Last night in Flushing, New York, Domonic Brown somehow managed to turn a softly hit fair ball down the line into an inside-the-park home run for Mets infielder Ruben Tejada. The ball was misplayed by Brown, who ended up colliding with, and then falling over the wall down the right field line. Because Brown did not touch the ball, he could not be charged with an error. But the toughest part of the play was a potential concussion suffered by Brown, whose Phillies career may have ended with that thud.
"I guess he took that test and didn't score exceptionally well," Phillies interim manager Pete Mackanin told reporters, including MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. That "test"is the concussion test. Brown will not be with the Phillies in Boston this week, and depending how bad the injury, perhaps never again. Brown remains under Phillies control after this season, but Brown's arbitration dollar amount and roster spot the Phillies might prefer to allocate elsewhere.
Domonic Brown was once the "untouchable" blue chip prospect whom the Phillies thought had five tools. The Phillies "settled" for Cliff Lee instead of Roy Halladay at the 2009 trade deadline because the Phillies were unwilling to give up Brown in a trade. The Phillies eventually made a deal for Halladay after the 2009 season, but they did so without giving up Brown and after Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricchardi was fired.
But Brown never lived up to the hype. Brown was a 2013 All-Star, thanks to a stretch of five weeks in which he provided a good amount of power. In 2015, Brown is batting just .228 with five home runs and 25 runs batted in. Brown's OPS is just .634.
While it was easy to poke fun at Brown after last night's play, it really summed up Brown's career with the Phillies so far: embarrassing and painful. And depending on the concussion diagnosis, that could be it for Brown as a Phillie in 2015. And forever.
