Phillies activate outfielder Delmon Young

CLEVELAND — Delmon Young awoke Tuesday in Louisville knowing his time as a minor-league player was over. The day before, Ruben Amaro Jr. called Young and asked him if he was ready to play the outfield for the Phillies. "Yes," Young said.

He hopped a flight to Baltimore and another to Cleveland, where he was activated from the disabled list and inserted into the middle of Charlie Manuel's lineup. The 27-year-old former No. 1 overall pick arrived as a great unknown.

"You've got to be motivated if you want to play," Young said. "If you aren't motivated you could have one good season and then take it back to the house and never play again."

He served as designated hitter in his debut but will probably play right field Wednesday for the first time since 2007. The Phillies are confident a slimmer Young can handle it. Manuel wants Young to play defense before the team returns to Citizens Bank Park on Thursday.

Upon his activation, the Phillies paid Young a $250,000 bonus for being on the active roster. Outfielder Ezequiel Carrera was designated for assignment to clear a spot.

Young missed the first 26 games while recovering from November surgery on his right ankle.

"Based upon what I've been told by our people, he's going to catch what he gets to," assistant general manager Scott Proefrock said. "The thing people don't understand about Delmon, in my opinion, he's a baseball player. He's got instincts for the game. He's a baseball rat. He's going to find a way to get it done.

"It might not look like it's supposed to look but he'll find a way to get it done."

Last weekend, Proefrock said Young's return was not "imminent." That changed largely because Young proclaimed himself fit.

He appeared in seven minor-league games and hit .367 (11 for 30) at single-A Clearwater and triple-A Lehigh Valley. He played right field in all of those games.

The most pressing question is whether Young's bat can offset his defensive shortcomings in right field. He primarily served as Detroit's designated hitter in 2012. He has never been regarded an adept fielder.

Manuel expects to often use a defensive replacement for Young.

"I saw video of the games that he played," Manuel said. "He looked OK. He moved pretty good, really. He went back in the gaps pretty good."

Young said his surgically repaired ankle "gets better every couple days." He said with each bump up in competition it took adjusting to reading balls in right field. His conditioning is improved.

Whether that translates to effectiveness in the field remains to be seen.

Young was guaranteed $750,000. The roster bonus made it $1 million. He can earn up to $3.5 million total with other bonuses, including weight clauses.

When asked last Friday if Young could return as a DH this week, Proefrock said the team needed to see Young play more in right field.

"I don't think anybody thinks he's not going to be able to do it," Proefrock said. "It's just that he hasn't played right field in a long time. It's an opportunity for him to get comfortable out there again and understand how his ankle is, what he can and can't do."

They're about to find out.

Contact Matt Gelb at mgelb@phillynews.com. Follow on Twitter @magelb.