Posted by Frank Klose
Courtesy gcobb.com
It has been a while since we have heard Domonic Brown's name. Here's what we know:
March 5 – Brown is hit in the hand with a pitch, breaking the hamate bone; should be out 4-6 weeks
March 6 – Brown heads to Philly for surgery, emerges with a cast
March 11 – This post on Philly.com indicates Brown had 10 days in the cast to go (would have taken him to March 21) and that he could begin swinging a bat in 2-3 weeks.
Since then, nothing. Supposedly he would be already swinging a bat and recovering; 4-6 weeks would take Brown to some point between now and two weeks from now. But, we need not feel the rush, thanks to the contributions of Ben Francisco.
So far, Ben Francisco has been a great help in forgetting that Domonic Brown was projected to be the starting right fielder. Francisco has hit .333 with two home runs and five runs batted in. This does not even account for the two hard-hit balls that were near home runs on Tuesday night or the screaming line drive Francisco hit for an out.
If the Phillies can keep getting steady production from Francisco, it would make the 2011/2012 off-season easier for them. Francisco could move to left field to replace the departing Raul Ibañez
