Domonic Brown: the Phillies baseball drama.

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder, Domonic Brown.

        Well it's that time again, the Phillies are giving Domonic Brown another shot at the big leagues. The player deemed untouchable by Ruben Amaro Jr. in the Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Hunter Pence trades, is looking to play his way in to a starting role for the 2013 Phillies. Philadelphia fans have seen this drama before, this is Brown's third trip the the Major Leagues, and he hasn't had much success. However, so far in 2012, he's had his most productive year. Domonic Brown was selected in the 20th round of the 2006 MLB draft out of high school. The only reason he fell so low was because Brown had planned to attend the University of Miami to play wide receiver, but the Phillies offered him a $200,000 signing bonus to choose baseball instead. That right there shows you a hint of the type of athleticism Brown has. Brown has been described as a 5-tool player, meaning he excels at hitting for average, hitting for power, baserunning skills and speed, throwing ability, and fielding abilities. Brown was #15 on the 2010 Baseball America top prospects list.

        The 25-year-old Brown has fought his way through a variety of injuries. After recovering from a broken bone last season, he was affected by a knee injury this year while playing for the Triple-A Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. He's shown a slight limp, but seems to be okay. Standing tall and lanky at 6'5" and 200lbs, let's hope he isn't fragile. People should make note that Brown is a Scott Boras' client, however he isn't arbitration eligible until 2014 and can't become a free agent until 2017. The Phillies need to see development out of Brown this season to build more trust in him. As far as next season, he simply needs to put up steady offensive numbers, while playing in at least 140 games, to meet reasonable expectations. Doing so would fill one of the team's positional holes and likely answer the six spot in the lineup. I believe that the minor league experience Brown gained working under Iron Pigs' manager Ryne Sandberg has helped to advance his development. He isn't flailing at every pitch and is visibly thinking through his at bats as they occur. In other words, he's carrying out a plan when he's standing at the plate. The numbers show, he has only 9 strikeouts to go along with his 9 walks in 78 at-bats this season. Maintaining a 1/1 K-BB ratio would be huge for this team. He still has some work to do on the bases, but also looks much calmer in that area of his game as well. The organizational decision that allowed Brown to spend time at all three outfield positions in the minor leagues this season forced him to see the ball from three different fielding angles. If he proves that he can handle right field, which has been his primary position, I would let him stay there. Otherwise, a move to left field shouldn't be a problem.

        So far this season, Brown has been exceptionally good. He's maintained an average batting average, and has been OK in the field. However, after collecting just three extra-base hits and no home runs in his first 18 games this season, Brown is batting .467 (7-for-15) with a home run, three doubles and seven RBIs in his last four games. Speaking of recent games, Brown also showed off his talent in right field. In last night's game against the Reds, he laid out for a full-extension, diving, inning-ending catch in the second inning. Two innings later, with Jay Bruce standing on third base ready to tag up on a fly ball with one out, Brown tracked down a fly ball and unleashed a frozen rope to catcher Brian Schneider at home plate to complete a highlight reel-worthy double play. (Highlights: HERE) Brown's biggest strength as a prospect was his arm strength and accuracy. If he can round-out and make his reaction time better, as well as his fundamentals, he should develop in to a heck of an outfielder. So far this season he has six outfield assists, and his first career double play, and has yet to make an error. One of Brown's biggest struggles is hitting against left-handed pitching. He's hitting .167 (3-18) against lefties in 2012, and .206 (13-63) in his short MLB career. Charlie Manuel needs to let him play this season out, every game. That's including tough left-handed pitchers, Brown will never get better against them on the bench. The other thing that bothers me is his timing on hitting fastballs. He's hitting .237 on fastballs, and .276 on changeups (.500 against lefties), which shows that he's having trouble catching up the the fastballs. I do like that he's hitting .316 against curveballs from right-handing pitchers. That's all things that batting coach Greg Gross and 'hitting guru' Manager Charlie Manuel need to work with Domonic Brown.

