Philadelphia's Domonic Brown to be Promoted from Lehigh Valley (AAA)

By Peyton Wesner

What can Brown do for Philadelphia? We are about to find out as 2013 All-Star Domonic Brown will make his season debut for the Phillies this afternoon. The twenty-seven year old from Zephyrhills, Florida, smashed a career high twenty-seven homeruns in the Majors two years ago (previous high was twenty in 2010 between Reading (Double-A) and Lehigh Valley (Triple-A)), but has significantly struggled since. Last season. Brown's batting average dipped from his All-Star season's .272 to the anemic mark of .235 while his homerun total withered to ten.

Intially, the outfielder's 2015 campaign was delayed due to soreness in his Achilles' tendon, which bothered him for the duration of Spring Training. After injury rehabilitation in Clearwater and clearance to return to action, Brown started a minor league rehab stint for the Clearwater Thrashers (Single-A Advanced) and went five for seventeen at the plate (.294 batting average) with one homerun and three RBIs in six games played. The next step would be Triple-A, but this is where a hurdle presented itself. For the Phillies' top affiliate, Brown went four for thirty-one (.129 batting average) to conclude his twenty-day rehab period and present his organization with a tough decision on what to do with their former number one prospect on April 28 when he would become eligible to return from the DL. Although, Brown himself thought he was going to be recalled after his twenty days, he was instead activated from the DL and optioned to Lehigh Valley.

As an official member of the Iron Pigs, the lanky six foot, five inch Brown batted .279 with only two bombs and twenty-five RBIs. These numbers are misleading though because he is eight for twenty-two (.364 batting average) with both his long balls coming in his last few games on Lehigh Valley's current roadtrip. With his recent good play, Brown has earned himself a promotion to a struggling forty-one loss Phillies team that seems very much out of playoff contention.