***The Official Philadelphia Phillies 2012 Thread***

Johnny Abruzzo

The Juggler wrote:

thank god pence totally redeemed himself today. gotta sweep this little cubs series now....

Kendrick vs. Garza. Ugh.

The Astros should've known better than to use a "closer" in a tie game on the road. Totally against the "rules".

The Fixer

Johnny Abruzzo wrote:

I love our "everything" thread. Was there a game today?

Anything is better than talking about the baseball team.

Heading down Friday. Chances of me making it into the stadium are 50/50. Can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd rather watch the sixers game (at xfinity of course) than the phils. I'm sure with the sox and celtics in town there are gonna be lots of boston dbags down there

81

wrigley should be playing small today

The Fixer

81 wrote:

wrigley should be playing small today

every park plays big when the phils lineup comes to town

81

The Fixer wrote:

81 wrote:

wrigley should be playing small today

every park plays big when the phils lineup comes to town

eeriepadave

Vance Worley to the DL with right elbow inflammation :(

The Fixer

cubs announcers are fantastic. Just spent a half inning discussing FIP. Love listening to these guys

Ledbetterman10

Good outing for Kendrick.

81

The Fixer wrote:

cubs announcers are fantastic. Just spent a half inning discussing FIP. Love listening to these guys

Len and bob spoil us. Best duo in town

The Fixer

81 wrote:

The Fixer wrote:

cubs announcers are fantastic. Just spent a half inning discussing FIP. Love listening to these guys

Len and bob spoil us. Best duo in town

that's not saying much since you're comparing them to hawk, who is the worst in MLB. I think the cubs crew is top 5 in all of mlb

chooch is a beast

The Fixer

I'm guessing The Man is back by June 1st. Good stuff

For the first time since rejoining the team May 5, Chase Utley fielded ground balls during batting practice. He moved side-to-side and at full speed for the duration of practice.

That's a crucial step for the injured second baseman. Utley has been hitting, but he has often said that infield work causes the most pain on his chronically injured knees. He said he would wait until he was fully ready to take grounders. It finally happened Wednesday.

"He's doing better," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "I think he's feeling a little bit better."

Taking grounders on a regular basis is the last benchmark before appearing in minor-league games. Utley said once he leaves the Phillies for Florida, it will be to play in games. He required 11 days in the minors last season before returning May 23.

81

The Fixer wrote:

81 wrote:

The Fixer wrote:

cubs announcers are fantastic. Just spent a half inning discussing FIP. Love listening to these guys

Len and bob spoil us. Best duo in town

that's not saying much since you're comparing them to hawk, who is the worst in MLB. I think the cubs crew is top 5 in all of mlb

chooch is a beast

Pat on the cubs radio is top notch.

eeriepadave

almost at .500 and a 4 game winning streak. Go Phills!

Ledbetterman10

"Look To La Luna"

----Reptile

81

81 wrote:

wrigley should be playing small today

The Fixer

bad news, but a good article. I think brown's problem is that his swing is way too long. also tough to play OF in the majors when you can't catch fly balls. kinda important.


The Dramatic Decline of Domonic Brownby J.P. Breen - May 16, 2012

Coming into the 2011 season, Domonic Brown ranked as the fourth-best prospect in all of baseball according to Baseball America. The Philadelphia Phillies had just watched right fielder Jayson Werth depart for greener pastures in Washington and felt confident that Brown was the long-term answer at the position.

A little more than a year later, we’re all left wondering what went wrong.

At age 23, Brown got his second extended look in the big leagues starting in May of 2011. Though some skill at the plate was evident, he ultimately underwhelmed with a .322 wOBA in 210 plate appearances. The league-average wOBA in right field was .334 in 2011, and the struggles on defense could not justify allowing him to work through his growing pains at the big league level — at least, not for a team with legitimate World Series aspirations.

Philadelphia sent Brown back down to Triple-A in August. The only other big league action he saw last season was a brief call-up in late September once rosters expanded and the Triple-A season had already been completed.

His lack of success was largely attributed to the quickening of the game at the major league level.

“The big leagues moves fast,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “A lot of times when you come up there the game is quick. They catch a lot of balls you hit, things like that. Once you get used to it, if you’ve got the talent and you’ve got the fight and desire and the work ethic and everything. Then you’ll improve.”

In brief, Brown should have been expected to struggle in his transition to baseball at the highest level. Scouts, coaches, and players always talk about making adjustments. Brown simply had not made those adjustments yet at the major league, but very few people doubted the adjustments would happen and success would follow.

Fast forward to this season, and we find the young man hitting a paltry .247/.290/.355 through 26 games with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. That was not supposed to happen. The Phillies wanted Brown to begin the season in Triple-A to build confidence and rediscover the success he enjoyed in Triple-A back in 2010, when he hit .346/.390/.561 in 28 games as a 22-year-old. It was not supposed to be a deepening of the struggles that plagued him last season at the big league level.

