Minor League News & Notes: Brown Sent Down

In case you missed it amidst all the Chase Utley injury news, the Phillies optioned Domonic Brown.  Brown was always going to be a long shot to break camp with the big league club. Ruben Amaro stated prior to spring that the team’s plan was to have Brown play the whole year at Lehigh Valley and continue to develop. Looks like things are going according to plan.

When Amaro initially made his comments about Brown playing the year in the minors, I assumed it was a cunning move to take pressure off the young outfielder. Brown would never admit it, but the pressure of being a highly touted prospect is much different than coming to camp with low expectations. Brown came ready to fight for the left field job, but it’s plain to see that the kid just isn’t there yet.

Brown wasn’t awful at the plate during the exhibition season. He hit .300 in a limited showcasing with a .983 OPS. His confidence at the plate was cancelled out by his lack of confindence playing the field. He continually took bad angles, and even dropped routine balls. Watching Roy Halladay’s face after Brown dropped a fly ball said it all, “We don’t have time for this S%!”.

As much as we all want Brown to figure it out, Philadelphia is not the place for it. Ruben acknowledged this fact when asked about Browns demotion,

“We’re not in the mode right now to develop guys at the Major League level, and he’s a guy that needs to get to the point where we’re comfortable with him in all phases of the game and then get him back to Philadelphia when he’s ready to do that.”

The stability of playing in Lehigh Valley all year can only be a good thing for Brown. And, if Dom continues to have trouble in the outfield he should listen to the same wise words that my High School baseball coach imparted on our team,

“CATCH THE BALL!, CATCH – THE –BALL”

Notes:

– The Phillies also have sent down young bullpen hopefuls Phillipe Aumont and Michael Schwimer. The Phillies depth allows them to send these guys down to get regular work, but both should be in Philly by August.

– Do you like beer? If the answer is yes, and you live in the Reading are be sure to catch one of five beer festivals hosted by the Reading Phillies. All you can drink, all you can eat, and you get to see the Reading Phillies, doesn’t get much better than that!

You can follow Ethan’s Phillies thoughts on Twitter @Yearinbaseball and on Facebook.