Brown likely to miss time with another knee injury

Just as Domonic Brown had settled into a good groove, the 24-year-old outfielder has reportedly re-aggravated the knee injury that knocked him out of action earlier in the season. [Link]

Beerleaguer: Another unfortunate setback for Brown as the injuries are starting to mount. According to Jeff Schuler, who covers the IronPigs for the Morning Call, the outfielder was hitting .295 in his last 20 games, with four doubles, a triple and four homers. Brown has had a lot of problems staying on the field. He's missed time this season with a left hamstring strain and will likely be out for an extended period, for the second time, dealing with this knee issue. Brown reportedly pulled up lame running out a grounder in the fourth and was running gingerly in the outfield the next inning. He missed time last spring with surgery to repair his hamate bone. Add in the fact that he was yo-yo'ed in and out of the majors the previous two seasons. The acquisition of Hunter Pence and sinking status on the depth chart must have injured his confidence, if nothing else.

It's more bad news for the aging Phillies, who would like nothing more than to see an uninterrupted season for Brown to refine his game.

Comments

[Sophist]

Clearwater has an all-star break this weekend. Wonder if Utley will be in Reading.

[Scotch Man]

Utley's doing extended Spring Training, per Amaro.

[Me]

Rahter see him get injured on the 25 man then in AAA. Wasting away

[Scotch Man]

Brown can't catch a break. Makes you wonder what we can expect out of him at the end of the day. What I once thought would be a solid bat in the line up, could very well end up a 4th outfielder who even takes a bunch of trips in and out of Triple-A. It begs the question if he's better off in another club where he can phsysically and mentally shake the bad mojo of the Phillies organization right now.

[Edmundo]

Could the mid-term future for the Phils get any bleaker? The toolshed had better start producing some polished wares pretty soon.

Oh, and this is a real shame for Brown.

[Bill]

Regarding Utley I believe he is staying in Clearwater to play simulated games during their AS break.

[R.Billingsly]

I dubbed Brown a solid MLB player with a potential for All Star appearances a few years ago. He's really making me look dumb. And I don't need any extra help from Brown in that department.

I hope it's only a minor setback and he comes back ready to rake.

[Bill]

Know I'm late to the boat on the K Law story from a previous thread, but since Law is based in Arizona I would think he would have a pretty good handle on Cozens.

[Phlipper]

Most likely age-related.

[lorecore]

Very unfortunate for DOM. My bandwagon is starting to run on fumes and i can't even pick up hitch hikers.

[Raul's grandpa]

I am so glad to be wrong about Thome. I just wish he could play regularly in an NL game.
I almost see the point some have mentioned of trading him to the AL to play out his final year or so DHing regularly. I have always really liked the guy and I suspect he cannot keep this going only batting once a game.

[lorecore]

The Thome situation is such a puzzle, what if you PH him after IL is over and he can't perform?

It seems sinister, but don't you just play him at 1B until his body breaks down again? I mean, if he can't PH what do you do?

I really think that he'll be fine to PH and that he just was in a rut in the beginning of the season, but theres no crying SSS for a PH-Only player, thats the nature of the job. If he can't perform then you've got to risk his health and force him into the lineup. And if he doesn't like it(he will tho) then you've got to cut ties.

[Iceman]

What really sucks about the increasingly unlikelihood of the Phils reaching the World Series is that, assuming they kept Thome around for the whole season, DH would be a HUGE advantage this time around, unlike in 2009.

Thome >>>>>>> Ben Francisco

[Lake Fred]

How come the Phils are four games above .500 on the road, but are below .500 by three games overall? Bad home cooking? Too many cheesesteaks?

[NEPP]

Thome's career splits belie the theory that he can be a good PH. He's always had trouble with it.

.708 OPS in 154 PA

Granted its still a small sample size.

[The Hook classy Philly fan]

Klaw is a tool. Can't stand him and the crap that comes out of his mouth. So what if the kid has issues. He either is going to pan out or flame out. Philles took a chance. Who cares. Plenty more to blog about then this kid. And why is he making accusations about steroid use? Shows his complete idiot thoughts and lack of journalism reporting.

[Fak]

Get rid of Brown before everyone else sees he's over-rated too. He should have played basketball.

[NEPP]

Fun Fact: Thome's next HR will be his 100th as a Phillie. That will give him at least 100 with 3 separate teams.

[NEPP]

It will also give him 100 in both leagues (though he obviously has 508 HRs as an AL player so its not really an even split)

[pissy pants posse]

PHILADELPHIA -- Jim Thome rejoined the Phillies on Wednesday after more than a month on the disabled list with a strained lower back. Now, the question centers on his role with the club going forward.

Since it's too difficult for him to take ground balls because of his back, Thome will not play in the field. The 41-year-old said he wants to help in any way he can, and that appears to be in the role of a pinch-hitting left-handed power bat off the bench.

http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120606&content_id=32872340&notebook_id=32872342&vkey=notebook_phi&c_id=phi

[GTown_Dave]

Dom Brown: It's simply not gonna happen, people.

[Raul's grandpa]

DC (yes, I am the first on BL to call the new recruit this) in his first official duty with the team will be to bully Chase into returning to 2nd and telling Thome he has to play 1st and quit bellyaching about his back.

[GTown_Dave]

DC? Now that sounds like a player w/ "Natitude"!

[MG]

'Snakebit' 2012 Phillies. He's had some terrible luck with injuries and staying healthy the past 2 years.

[Jbird]

I'm still puzzled as to how someone is so physically decrepit that they can't even play 1st base. Hows about he just fields the throws from the other infielders and if any balls roll to him that would require him to bend over, he can just kick the ball over to the 2b or pitcher to field.

[MG]

So basically Thome really won't help the club the rest of the year after Sunday.

I still don't understand the reluctance to trade him. Better for him (play frequently as a DH) for the Phils if they can get back a RH reliever in return.

[BobbyD]

I doubt the they can get anything for a player who 29 other clubs could have had for a million dollars a few months ago.

[clout]

Edmundo: "Could the mid-term future for the Phils get any bleaker? The toolshed had better start producing some polished wares pretty soon."

Anthony Hewitt up to .244/.301/.433 in Clearwater.
Jiwan James up to .251/.288/.398 in Reading.
Kelly Dugan up to .248/.333/.441 in Clearwater.
Maikel Franco up to .207/.273/.344 in Lakewood.
Tyson Gillies (oldest of the bunch but best numbers) up to .280/.354/.423 in Reading.
And for you Kyrell "Toolsy O'Toole" Hudson fans, he's at .201/.256/.274 in Lakewood.

[clout]

MG: The memory of Ben Francisco being the Phillies counterpart to Hideki Matsui as the 9th hitter in the lineup in the 2009 World Series makes me hope they keep Thome all year.

[johnnysanz3]

Backs are tricky things. He may be fine swinging the bat, but bending over a lot gets to him. And for him to play the field, he would have to practice ground balls everyday, so its more than just fielding a few every game.

[bay_area_phan]

Don't forget about Hewitt's 13 errors -- in the outfield!

[clout]

Aaron Altherr, whose flame burned very brightly on BL for awhile, is at .235/.294/.374

[Jbird]

Clout: Don't worry, Hewitt hit 2 homeruns last night. It's the start of the turnaround.

Is Zach Collier considered "toolsy"? He's hitting .339. Cody Asche is having a good season too, though he's the Juan Pierre of 3rd base prospects- good average, no power.

Chase Utley was 0-3, by the way.

[Michael Martinez's Tools]

BAP: In Hewitt's defense, it's tough to track fly balls down whilst lugging that toolbelt.

[The Hook]

Little minor league tidbit. All of the 11 high picks are reporting to wport. Walding at third, Quinn SS greene @2nd and Larry Greene @LF. And the 18 year old law bashed will be in GCL.

[NEPP]

Collier is Mr. Toolshed.

FWIW, Klaw is hardly alone in bashing Cozens. The guy sounds like the next Milton Bradley.

[NEPP]

***though he's the Juan Pierre of 3rd base prospects- good average, no power.***

Power is the last tool to develop. Hopefully his insane contact rates eventually lead to more power. He's hitting a decent number of doubles (12 so far in 244 AB) and Clearwater is a very pitcher friendly park/league.

I'm very cautiously optimistic on Asche.

[Jbird]

From Buster Olney today quoting someone:

"I've seen Trout and Harper in the last few weeks, and I can't remember the last time I saw two dynamic players that young. They're all tooled-up, and they know how to play."

So a baseball player can have tools and know how to play? Has anyone told the Phillies this information?

[NEPP]

Yeah, I dont get why the Phillies dont have a historically great young player...WTF Rube!?!

Funny thing is that 24 other teams passed on Trout that year. Some had good reason (The Nats as they took Strasburg though they probably regret not using that 10th pick on him instead of Storen). Could you imagine a team that had Trout and Harper in the OF?

[Jbird]

the short-season teams should be interesting this year. With the earlier sign-by date this year, we'll have most of the team's 2011 & 2012 draft picks playing this summer. Both drafts were well thought of by "experts" mostly for getting value with later picks.

[NEPP]

Interesting thing on Williamsport: Roman Quinn will be starting at SS while Tyler Greene will be at 2B. Apparently, Greene's defensive issues in Lakewood kicked him down the depth chart behind Quinn (a super speedy guy who some thought might end up in CF) at SS right now.

[bay_area_phan]

The peanut gallery's negativity seems to be rubbing off on our blog-master.

