I Sense A Classic Philadelphia Panic Coming On

Baseball America ranked Domonic Brown as the fourth best prospect in all of baseball. Naturally, with that ranking comes great expectations. Expectations for Brown have been high since it was revealed that the Phillies were unwilling to part with him in a trade for Roy Halladay. Baseball America just validated what Phillies fans already knew.

This city can be notoriously unforgiving when it comes to riding players who aren't playing up to expectations. Former first round draft pick Pat Burrell is a prime example. He was targeted by the fans at points in his career because the expectations were so grand and his play didn't live up to it. It's not to say that he didn't play well, he just wasn't the hall of famer fans were expecting him to be.

I feel a similar situation could be happening with Domonic Brown. Due to injuries he was promoted to the majors last year. He started out with a bang, hitting an RBI double off the wall in his first major league at bat. Expectations grew even more, at least for me they did. Later in the year, when Victorino came back from his injury, Brown played sparingly. He got rusty sitting on the bench, something he wasn't accustomed to. He ended up with a .210 batting average for the year. The fans forgave that, chalking it up to coming off the bench or age and inexperience (22 years old at the time he was brought up).

So far, the fans aren't being so forgiving this year. Brown has gone hitless in his first three spring training games. To top it off, he has struck out in eight of his first twelve at bats. He's already getting killed by the fans. People are calling talk radio shows and labeling Brown a bust. Though I don't listen to Angelo Cataldi in the morning anymore, I can guarantee you that he is leading the pack with this one. I was following yesterday's spring training game on the philly.com chat, people were ripping him when he came up to bat. Saying things like "Oh here comes Dom Brown, get ready for another strike out". I know these people don't represent all fans, but they are a small sample size that I think proves the growing anxiousness the fans have about Brown.

Three grapefruit league games do not make a player. Especially one who is considered to be one of the best prospects in baseball and is still only 23 years old. Hell, he didn't even start fully focusing on baseball until he was drafted out of high school. He was considered to be a better football player. He needs time. The proof that he can be a good player is there. He raked through the first two levels of the minors. He didn't get much time to play triple A ball because he was called up to the majors only 30 games into his triple A career. But, in that limited action in triple A, his batting average was well above .300.

I think it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to let him start the season in triple A. Let him grow there, work on his defense and get more experience at the plate. He's only 23, let's reel in the expectations a little bit for now. He's not there yet, but I'm sure he will be some day. Don't panic and get on him like we have to players in the past.