        As long as Brown is healthy, he will be in the Phillies' starting lineup on opening day next spring.
I don't know if he will ever become an impact player, or if he will be able to maintain his full-time role. But, it's obvious that a lot of time has been spent helping him to renew his mental approach. He's hitting .282, with a .761 OPS (on base plus slugging percentage), and I think that he will do better over a longer stretch of time as a result of good coaching. Those who thought that his major league career would never take off haven't been proven wrong yet. Those who support him haven't rushed out to buy Brown's jersey yet either. Unless he's traded in the offseason, every Phillies' fan should have plenty of time to see how this baseball drama plays out.

Johnny Drama, from the HBO show Entourage.

Eagles pre-season, Vick's man hands.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, Michael Vick.

        In the Philadelphia Eagles first action of 2012, they went out and got a win. In the aftermath of Garrett Reid's death, several Eagles have dedicated this season to Andy Reid and his family. With that being said, the Eagles' starters struggled against the Pittsburgh Steelers defense. Now most people will tell you that you really can't judge the pre-season, you have to take it for what it's worth. It's a tune-up, it's made for getting everyone in football mode. However, Eagles fans were hoping that the starters would really look good in their small appearance of game one, at least better than last year against Pittsburgh in the pre-season. Their poor performance in game three last season was the first sign that the 'Dream Team' hype would possibly crash and burn - which it obviously did. As such, the hope is that this year's preseason effort against the Steelers won't be another bad sign for the 2012 Eagles. Even though the Eagles came back and rallied for a last-second 24-23 win over Pittsburgh, the back-ups did all the damage while the big stars were shut down again.

        The big story of the season is already the health of Michael Vick. Not many Eagles fans believe that Vick can stay healthy, at least not for a full 16 games. He has only played a full season once in his career; his last season in Atlanta in 2006. However the bittersweet feeling is that this injury wasn't him being knocked out on a hard hit; this, similar to Vick's concussion last season, was a freak injury. Vick got banged up by hurting his left thumb on the helmet of the bearded barbarian, Jason Kelce. (Link: HERE) Vick probably had no business being on the field, since this injury took place in the second quarter. However, the Eagles defense struggled a bit and Vick only had one three-and-out in the first quarter and needed more playing time. Since x-rays returned negative, Vick's thumb should be fine. However, if he can't get through the first preseason game without a new bruise, how can he escape 16 regular season games - and hopefully up to three or four playoff games - unscathed? If the Eagles have to answer that question, their season may be over right then and there. With that being said, being the backup to Vick is the best gig in the NFL, you're almost guaranteed playing time and it's nice to see the other QB's step up. If Vick does go down hard this season, I wouldn't doubt if Donovan McNabb received a call to attempt to salvage this season, as this is a Super Bowl or bust team. The backup quarterbacks all looked exceptionally good in game one, but this is Vick's team and the likes of Mike Kafka, Trent Edwards and Nick Foles are not going to take the Eagles to the Super Bowl.

        In addition to the Vick concerns, the improved and revamped Philadelphia defense couldn't get off the field early on. Ben Roethlisberger was only on the field one drive, however it lasted 16 plays and contained two third-down conversions and one fourth-down conversion. The Eagles ultimately held the Steelers to just a field goal, but the defense staying on the field for that long will drain them out and during the season will only doom them. After that long opening drive, the Eagles went three-and-out and the Steelers did get that touchdown on their next drive. Then when the Eagles finally got a drive going under Mike Kafka, an interception halted that momentum and led to another three points for the Steelers. Rookie quarterback Nick Foles was impressive, and completed 6 of 10 passes for 144 yards, including TD passes of 70 and 44 yards. Rookie Damaris Johnson caught four passes for 85 yards, including the huge 70-yard TD. The backups put together 24 second-half points and got the win, which was capped off by a 51-yard field goal by Alex Henery (who is absolute money by the way), with 11 seconds to go. Yet no one will remember that in Philadelphia; what we will remember is Vick's latest bruises, a stalled starting offense and a starting defense that couldn't get a rest. Will we have to see more of the same during the regular season, or can the Eagles' regulars learn from their preseason problems with the Steelers this time?

Let's just hope Vick has his man hands ready to carry this football team, and this football city.

Bynum in, Iguoadala out. What next?

Newly acquired Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson.

