Comments on: Better than average Joel?

By: egrissom

egrissom — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:30:32 +0000

I think Brown was really notably bad in the outfield in both 2010 and 2011. Terrifies me, too.

I’m less scared of 1B cause I’m hopeful that Howard won’t miss too much time. I don’t think Thome is going to play very much there and if that’s the case the Phils don’t have a great solution there against righties. I think against lefties it’s Wigginton at first and Mayberry in left. Against righties it’s Mayberry at first and Nix in left. I’m hoping we don’t see too much Wigginton at first against righties.

By: Roger

Roger — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:54:12 +0000

I seem to recall a couple occasions last year after Brown got sent down where he made even more unbelievably awful gaffes in the outfield. Dude terrifies me.

First base ultra-terrifies me. I’m less afraid of Thome getting more time and being terrible defensively than I am of him just wearing down quickly due to his age with the increased usage. Wiggy’s prowess with the bat doesn’t exactly inspire tons of confidence, and he’s also sort of not great in the field.

It would make me happiest to see Mayberry get significant time at first as he looks to be the best shot to not be awful defensively and boasts the best potential upside. Unfortunately, I came to the stunning realization recently that we do not run this team. #occupysomething

By: DaMannse

DaMannse — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:19:41 +0000

It has been a long time since I have seen anyone look as lost in the field as Dom Brown. I kept hearing about this guy being a “five tool guy”. I think that assessment is optimistic given what we saw last year. Hunter Pence is no Roberto Clemente, but he was considerably better than Dom Brown.

By: egrissom

egrissom — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:54:35 +0000

Honestly, I think the Brown bashing on his defense hasn’t gone far enough. I think it’s a pretty big issue, cause he’s really going to be hard to put on the field if he doesn’t get a lot better than he was over the last two years. It seems like there are a lot of people who were down on Brown last year cause he went 1-for-16 in spring training and didn’t run out a ground ball. I think there are reasons to worry about him, but those two aren’t at the top of the list.

By: Greg

Greg — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:13:04 +0000

Don’t get me wrong, not saying that Brown has even shown to be adequate out there as of yet, but I just find it funny that I can think of at least two plays last year where Pence stumbled around in right field and then pretty much fell over before the ball game down and I seem to be the only one that remembers. I’m married, so I’m used to being the only one that remembers things, but I sometimes wonder if the Brown bashing has gone too far. One thing I know for sure is that Jarred Cosart, Domingo Santana, and Jonathon Singleton weren’t falling all over themselves in the Philadelphia outfield last year!

Brown has a long way to go defensively, which is odd to me because during his time in the minors, he never really showed any signs of being THIS bad. But, his struggles defensively is why I would be a fan of him starting the year as an Iron Pig for the first month of the season to get regular reps in the outfield and make sure he’s gotten the yips out.

By: egrissom

egrissom — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:19:10 +0000

I actually don’t remember Pence looking bad defensively last year. I believe it happened, but it didn’t stick out for me.

I really remember Brown looking absolutely baffled, like he didn’t belong on the field.

Defensive stats are admittedly voodoo, but if you look it up it’s not good news for Brown. They really say he was as bad as he looked. 115 outfielders played at least 450 innings defensively last year — his UZR/150 was 115th. In 2010, he only played about 100 innings, but that stat says he was worse (-37.9 in 2010, -26.0 in 2011). Of 192 players in either league who played 100 innings in the outfield, his UZR/150 was 185th.

The same stats for Pence say he was bad in 2011, but not nearly as bad as Brown (-5.3 between the Phils and Houston vs -26.0 for Brown). They also say he was good defensively in the outfield in 2008 and 2009 and around average in 2010 and 2007.

Again, there’s still not a whole of data on Brown as a defensive outfielder. But what there is says he’s been almost unusably terrible.

By: Greg

Greg — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:20:27 +0000

I seem to remember more than one play last year where Pence turned routine fly balls into doubles as well. Why does nobody hate his defense?

I’m looking forward to seeing Brown do well this year. I really hope it happens in Philadelphia and not so much in Lehigh Valley.

By: egrissom

egrissom — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:51:32 +0000

Not so much on Brown at first. Not sure it’s the time to be giving him something new to work on. I would devote some time to catching fly balls, though.

By: DaMannse

DaMannse — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:07:14 +0000

Um, can Brown play at first?

By: DaMannse

DaMannse — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:04:33 +0000

Yeah. You know how hard it is for me to admit this, but I agree with your take on how they ought to use Brown this year. If they aren’t gonna go and get someone wonderful, it is time to find out if Brown is. Gonna be wonderful, that is.