You may have been among the many who did not watch yesterday's Phillies game against the Washington Nationals. With Tyler Cloyd on the mound and the Eagles playing, attention was elsewhere. If you did watch the game, you saw the return of Domonic Brown to the lineup, a first since August 30 in Chicago. Brown returns with home runs on the mind.
Stuck on 27 home runs, Brown wants to get to an even 30. After heading to the All-Star game at Citi Field with 23, Brown has just four since. Interim Manager Ryne Sandberg mentioned to The Delaware News Journal's Chris Branch that there is significance in hitting the 30 mark:
“That’s something,” Sandberg said. ”Sometimes when you do that it becomes something of a benchmark, a sign of what you can and expect to do in the future. That would be big for him.”
Branch mentions that Brown previously stated that 30 home runs is a goal of Brown's. The question is, will Brown spend the next 13 days trying to hot home runs? I would hope not.
Brown's comments to Branch were more along the lines of the importance of getting back onto the field after his heel injury. I hope that getting back into the swing of playing every day and finishing the year strong. The numbers should not matter at this point. The greater concern is that the injury-plagued Brown can stay on the field.
Former Phillies manager Charlie Manuel once remarked that he wanted to see what Brown could do, but he couldn't stay on the field long enough to find out. Let's hope Brown focuses on that. The numbers will work themselves out.