        Philadelphia 76ers fans have to be excited for what has transpired over the last couple days in Philly. The Sixers have a new face of their franchise, and while he might not have the biggest shoes to fill for our team per se, he does have the size to fill them. At a towering 7ft tall, and weighing in at 285 glorious pounds, I give you Andrew Bynum. He fills a void that the Sixers desperately needed filling. Not only a big body to clog the paint, but a legitimate scoring presence down low that can not only control, but dominate the game. After years of heartache and frustratingly watching our big men be too weak, too small, or too out of shape, we finally have a big man to root for. I've tried my best with Elton Brand and Chris Webber, but they didn't pan out as expected. While you can try and compare Bynum to Brand and Webber, there's not much in common. For one thing, both of those guys were exceptional power forwards, while Bynum is the 2nd best Center in the NBA. The biggest negative people might point to is Bynum's injury problems. Brand and Webber had their problems with injuries but this situation is different. They were established veterans when they came to Philly, not much upside and you knew what kind of player we were going to get. Brand was 29, Webber 31; Andrew Bynum will turn 25 in late October. He's young and just tapping in to his prime capabilities, and I truly believe that he has finally grown in to his massive body.
        
        Many are wondering how the Sixers got Bynum and not Orlando. Fans and journalists alike need to realize exactly what we gave up. We shipped out 3 first-round picks in Nikola Vucevic (2011), Moe Harkless (2012) and a future pick, as well as the centerpiece from our team, our best player; Andre Iguodala. A 2011-12 All-Star and 2012 Olympic team member, Iguodala is not only a great all-around ball player, but is one of the best perimeter defenders in the world. People have loved to try and compare this Olympic team to the '92 Dream Team, well on his best day Iguodala is the Scottie Pippen of this year's team. Mind you, Pippen is a hall of famer, and if Iguodala had a talent like Michael Jordan on his team, i.e. Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Kevin Durant; let's just say he would have much more than 1 All-Star nod under his belt. Iguodala stuffs the staff sheet, and is one of the most versatile players in the NBA. I am obviously a fan of Iguodala, and I wish him well in Denver. However, I am extremely happy that we got rid of him. Kind of an oxymoron there right? Let me explain. Obviously I'm happy they received a stud center to roam the paint, but they also rid themselves of Iggy's contract for this season, and actually will save some money under the cap by acquiring Bynum. It's a no brainier for the Sixers to get rid of Iguodala and more to acquire Bynum and Jason Richardson by the way. Philadelphia has a plethora of talent at the wing, and not much at all down low. 2010 2nd overall pick Evan Turner, and the highly talented Thaddeus Young will receive more minutes and are going to be expected to produce, Turner especially. Evan Turner has been frustrating to say the least, however he has shown flashes of brilliance. Now that Iguodala is gone, he has no more excuses. If he starts to falter, newly acquired Jason Richardson, Nick Young, and Dorrell Wright will be more than happy to step up.

        The 76ers only have Bynum for one year as of now, as he an unrestricted free agent after 2012-13. The team as a whole needs to step up to make the New Jersey native Bynum a believer in Philly for the future. The 2013 free agent class is mighty enticing, and the best case scenario is Doug Collins and Philadelphia convince Bynum to stick around for the near and far future and he dominates as the best big man in the Eastern Conference, and helps us get more talent to build around him, Jrue Holiday and company. Worst case scenario is that Bynum gets hurt and/or walks after the season and we have a lot of money to play with. As far as I can tell, as of now our deeply talented but complicated depth chart looks like this:

Starting lineup

 

PG: Jrue Holiday

SG: Jason Richardson

SF: Evan Turner

PF: Lavoy Allen

C: Andrew Bynum

Bench

PG: Maalik Wayns*/Xavier Silas* (Evan Turner)

SG: Nick Young, Royal Ivey*

SF:  Dorrell Wright, Sam Young*

PF: Thaddeus Young, Arnett Moultrie, Craig Brackins*

C: Spencer Hawes, Kwame Brown 

* Indicate players who our questionable to make the team.

Andrew Bynum and Andre Iguoadala in their new uniforms. *Note. Andrew Bynum will wear #33.

Introduction

Just starting to get my name out and about. This blog will represent my personal opinions on all things related to Philadelphia sports; with a few surprises along the way. I'm a journalism major at Temple University in the great city of, you guessed it, Philadelphia. Come along the ride on my pages to modest stardom.