His .286 wOBA in Triple-A has fans and scouts absolutely miffed. When asked what caused the precipitous drop-off in production from Domonic Brown, one minor league scout said, “I don’t think anyone knows for sure.” Furthermore, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus, who speaks with scouts every day regarding minor league players, said, “I think I’ve passed 100 on the number of theories I’ve heard.”

One possible explanation for his struggles revolves around swing changes that the Phillies organization attempted to employ during spring training back in 2011. The organization wanted Brown to lower his hands at address to help shorten the swing and provide greater stability throughout his swinging motion. This video from early 2011 does a nice job illustrating the specific change and how it related to his timing at the plate.

The swing change, however, did not improve his success. In fact, he felt so uncomfortable with the lowering of his hands that he abandoned the swing change all together. It is conceivable that the differing placement of his hands has ultimately disturbed his timing at the plate, and he is still working to rediscover the comfort he possessed in his swing throughout his minor league career prior to the 2011 season.

Another theory that some have put forward stems from his myriad of hand injuries. Since the 2009 season, Domonic Brown has suffered four injuries to his right hand. He has broken his hamate bone, which required surgery, sprained his thumb twice, and broken his pinkie finger. Perhaps the hand injuries — specifically the three since 2011 spring training — have been a major culprit in his power decline, a decline that has culminated in a 2012 season with no home runs thus far. He would not be the first hitter to experience such issues after multiple hand injuries.

In addition, not only has Brown played with swing changes and suffered multiple injuries in his right hand, he also been bounced around the organization and the playing field. He yo-yoed from Triple-A to the majors in both 2010 and 2011. His Triple-A manager, Ryne Sandberg, said he dealt with a “rollercoaster season” in 2011. He needed stability. This season, the organization switched him to left field. Though that may sound insignificant because it is largely considered to be one of the easiest defensive positions, Domonic Brown struggled to learn routes and jumps in right field. Now, he must start over and learn an entirely new position, while still trying to straighten out his issues at the plate.

It is once again conceivable that the constant change throughout the past couple of years has ultimately fueled his decline.

The ultimate reasoning behind his decline at the plate may puzzle scouts, but the organization desperately hopes that he snaps out of it because he remains a focal point in the Phillies’ future plans for the outfield. Center fielder Shane Victorino is slated to become a free agent following this season, right fielder Hunter Pence will become a free agent following the 2013 season, and left field is currently handled by a committee of fringe players in John Mayberry, Laynce Nix, and Juan Pierre. Opportunities for ample playing time should be numerous for Brown. He simply needs to prove deserving of those opportunities.

Despite the struggles for Domonic Brown, the same scout mentioned earlier offered words of encouragement, “The tools are still there, though. There’s still hope.”

Johnny Abruzzo

Sounds like maybe D-Brown's hand still isn't healed maybe. As for the OF play - he was absolutely lost out there last year so I don't know what the solution is to that.

We are .500 and 1.5 games out of a playoff spot.

4 1/2 months to go - PLENTY of season left. If Chase is maybe 70% of his former self that's a big upgrade, and Galvis would be a good guy to play 2B (and maybe SS) a couple days a week to keep Chase & Jimmy fresh if they keep him up. Of course, Chase will come back playing 4 or 5 days a week and a month later he'll be playing every day and be washed up by the end of the season. :roll:

pjhawks

Johnny Abruzzo wrote:

Sounds like maybe D-Brown's hand still isn't healed maybe. As for the OF play - he was absolutely lost out there last year so I don't know what the solution is to that.

We are .500 and 1.5 games out of a playoff spot.

4 1/2 months to go - PLENTY of season left. If Chase is maybe 70% of his former self that's a big upgrade, and Galvis would be a good guy to play 2B (and maybe SS) a couple days a week to keep Chase & Jimmy fresh if they keep him up. Of course, Chase will come back playing 4 or 5 days a week and a month later he'll be playing every day and be washed up by the end of the season. :roll:

if the problem with chase is predoiminantly fielding as they say why don't they use him in Thome's role as a pinch hitter? get him some at-bats in florida and let him be a pinch hitter until his knees are fully ready to play the field. if we were going to use thome in that way why not chase at this point?

pierre dropping the ball last night was as bad as a play as you will see.

chooch is playing out of his mind. hitting the ball on the nose everytime right now. carrying this team

for as bad as this team has played at times they aren't in bad shape at all. of course after tonight the games get abit harder but can't wait until the Nats series next week. should be intense.

eeriepadave

eeriepadave wrote:

i think we turn it around here (at least 5 game winning streak

there we go (as long as our bullpen don't blow it)

Ledbetterman10

eeriepadave wrote:

eeriepadave wrote:

i think we turn it around here (at least 5 game winning streak

there we go (as long as our bullpen don't blow it)

This is great. I know the Cubs suck and all but wins are wins and the team is playing with confidence.