broke his right hamate bone, an injury that typically saps power for about a year.
"For me, he's the same Domonic," IronPigs manager Ryne Sandberg told reporters Tuesday following the game.
Of course, the "same Domonic" is a maddening player yet to realize his potential. One scout who watched Brown for the previous four days would agree.
"There's not much to love about his defense, but he has definitely swung it pretty well," said the scout, who requested anonymity to speak about another team's player. "I am still not 100 percent sold on the bat, but he has looked solid. Other scouts will say he looked better two years ago."
A lot has happened since then. The Phillies summoned Brown in 2010 and he dazzled in his debut. A injury stole playing time. He was recalled midseason, again, in 2011 and was ultimately supplanted as the starting right fielder by Hunter Pence. The Phillies moved him to left, and recently center for a week, before back to left. He spent most of this spring on the bench with injuries.
The outfield -- and his health -- remains his barrier to reaching the majors.
"His defense is somewhat a mystery to me," the scout said. "He seems so gifted athletically but he just doesn't break on the ball well."
He added: "The diving catch was a product of a bad jump. But the two bombs were impressive."
And therein lies the tantalizing talent of Brown.
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
Call me crazy but I know he'll never be an expert and breaking on the ball correctly but can't you keep drilling with him to give him a better idea?
What's really troubling is more players these days seem to be a little spacey while playing. look at Castro for the cubs or Brown having his moments on defense or Victorino on the bases. What's with these mental lapses and nonchalant attitudes? Not that they don't care but they have these moments where their minds take a moment off.— TheFansVoice
This is the time to trade Domonic Brown while they still have time to get more than a bag of baseballs. Ship him and the Sinking Hawaiian in a package to get some relief help. With this putrid offense, they need all the bullpen help they can get. The lack of development by Brown has hurt this team. He must pay with a one-way ticket out of town.- Stay tuned. Baseball people loved this guy 2 years ago. Why would he become a 240 hitter after he hit 340 in Lehigh 2 years ago at 22 (30 games). Just a guess his confidence was down after Philly stay. From what I am reading he has the athletic ability to be a decent fielder. He has an outstanding arm and good speed. No way Phillies are going to give up on Brown. He will have to learn how to read fly balls. Im hoping he will be in LF next year for Phills. They can certainly use a good bat.— Don w
- Sounds like he needs some coaching for defense.— P Even
- They have tried to coach him the last few years. He doesn't listen. The greatest coach ever couldn't teach Brown how to judge a fly ball. Either you can field or you can't. There is only so much a coach can do.
- This team needs a shakeup now. I brought up the Brown/Victorino trade package because I believe that the best way to shakeup this team and send a message that status quo is no longer acceptable is to trade a cornerstone of the club for the last 5/6 years. Victorino has played badly this year when they have needed him to step up and is in a contract year. Shipping him out now gets the Phillies a player who may be able to help them. 28-29 with a lethargic offense is no longer acceptable. Something drastic needs to be done soon.
Comment removed.- recall him and put him in the OF. Can't be any worse than mayberry or pence in clutch situations.— palmyra21
- recall him and put him in the OF. Can't be any worse than mayberry or pence in clutch situations.— palmyra21
- Can he be much worse defensively than Pierre in LF?— Clt Philly Fan
- Triple A is where the old vets go to die and the young "prospects with potential" toil for years and years. They obviously threw fastballs, cause when they bring brown up he gets a steady diet of offspeed pitches that he can not handle. That plus he is a liability in the field means no ticket to the bigs....MARK THAT— Trot
- Think outside the box and bring up Ruf in AA who is killing it down there and has ever since he arrived late on the scene at 22. He is 25 which is old for AA but he started late. Big power and hits all over the field.44 rbi's already and an ops of 958 and obp of almost 400. He has 41 rbi's.Leave Rhome in Fla and let him play 1st base in the inter league series or dh. Tired od the same old same old. Lets be proactive and try a kid who is kickin in AA — pattymac3
- Ruben hasn't givenCharlie a good team other than starting pitching. I know there have been major injuries that couldn't have been predicted. I like Charlie but only think he is an average game day manager at best and not for this type of team. I'd say give them another 10-15 games, see how they are doing, see if Utley and Howard have a prayer of contributing and if they're not going in the right direction, replace Charlie with Sandberg and unload Victorino. It may not help but it couldn't be much worse and maybe it would shake up the troops. Unfortunately they'll still be stuck with Rollins but maybe Sandberg won't feel co pulled to lead him off. Who knows. They're lacking so many parts I don't know the answer.— Ballgame
- ugh, just get mayberry out of the lineup already. he's outclassed and he knows it.— snakeplissken
- shipping Vic and Brown for relief help is a terrible idea... moving Brown anywhere is probably a bad idea since you'd be selling so low. let him figure it out on his own in minors and then either promote him or trade him then. trading him for some random rental reliever is a very bad idea... if you get a similarly talented player in a "change of scenery" type swap, i'd be OK with it... we did that a few years back in the golson-for-mayberry trade and that worked out (tho neither of those 2 were mega prospects like DB)— leeal02
