I know that (a) Domonic Brown’s broken hand is troublesome; and (b) spring stats should be given almost zero weight, but it’s probably worth noting that the guy who will likely start in right field for the Phillies -- Ben Francisco -- hit another home run yesterday and is now batting .421/.476/.947 in seven spring training games.
I mean, no, it wouldn’t make me happy if I was Charlie Manuel and I had to pencil Francisco in for 150+ games this year -- and Brown certainly has the potential to be a fine ballplayer one day -- but Brown didn’t do anything in his brief callup last season, didn’t do anything in winter ball and was atrocious this spring prior to his injury. It’s not crazy to say that he could still use some time in the minors or at least in a limited role for a contending team.
If you’re the Phillies, Brown’s injury could be a blessing in disguise. It could force them to make a move for a right fielder who deserves to play a big role on a contending team. At the very least it could result in the Phillies using a guy in Francisco who -- while he isn’t all that likely to slug .947 in the regular season -- probably isn’t going to do any worse than Brown would have at his best in 2011.
And heck: since Ruben Amaro is a ninja, maybe he could play some crazy ninja mind trick on some other GM and convince them that Francisco is a .947 slugger and convince him to give up something valuable for him. He’s done more surprising things recently.