Domonic Brown's Injury: The Possible Positives

My Fellow Phans,

Brown is the future of the Phillies.

I am sad to report that Domonic Brown will be out for 4 to 6 weeks after suffering a hand injury last weekend. Brown was riding a hitless spring before the at-bat where he fouled a ball successfully injuring his hand. Ironically enough, this injury occurred the pitch just before he got this hit. He is expected to have surgery on Tuesday and miss the remainder of Spring Training.

Although, I will not say that this all but ends the right field battle, but taking into account the way Ben Francisco has been hitting this spring and Brown’s injury, Francisco seems to be a lock for the job. He may share time with Ross Gload in right field, but Ben should a significant amount of playing time.

This may actually help Brown in the long run. I have long been a supporter of holding off his starting in the Major Leagues until the end of Raul Ibanez’s contract next season. This way, he will have one last year of fine tuning in the minors, which will give him time to perfect his new batting stance, and will be ready to start fresh in 2012. Strategically this works out well, as Brown will be replacing a fellow left-handed hitter in the lineup and the Phillies won’t have to worry about having too many lefties in the lineup.

The way that Brown was used last season was not the most helpful to his experience. He is the quality of player that needs to play every day. If he doesn’t get a chance to do, as was at the case at the end of last season, he will struggle and lose his timing. Objectively speaking, Brown’s debut last year did not pan out too well. He struggled with his average and strikeouts. You can’t tell me that his lack of playing time didn’t play a role in those struggles.

Domonic Brown is not a bench player. He is the type of player that needs to play on a routine basis to keep up his stats. He will not get that chance in 2011 on the Major League roster, so why force him into a role that he is not accustomed to? Let the man play every day in AAA.

Trust me, we will have the honor of seeing him play for many years on the Phillies, we just need to be patient and let him develop before we put all this pressure on him.

For now, I just ask for your patience … Brown’s time will come soon enough…

Look for more updates to come and of course, the Starting Pitchers’ Who’s Who!

Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies!