How can you possibly know anything about Domonic Brown as a major-league player after 280 plate appearances, most of which came as a pinch-hitter after rotting on the bench for days? Here’s all that we know, for certain: Brown has the skills to be called one of the top prospects in the minor leagues, and in limited major-league duty, he was slightly better than Raul Ibanez, who got 575 plate appearances from the Phillies in 2011.

That warrants an extended look and a long leash in the major leagues in 2012, and unless the Phillies have some personnel move up their sleeve, or Brown has some issue they’re not telling us about, there’s no logical reason–none whatsoever–not to give that to him. So what’s the plan?

I felt a strong personal affinity for Mathieson over the years, maybe because he was the Phillies’ sleeper relief ace every year for the past three seasons but never got the chance as the Phillies relied on the likes of Danys Baez and Mike Zagurski to fill the gaps, a sort of proto-Domonic Brown.

phdave wrote:

It’s eminently possible that Brown, given the right environment, could grow into a Ken Griffey Jr. clone.

phdave wrote:

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

phdave wrote:

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:Well, I agree with him re: Jackie Bradley Jr. That kid was incredible in the 2011 CWS.

So you will never get over the 2011 draft either?

Nope, I just would've much preferred him to Greene. But I don't claim to be an expert on the MLB draft either. I just knew he singlehandedly destroyed UVA in the CWS and looked like a man among boys for the entire tournament both in the field and at the plate. And it was 2010, not 2011... my mistake.

I didn't actually wonder if you were having trouble getting over the 2011 draft.

mcare89 wrote:

phdave wrote:

It’s eminently possible that Brown, given the right environment, could grow into a Ken Griffey Jr. clone.

I feel like this one sentence sums up every Dom Brown comment he's ever made.

If you think Dom Brown's ceiling is Ken Griffey Jr, well then yeah, it would be a major affront that he's not being given every opportunity to succeed. This, however, is pure delusion.

If you live in a world of reality where Brown's not best case, but close comparison is Dexter Fowler, then it's not the calamitous event you'd think it was if you only read Crash.

It’s eminently possible that Brown, given the right environment, could grow into a Ken Griffey Jr. clone.

I’ve never bought any of the various Kyle Kendrick resurrection myths that have been bandied about since he came crashing back to Earth in 2008 like command deck of the NSEA Protector at the end of GalaxyQuest.

Barry Jive wrote:i guess he didn't actually have a good year last year, huh

We’ve got a long way to go before I’ll believe in “Good” for Kyle Kendrick, but all cheekiness aside, the second half of Kendrick’s 2012 is at least encouraging.

One commenter remarked that he preferred Paul’s more level-headed tone to my “sour” and “bitter” outlook, and while I appreciate lemons as much as the next guy, that remark got me thinking: I do find myself in a default state of bitter, florid, impotent rage. It’s not that surprising, considering my hobbies:

Watching/thinking about/reading about/writing about the Phillies.
Watching/thinking about/reading about/writing about the Sixers.
Watching/thinking about/reading about other teams I follow: Arsenal, the Flyers, the Eagles, the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Consuming narrative fiction that’s heavy, dark and extremely cynical, like House of Cards and the novels of Richard Ford.
Consuming music that is heavy and wallows in human weakness and suffering.
Contemplating the pitiable futility and smallness of the existence of mankind in general and myself in particular.

Not a lot to get excited about there, particularly when you’re as pessimistic a person as I am anyway.

There was something vindicating about watching the 2004 Red Sox win the World Series with our worthless manager and our malcontent ace. Something perverse that made me uncomfortable with winning.

During the 2006 season, I started following the Kansas City Royals. Not as a replacement for the Phillies, but as an insurance policy. I was worried that the Phillies would suddenly become a National League power, which, of course, they did, and that I would be unable to cope with cheering for a winning team. If that were to come to pass, I would have to have a backup plan in place.

Baumann, in July 2009, wrote:But now that everything’s not going right, it’s like I’ve died and gone to the late 1990s–our stars are always injured, we only have one good starting pitcher, we need to make a big trade, we’re one critical piece away, we should start bringing up our minor league starting pitchers…there’s something comforting about being transported back to when you were 12 years old. It’s like coming home and visiting your old elementary school teachers, then eating your mom’s spaghetti for dinner.

That’s why, even though I hate the Braves, I find losing to them strangely, well, comforting. It’s almost as if, after four years of breathing the rarified air of National League royalty, we’ve finally come home again.

phdave wrote:

The Phillies are either absurdly stupid or pathologically unconcerned with their offensive production, because that’s the only explanation for the team with the second-highest payroll in baseball to give 927 plate appearances to Ross Gload, Raul Ibanez, and Michael Martinez.

td11 wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome