The Phillies outrighted four players from their 40-man roster Monday, including former top prospect Domonic Brown. With this move, Brown’s career in Philadelphia will likely come to an end.
The 28-year-old outfielder leaves behind one of the more disappointing tenures in recent Phillies history. Just two seasons ago, Brown showed flashes of his potential by hitting 27 home runs and posting an .818 OPS en route to his first and only All-Star appearance.
But since the midway point of the 2013 season, Brown has hit just .244 with 19 home runs and a .650 OPS, which ranks 117 out of 133 outfielders. He missed the first two months of the 2015 season due to an Achilles injury, but recorded a slash line of just .228/.284/.349 with five home runs and 25 RBIs in 189 at-bats after returning to the starting lineup. His season would be cut a month short after suffering a concussion during a wacky play against the Mets at Citi Field.
With the emergence of younger players such as Aaron Altherr and Odubel Herrera, and with young outfield prospects in their farm system, the Phillies’ decision to cut Brown was an easy one, but one that this ball club could not have envisioned just five years ago.
When Brown made his major league debut back in 2010, the Phillies thought the lanky outfielder would become a mainstay in the middle of their lineup for years to come and establish himself as one of baseball’s best hitting outfielders.
They were wrong, but only because Brown failed miserably to live up to his potential.
Back in 2011, Brown was rated baseball’s fourth best prospect behind the likes of Mike Trout and Bryce Harper. Four years later, Trout has won an American League MVP award and Harper will likely be crowned the National League’s MVP for the 2015 season. The only accolade Brown has is a lone All-Star appearance based on a torrid month and a half stretch back in 2013.
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