Brown Goes Down

The Phillies defeated the New York Yankees by a score of 7-3 last night in a game televised nationally on ESPN. During the game, disappointing outfielder Domonic Brown was forced to leave with what has been initially described as a sore achilles tendon.

Brown injured his right achilles tendon back in 2013, causing him to miss a couple of weeks in mid-summer that season. This was the left achilles forcing Brown out of action on Thursday night.

As reported by Matt Breen, he had been nursing the injury for a couple of weeks: “I’m definitely frustrated, for sure. It seemed like we were going in the right direction – it was getting a little bit better.”

What was not getting better was Brown’s play on the field. Moving over from left to right field this spring, Brown has hit just .241 (7-29) with a double, 2 runs and 2 rbi. A year ago, Brown hit for a lowly .235 average and just 10 homers across 512 plate appearances.

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Thus far in his big league career, Dom Brown has 1,544 plate appearances. He has hit just .248 with 49 homers and 204 rbi. He turned 27 years old back in September, and can no longer be considered a young, developing player.

The bottom line with Domonic Brown is that he simply is not the ball player that the Phillies once hoped he would become. He has just one hot stretch in his entire big league career, which resulted in his being selected for the 2013 MLB All-Star Game.

Some still hang their hats on that All-Star appearance as representing what Brown is capable of producing. But reality tells a different story. That season, Brown hit 24 homers by the break. He had just 3 afterwards, none after August 14th. What Dom Brown did in 2013 was start out hot and stay hot for two months. There has been no similar stretch over parts of 5 seasons with the Phillies.

The Phillies are apparently committed to Brown for the forseeable future, due to both a combination of his contract status and their own lack of reliable options. Brown is arbitration eligible for 2016, and will not become a free agent until following the 2017 season.

For Phils fans who have grown tired of his mediocre defense and horrendous offensive approach, the injury will be a welcome respite from seeing him on the field in red pinstripes.

Mar 10, 2015; Clearwater, FL, USA;

Herrera (37) takes off his helmet after grounding out during the third inning of a spring training game against Detroit at Bright House Field.

(Photo Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports)

One positive development from this should be increased playing time for Odubel Herrera, the Rule 5 pickup who has done nothing but excel this spring. Herrera has hit .364 with a .400 on-base percentage and stolen a team-high 4 bases in 33 at-bats during Grapefruit League action.

It’s a shame that Jeff Francoeur, signed as a free agent back in November, has been suffering from his own injury troubles with left oblique soreness. This might be the perfect chance for Frenchy to establish himself as an option.

Others who should see playing time increases now include Grady Sizemore, Darin Ruf, and Jordan Danks. Every single one in that group is arguably a better option at this point than Brown, and so the Phillies, while not suddenly becoming potent, will also certainly improve with the overrated right fielder out of the lineup.