Phillies win their 2nd game in the last 10: jw's threads are about Ben Sheets and the Phillies' 2nd round pick being a head case. Phillies win their 2nd game in a row for the first time since May 26: jw's thread is about yet another injury to the Phillies' best prospect.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Great start by Blanton last night. Good location with the fastball, except for maybe 3-4 that got a big piece of the plate. Kept his HR total under his average. Worked the ump's zone well and got some swings on breaking balls well off the plate.

If somebody told me that by Flag Day, Joe Blanton would be second on the team in wins and innings pitched, and first in complete games, I believe I would rightly have guessed that they'd be in last place.

[Rich]

Did anyone else notice Jim Thome trying to talk hitting with Greg Gross last night after Thome's home run and Gross's complete disinterest?
Gross lack of response looked like-- "Whatever. I'm gone from here at the end of the year and don't really care anyway." Bad vibe. He looked like he could care less.
If the team needs more passion let's start with the coaching staff.

[NEPP]

Thome is awesome. Easily one of my favorite Phillies of all time despite only being here a few years.

[GTown_Dave]

Two $11 Million Closers

Papelbon: 0-2, 25.2 IP, 19 H, 6 ER, 3 HR, 4 BB, 29 K, 17 Saves, 0 Blown Saves, 2.10 ERA, 0.896 WHIP.

Myers: 0-2, 22.2 IP, 15 H, 5 ER, 3 HR, 4 BB, 16 K, 16 Saves, 1 Blown Save, 1.99 ERA, 0.838 WHIP.

No, I'm not suggesting in any way, shape or form they're equivalent talents. But the only reason Myers is making $11 million is because he's a converted SP. And they're getting used about as often, w/ very similar results. So why did the Phillies need to go out & get a "Closer", again? Trading Thome would be nice, but unless Charlie is willing to radically alter his thinking w/ RE: to how he utilizes Papelbon, trading the $50 Million Man would be even better. Not that he hasn't been all that was advertised, just that limiting him to such a specialized role on a team like the Phillies is a total waste.

[GTown_Dave]

Rich: word. Gross is a waste of oxygen.

NEPP: Absolutely. If you can't like Thome, you can't like anybody.

[NEPP]

Nobody in their right mind would trade for Papelbon at that salary.

Nobody.

[GTown_Dave]

NEPP: C'mon. There must be at least one other GM out there who's as dumb as r00b ... right?

[NEPP]

Telling for me on Thome: Back in 2004, my brother and I went to a game in Cleveland. All the Indians fans around us could talk about was how awesome Jimmy Thome was and how we were lucky to have him on the Phillies. They worshipped him in Cleveland. Never seen a fanbase talk about a guy like that before. Similar would be how Phillies fans treated Utley in his peak years.

[NEPP]

***There must be at least one other GM out there who's as dumb as r00b ... right?***

There is or rather there was...unfortunately he's no longer a GM but rather a Special Advisor to our GM.

[Jbird]

Gtown: so you're saying, we should have made Kyle Kendrick our closer?

[GTown_Dave]

Jbird: I'm saying a last place team doesn't need a "name" Closer. Nor, for that matter, did the first place Phillies teams of the past couple years, as at least 5 different pitchers filled in. The basic point being, on the list of "Things The Phillies Need", a Closer ain't one of 'em.

[Iceman]

Seidman is late to the party on this one. BL has been touting the offense for months!

http://www.csnphilly.com/baseball-philadelphia-phillies/phillies-talk/Believe-it-or-not-Phils-a-top-NL-offense?blockID=725282&feedID=693

[Jbird]

Winner's Curse in action. If you sign a guy like Papelbon, it's usually because you paid more than other teams were willing too.

[aksmith]

NEPP: C'mon. There must be at least one other GM out there who's as dumb as r00b ... right?

Posted by: GTown_Dave

Say, where's that moron Eddie Wade working these days? . . . Oh.

[Cyclic]

GTown-- Hahaha @ "a last place team"

[Jbird]

Can we make Jim Thome our hitting coach during national league games?

[Raul's grandpa]

No no no, Jbird, KK is so important to our rotation. They can't waste him there.

[The Hook]

Better yet heard bonds wants a job. Maybe he can give our boys some of that "flaxseed" and "b12" and keep them healthy. And then he can work with Dom and his buddy Howard all the time. That would be awesome. As dumb as rube is he can make the call and make things happen!!!!!

[EastFallowfield]

Yo, new thread

[CaliPhilsPhan]

Solution: Fire Gross and make Thome player/hitting coach. then they can put him on the 15 day DL every couple weeks to rest, but he's still with the team all the time. They need his presence and leadership in the locker room.

[Derp]

I honestly believe if Brown was in another organization, he would be producing at least average on the ML level by now.

Phillies have not been developing talent for a while now.